1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
A: We are a duo from Hobart, Tasmania, the small island state at the bottom of Australia. Myself Matt Warren (drums/percussion/vocals) and Aaron Metcalf (guitars/percussion) have known each other for about 28 years and were in our first bands together. We started this project in late 2007 after having not played together for quite a few years.
2. How would you describe your musical sound?
A: A difficult one. A basis in metal, but that's not what we really consider it. It's heavy, dense and sometimes harsh and tribal. But we like to contrast that with quieter plaintive moments too. We grew up listening to Killing Joke, Voivod, Godflesh, Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys and so on. We've been told we sound a bit like The Melvins, Isis and Fudge Tunnel. It's almost like slowed down, abstract punk rock.
3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
A: Interestingly the majority of what's sung is nonsensical. We treat the vocals mainly as a melodic or sometimes rhythmic texture. It's inspired by Damo Suzuki's 'instant composition' technique and the some of the Dadaist poetry. There are occasionally real words used and they may reflect what the song is about. We are both fairly politically and socially minded and that can figure into our material, but we're keen to not be overt with a 'message'.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
A: There is a term used in online collectors circles that is 'Recordings Of Indeterminate Origin' which is a slightly less dodgy way of saying "bootlegs". I always liked that term, the slightly mysterious nature of it. When it came to name the project, Machines came up at some point as a reflection of our kind of industrial sound and we put that on the front.
5. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you choose to remain a duo?
A: There are no plans to expand. We enjoy the challenge of making music such as ours with just two people. It makes us both play a certain way and adding more people would alter that. It's easier to make decisions too. That's not to say we wouldn't consider guests on songs for things we just can't/don't play. We've done that live a few times.
6. Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?
A: Yes. We started off basically jamming/studio, but it's really a big noisy immersive environment that should be experienced live. So we play fairly regularly and recently did our first foray interstate.
7.Rough Skies Records is planning on releasing the album on vinyl, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
A: A Hobart based independent label run by Julian Teakle from the band The Native Cats. It's been around for a number of years and started off as an avenue for his own music, but quickly became interested in releasing things by local artists. So the label has put out two compilations of alt/indie music called 'Community' and 'Community 2' and a recent vinyl release by the Hobart Improv Collective. Julian has been quite supportive of M010 and we approached him to help us do a vinyl release of the new album. He was keen. We were fortunate to have James Plotkin (Scorn, OLD, Khanate) to remaster it for vinyl. It sounds great.
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of underground music?
A: I think we're relatively unknown, even in the underground. As this new album is still barely released it hasn't gotten much feedback at all yet apart from your own, we're hoping for more. But the previous EPs got some really positive and encouraging responses.
9. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
A: Aaron pretty much sticks with this project and runs the studio/rehearsal room we work out of. He does the odd bit of recording/engineering for others and we both contributed to a Concrete Lung (UK industrial metal band) recording. He also has a part time studio project called Manufactured Pop Whore. I've got a few things on the go. I do solo drone stuff under the name mumble(speak) and do noise stuff with The Non-Compliant Airmen. I'm in a duo called Untermorast which are kind of on hiatus. I play various instruments as part of the Hobart Improv Collective. Hobart is a small but, very active music community.
10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
A: Not really sure. We recently recorded a new song that will likely end up on 'Community 3'. It's a little more uptempo and in a higher key than we usually do. Not sure if it indicates how things may change, but we have definitely evolved from the first recordings, so I'm guessing we'll continue to discover what grows from our self imposed limitations.
A: We are a duo from Hobart, Tasmania, the small island state at the bottom of Australia. Myself Matt Warren (drums/percussion/vocals) and Aaron Metcalf (guitars/percussion) have known each other for about 28 years and were in our first bands together. We started this project in late 2007 after having not played together for quite a few years.
2. How would you describe your musical sound?
A: A difficult one. A basis in metal, but that's not what we really consider it. It's heavy, dense and sometimes harsh and tribal. But we like to contrast that with quieter plaintive moments too. We grew up listening to Killing Joke, Voivod, Godflesh, Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys and so on. We've been told we sound a bit like The Melvins, Isis and Fudge Tunnel. It's almost like slowed down, abstract punk rock.
3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
A: Interestingly the majority of what's sung is nonsensical. We treat the vocals mainly as a melodic or sometimes rhythmic texture. It's inspired by Damo Suzuki's 'instant composition' technique and the some of the Dadaist poetry. There are occasionally real words used and they may reflect what the song is about. We are both fairly politically and socially minded and that can figure into our material, but we're keen to not be overt with a 'message'.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
A: There is a term used in online collectors circles that is 'Recordings Of Indeterminate Origin' which is a slightly less dodgy way of saying "bootlegs". I always liked that term, the slightly mysterious nature of it. When it came to name the project, Machines came up at some point as a reflection of our kind of industrial sound and we put that on the front.
5. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you choose to remain a duo?
A: There are no plans to expand. We enjoy the challenge of making music such as ours with just two people. It makes us both play a certain way and adding more people would alter that. It's easier to make decisions too. That's not to say we wouldn't consider guests on songs for things we just can't/don't play. We've done that live a few times.
6. Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?
A: Yes. We started off basically jamming/studio, but it's really a big noisy immersive environment that should be experienced live. So we play fairly regularly and recently did our first foray interstate.
7.Rough Skies Records is planning on releasing the album on vinyl, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
A: A Hobart based independent label run by Julian Teakle from the band The Native Cats. It's been around for a number of years and started off as an avenue for his own music, but quickly became interested in releasing things by local artists. So the label has put out two compilations of alt/indie music called 'Community' and 'Community 2' and a recent vinyl release by the Hobart Improv Collective. Julian has been quite supportive of M010 and we approached him to help us do a vinyl release of the new album. He was keen. We were fortunate to have James Plotkin (Scorn, OLD, Khanate) to remaster it for vinyl. It sounds great.
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of underground music?
A: I think we're relatively unknown, even in the underground. As this new album is still barely released it hasn't gotten much feedback at all yet apart from your own, we're hoping for more. But the previous EPs got some really positive and encouraging responses.
9. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
A: Aaron pretty much sticks with this project and runs the studio/rehearsal room we work out of. He does the odd bit of recording/engineering for others and we both contributed to a Concrete Lung (UK industrial metal band) recording. He also has a part time studio project called Manufactured Pop Whore. I've got a few things on the go. I do solo drone stuff under the name mumble(speak) and do noise stuff with The Non-Compliant Airmen. I'm in a duo called Untermorast which are kind of on hiatus. I play various instruments as part of the Hobart Improv Collective. Hobart is a small but, very active music community.
10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
A: Not really sure. We recently recorded a new song that will likely end up on 'Community 3'. It's a little more uptempo and in a higher key than we usually do. Not sure if it indicates how things may change, but we have definitely evolved from the first recordings, so I'm guessing we'll continue to discover what grows from our self imposed limitations.
