I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Gary from Echo Machine for an interview!
How would you sum up your 2018?
Our 2018 was hard work, and a bit of a learning experience all round. We'd all been in bands before that just went into practice rooms, plugged-in, hammered out a few chords then patted ourselves on the back, job done, lets go get a big bag of cans and books some gigs. But with this band we wanted to write in new ways, try out new technology and shake ourselves out of that comfort zone. Which was fun for about two weeks then we discovered it was going to be hard as fuck.
We played a few gigs, but they didn't really click to be honest, we knew we needed to be better, no one has time to go and see another boring band, if we were going to be serious we needed to do things properly, so at the end of the summer we binned everything and started writing and rewriting, demoing everything and generally being perfectionist weirdos.
Plans for 2019?
The joys of that tortuous 2018 is that we have entered the New Year like Rocky Balboa at the end of a kick ass montage, well oiled and ready to take on the world. We have recently finished recording an album, so most of 2019 is going to be geared towards releasing that, and hopefully playing live as much as humanly possible.
Any new music in the pipeline?
We have a new single coming very soon! At this point in time I don't have the exact dates, but some point in the next month or so there shall be new Echo Machine music in the world. It's been far too long.
What are your influences for song writing?
That's a tricky question to answer without sounding like a total cheeseball! It's a bit of a cliche but we take influence from everything. Musically we don't rule anything out, if it sounds good and makes us feel something then it goes into the mixer. The album has just as many bits borrowed from Little Mix as it does Nine Inch Nails. There are probably some core influences to what we do, things like The Cure, Depeche Mode or Pulp, but anything is fair game. One of the biggest influences for us collectively when we were writing was probably the last Underworld album. Lyrically I'd say a lot of influence comes from literature, or from artists that don't mind sounding a bit odd. I got totally obsessed with Alex Cameron recently, his records are unhinged and brilliant. Kate Tempest is probably been my favourite lyricist in recent years, and I find Frank Ocean can totally melt me with a well placed phrase. I feel like the world has enough moaning white guys with guitars singing about how their girlfriend does or doesn't love them without me adding to it, I prefer going to different places.
Thoughts on the Scottish Music Scene?
I think there is some glorious stuff happening in Scotland, and also the usual tide of horse-shite, you've just got search out the stuff you enjoy. I find it's best to try and ignore the Scottish Hype Machine as much as possible, or at least approach it with an open mind. If you believed all the main Scottish outlets you'd think there was only 10 - 12 bands in Scotland, and that they all conveniently come from the same city and sound really similar. Its good that there are blogs and channels popping up in different cities more and more, and supporting different genres of music, it can only be a positive thing.
Favourite Scottish bands or artists?
I love anything a bit goth, and I love a big chorus, so I've been pretty much obsessed with The Ninth Wave over the last couple of years, everything they do just seems totally perfect to me. I went to see Young Fathers last year, they are probably the best "established" band in Scotland for me at the moment, totally untouchable as a live act. Dundee is really holding its own these days as well. The last couple of St Martiins songs have cemented them as one of my favourites and Beta Waves are on a run of incredible singles just now. I can't wait to see VfLambda live again soon, and I'm pretty excited to see where Plasmas go in 2019. I've probably forgotten a few obvious ones as well.
If you could cover a song, what would it be and why?
We are rubbish at covers. Tried a few times but it never works out. Though every time I hear Material Girl by Madonna I think it could be great reimagined in an Echo Machine stylie, but I would be scared to touch it. Maybe one day we'll work up the courage.
What's the most bizarre thing to happen while you were onstage?
It's been pretty plain sailing in the few gigs we've done so far, I look forward to the chaos that a 2019 of solid gigging brings. In my old band I consistently damaged knee ligaments, chipped teeth, burst noses and dismantled guitars, I'm too big and lanky for most stages so ridiculous things tend to happen naturally. I once played a really dodgy outdoor gig and the stage was invaded by a dog, followed by its owner, who proceeded to chase it around the stage. Nothing dents your ego more than being shown up by a Labrador and an elderly man in a fleece.
If you only had one album to listen to, what would it be?
Probably "Turn On The Bright Lights" by Interpol. I just find its an album I can go back to again and again without it every getting old. It acts like a kind of mood stabiliser, no matter whats happening I can just stick that on and it puts me in a good place.
What is your guilty pleasure song?
Thats a tricky one. The vast majority of my musical tastes are a great big guilty pleasure. I love a lot of bad 80s pop, stuff that I am fully aware is terrible, but it just gets me going. And a lot of really heavy rock stuff.
If I had to choose one it might be "Last Resort" by PaPa Roach. Whenever I hear a really boring song I want to play Last Resort at full volume straight after it, just because its such a loud and silly tune.
If you had your own festival, who would be your 3 headliners?
Arcade Fire, Frank Ocean and Depeche Mode, off the top of my head. With St Vincent, The National and Kendrick Lamar headlining the other stages. And a secret last-minute slot from The Stokes.
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