It hasn't been all too long since Machinista graced the scene with their album Xenoglossy. With ever creative minds constantly crafting and creating music, both John and Richard couldn't be more excited for their next album "Garmonbozia" to release to the masses. As such, I spoke with the two surrounding their next release and even of the connection it has to David Lynch's "Twin Peaks".
Last year you had "Xenoglossy" released, and you're not stopping by far with your next release
Last year you had "Xenoglossy" released, and you're not stopping by far with your next release
"Garmonbozia" coming out this year. Do you think that your fans are ready for new material already? Has there been demand for more tunes from Machinista?
John - "Oh yes! They really need this. Xenoglossy was just us coming out of our shell. Too fast, too immature. But we had to come out that fast to show ourselves. Now it's us in the making on our way to perfection. Not really there yet, but with the next album, the end of this trilogy, it will sum up what Machinista is all about."
From your last album to now, how do you think the music has developed? Has everything come together more conveniently or no?
John - "The thing is that everything has come smoothly since we started. I'm just waiting for the setback. It has to come, right? And of course the music has developed, but we saw that during the end of the last album."
Richard - "I would say I am starting to find more and more what Machinista's music is all about,
but in the end it's an everlasting search. You're always try to go forward and find new elements within the music. Xenoglossy had a lot of synthpop-stuff. This time there will be a darker touch overall and also more guitar and acoustic elements."
Out of all the tracks on the album, were there any that really stuck out more than the next?
Or are there any that have a deeper, more personal meaning to you than the next?
John - "The personal meaning for me lays in all of the songs. More or less all of them are stories from my life and thoughts I have BUT spiced up a bit. Or a lot. [laughs]"
Richard - "I think 'Train', the last track, stands out a bit. A slow dark piece of drama that ends the record. On this one our live guitars 'Judas' plays out some great tunes that took the song to a new level. And like i said before some tracks will flirt with more acoustic elements. 'Train' does for sure!"
Now, the title of the album is "Garmonbozia". I got interested in that and I looked it up online.
It says that it is a negative, spiritual energy of pain and suffering that appeared in the film,
"Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me". Is this where the word originated for you, and why did you choose this title?
Richard - "Both me and John are big fans of David Lynch and Twin Peaks and because of the fact that this record will be slightly darker the meaning of 'Pain and sorrow' fits in perfect! IF you study John's lyrics you will find hints to Twin Peaks here and there. Our first record had a pretty unusual name as well so this was a perfect match for us."
How did the overall recording process for the album go over? Was it smooth? Were there any rough moments?
John - "Not one rough moment for me. Might have been for Richard. [laughs] The thing is, what I sing about has been rough. Been through it and now I sing it. Big distance, thank God."
Richard - "It's been a struggle with some songs since i can spend a lot of time just trying to find the perfect sounds for a song. Usually I do pretty simple demos and then John records vocals. After this i sometimes find out that the song has to have a completely new dress. But this is also the fun in creating music.The journey from a demo to a finished track."
What gear/instruments/synthesizers did you use to create Garmonbozia?
Richard - "It's more or less VST synths I use nowadays. There are so many good ones out there like Omnisphere, Kontakt, Sylenth1, Predator, to mention a few. In the end all music has to go through the computer so it's very smooth to start there at once. There has been some guitars I have added here and there and also some sampled acoustic sound. And like I did mention before, our live guitarist 'Judas' plays guitar on the song 'Train'. But the short answer would be: A bunch of VST synthesizers."
Are there any previews of the album up online anywhere right now? If not, do you plan on putting one out at some point?
Richard - "Yes! Our dear label AnalogueTrash Records have put up pre-orders at:
http://trashdigital.co.uk/album/garmonbozia-at0018"
Also, I read that you'll be doing a tour of the UK and Europe in the summer to support Garmonbozia. Do you have any shows set up as of yet? And do you know when the tour will begin?
Richard - "We just came home from 3 gigs in Germany. I wouldn't say this was to promote Garmonbozia, but we did play some of the new songs. At the moment we are trying to work out a couple of gigs in UK and we have some Swedish gigs in the pipeline. Also we will return to Germany later this year. So there will be a bunch of gigs after the release of Garmonbozia. We are pretty active on our Facebook-site so I recommend people to follow us there for the latest news. www.facebook.com/machinistamusic."
Beyond that, I already read via your Facebook that you finished lyrics for a possible new song for a third album. Are you always on the move when it comes to recording and creating material?
John - "I was thinking about when it's time for the next, could be in a year, could be two. But lyrics I can write every day if I wanted. So I wrote the first some days ago."
Other than that, do you have any other plans for Machinista at this point?
Richard - "There will be some cool releases coming up. Xenoglossy will be re-released on vinyl and on a double Digpack-CD along with 'Xenoglossy - The Remixes'. Except that we are excited to receive feedback from 'Garmonbozia' and hopefully play a lot of live gigs."
And, I would now like to thank you for your time on the site, and I'm looking forward to hearing Garmonbozia when it releases.
John - "Cool thanks!"
Richard - "See ya out there!"
Steven Gullotta
info@brutalresonance.comI've been writing for Brutal Resonance since November of 2012 and now serve as the editor-in-chief. I love the dark electronic underground and usually have too much to listen to at once but I love it. I am also an editor at Aggressive Deprivation, a digital/physical magazine since March of 2016. I support the scene as much as I can from my humble laptop.
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