Hartlepool’s electro-indie act Machiner have just released their debut single, ‘the between’, a powerfully strong pop banger showing huge potential. Damian Robinson caught up with vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Paul McCarte to find out more.
The between, is out now. How satisfying is it to see your vision become something real and available?
The between is the end & beginning of a journey; the culmination of the last few years spent honing in on our vision for a new sound & the first of 4 tracks we began recording in spring…having it out there in the world feels like we’ve turned the page & began a new chapter in our story, which is very exciting.
There’s an interesting electro pop sound to the between, could you tell us a little about the production and some of the tools you used?
It was recorded & engineered by our long-time collaborator Mark Hand at Tower Street Studios and programmed/produced by myself.
Our music is a melding of guitars & electronics so our set up is built around that, we create layers of electronics & drum rhythms in tandem with playing through our amps and PA; using Ableton to control the synths & drum machines in real time so we can edit as we write the song; hardware includes old synths (MicroKorg/Poly 800), a Blofeld, Bass Station, RD800 plus ND2, Octopad & SPD drum pads with software generated rhythms, field samples & orchestration.
The Between has been getting some really strong reviews in the press. How does it feel?
We are really over the moon with the initial reception as we have had this project under wraps for a long time…not even playing our close friends the songs until we were ready; we thought we had created something special & the good feedback is a first signifier that we have.
Is the overall sound of the between a reflection of future machiner releases?
I’d say yes, it’s like a calling card…it has all the elements we were reaching for…it’s poppy but lyrically dark, powerful but also ambient, rhythmic & punchy & floaty all at the same time…these textures run through the full live set.
You’ve also recently made your debut gig, so it’s all happening for you. How was the show?
It was great…our songs seemed to captivate the audience, we used projectors to make the room look cool, filled it to capacity & had a great support called Burn the Valley; we chose Base Camp for our debut as Graham Ramsay is an old friend.
What does a good rest-of-the-year look like for machiner?
More live shows, hooking up with other bands for some gigs, releasing more music and landing a festival slot or two for next year.
The between is out now. Machiner play Ne Volume on the 20th August.