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| Interview
With No Machine - 1st November 2007 |
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We interviewed No Machine as they started their
debut tour of the UK.
Hello
and thank you for taking time out to do this interview
First of all can you give us a brief history of
the band for the people who
have never heard of you.
We (Al & Emil) moved from the UK to Lisbon in
2005 which is where we started No Machine after
meeting the rest of the band in a club in January
2006. We’ve been making music as No Machine
since then but only decided to go public with the
music itself just over 6 months ago. We were basically
locked away inside a rehearsal room and later a
recording studio, focusing solely on the music itself
and not even thinking about showing it to anyone
until we knew we were ready. In early 2007 we moved
back to London to promote the music.
For
those who don't know, what does your name "No
Machine" represent?
The idea behind the name NO MACHINE is the idea
behind the band: A real “live” band,
with straightforward, expressive, ”human”
songs. It’s fair to say that we put a lot
of emotion into our songs and do our best not to
sound “cold”. We think that the cover
for our debut album designed by artist Mark Wilkinson
is a perfect visual representation of No Machine.
What
are your influences and who would you say contributed
to your current
musical style?
We listen to everything that’s good and do
our best not to get stuck listening to just one
genre. Our favourite artists of all time include:
Prince, Johnny Cash, Marillion, Elvis, The Clash,
The Doors, King Crimson. They have all contributed
significantly to our style.
What
is 'The darker side of pop music'?
Somebody said that about our music once and it stuck!
I guess we’re “pop” in that what
really sticks out in our music are the songs themselves
yet we deliver them with an added dose of darkness
which could be anything from “colouring”
a chord to introducing a unique sound. Although
we like to experiment with the darker side we always
make sure not to go too far.
You
released a self titled EP at the start of September
was this a demo CD to show people what to expect
from your debut album or was it a general release?
This was a promotional release to show people are
music for the first time in preparation for what
is to come.
Are
you optimistic about the success of your debut single
'Tell Me' which is released in November? and ultimately
your album 'A Terrible thing" 'which is released
in December?
We’re happy to finally have our music out
there available to the public. We do realize we’re
a new band so we can’t expect immediate success.
So far, “Tell Me” has been getting some
great airplay across the UK so we guess our future
is looking promising. Our debut album “A Terrible
Thing” will be available in stores in December.
What
was it like writing and recording your debut album
'A Terrible Thing'?
Writing is probably the easiest thing in the whole
process. It was and always is a lot of fun because
you have a lot of time to experiment with a lot
different ideas and generally be creative. Recording
is quite different because the clock is always ticking
and that can be quite stressful! Sometimes you feel
like you’ve been locked inside a room for
an eternity, it’s all a big trip, sometimes
it felt like heaven sometimes it felt like hell!
Because we had decided to produce the album ourselves
(for various reasons), we did also have a lot of
added responsibility on our hands, but at the end
of the day, after listening to the final thing,
it was definitely worth it!
Do
you have any favourite songs from 'A Terrible Thing'?
It’s hard to choose but probably “Tell
Me” & The Races”. In fact, most
people have different favorite songs from the record
which we’re quite happy about.
What
made you decide to approach Mark Wilkinson regarding
your artwork? and are you pleased with the final
result?
We’re extremely pleased because he is an amazing
artist and the artwork looks amazing!
We’ve been fans of his for a long time and
the whole thing is quite unbelievable!
How
do you get the idea of thought provoking imagery
across in your live performances?
I guess we do that through abrupt body movements
& facial expressions on stage at the moment
(laughing). Hopefully we will be able afford to
some great props for the live show quite soon to
make the stage come to life.
The
first show of your debut UK tour was in Oxford,
how was the show?
It was a great first show and Oxford is a really
great town to play! Jericho Tavern has a great vibe
to it, real cosy.
You
played your first headline show in London on saturday
at the Water Rats, how was it?
Water Rats was probably one of the best shows on
the tour. The place was packed and people were moving
around like crazy shouting No Machine which really
got us going… we went into some mental improvisations...our
craziest gig was probably at the Attic in Accrington
though, where a lot of people invaded the stage
at the same time and we all danced together.
How
did your shows in lisbon compare to your shows in
the UK?
Our Lisbon shows
We never actually got the chance to play to a Lisbon
audience but hope to do so in the near future.
Do
you have any favourite songs to play live?
Probably “The Races” from our album
and “Toast The Toaster” which is one
of our newest tracks. We love to really go crazy
on these ones.
You
are playing 12 shows in two weeks are you looking
forward to being on the road for this time?
Yeah, sounds like fun. It’s great to be playing
music almost every night which is something we’ve
always wanted to do.
After
this tour you are not on tour again intill January,
do you have anything planned inbetween the tours?
The album launch in December and Xmas!
Do
you prefer being in the studio recording songs?,
or getting out and playing live?
Getting out and playing live cause it’s a
big constant high!
If
you could play with any band past or present who
would it be? and why?
Maybe Led Zeppelin! For obvious reasons…
What
do you think of the current state of the music scene
at the moment with emo taking over everything, and
most bands and fans caring more about image than
music?
It is fair to say that music has become too concerned
with image nowadays but that doesn’t worry
us too much. At the end of the day, great music
will be heard and will be appreciated. In any genre
you’ll find a lot of great music. Just as
long as people are listening to the right music
for the right reasons and being open minded about
different kinds of music, then great music will
survive.
Where
do you see your band in 5 years time?
Touring the world, with a couple of great albums
under our belt-.
Ok,
one final random question that we ask every band,
if you had a choice, what animal would you be out
of a Zebra and a Giraffe?
Emil thinks the band would be a Zebra, Al thinks
the band would be a Giraffe.
Thanks
for your time and do you have any passing comment
for your fans reading this?
We’ve probably said this before but we’d
like to say it again. One of Serge Gainsbourg’s
early EP covers shows him with flowers in one hand
and a gun in the other. In the inlay, it reads “the
flowers are for my fans, the gun is for everybody
else”. So I guess we’d love to send
you all flowers!
Interview By Trigger
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| Band
Members |
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Al Rivers (Vocals)
Emil
Rivers (Piano)
Fred
(Guitar)
Joca (Drums)
Pedro
(Bass)
Daniel (Organ, Synths) |
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| Latest
Releases |
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No
Machine - Tell Me Single
Release Date - November 5th
No Machine - A Terrible Thing Album
Release Date - December 10th
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| Band
Related Links |
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