secretmachines

An Interview with the Secret Machines | not by David Bowie

I’m honored to present to you this exclusive interview with the Secret Machines by guest writer Eddie Ciminelli. More on the band at the end of the post…

Secret Machines

How Quickly They Grow Up- A Conversation with The Secret Machines

By Eddie Ciminelli

It has been said that a band has their entire life to craft their debut album and only 18 months to make their follow up. The Secret Machines may have put some extra weight on their shoulders by releasing 2003’s remarkable Now Here is Nowhere before embarking on two years of heavy touring around he world in support of their debut. As soon as drummer Josh Garza’s meticulous thumping opened up “First Wave Intact” followed by the Curtis siblings scathing crossfire guitar riffs and layered keys, the world was quickly introduced to the Secret Machines. “I wonder what their waiting for?” the band sardonically inquired, almost challenging the critics to put down their pens, take a break from trying to conjure up another creative metaphor and simply just listen. But that was then and this is now; a band is only as strong as their last effort. The Machine’s press materials even touts the new record as “that moment when you realize that things have changed and can never be the same.” Sure, they have been road testing a handful of their songs over the past few months. It is true that they have opened for some of the world’s biggest acts. And yes David Bowie occasionally pops into their gigs when they play in New York. This band, however, is more ambitious than their stoned paranoid lyrics may let on, and they seem resolute not to blaze the same (exact) path with their upcoming LP, Ten Silver Drops. I recently caught up with guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Curtis of the band to hear his thoughts about life on the road, Pink Floyd and the band’s electric new album.

EC: Ten Silver Drops is coming out pretty soon. What do you think the band has done this time around to keep things fresh but still remain consistent for your established fans?

Benjamin Curtis: I feel that the aesthetic is still the same. It’s pop music with experimental arrangements. It’s sounds and atmospheres. To mix it up we made a record that was a little more personal. It has a little bit more to do with actual humans rather than the kind of universal context we sing about. It is kind of where we are at this point. It is the last two years of our life. I don’t think we could have made the same record again if we tried.

EC: Do you personally have a favorite track off the new record?

BC: Umm…yeah I do. It’s a tough one. It changes time to time but my favorite one is probably “Alone Jealous & Stoned.” It is a lot of new sounds and a direction we hope to go more to in the future.

EC: The band has some UK dates posted through June, when are you coming back stateside?

BC: Just after we are going to come back here. We are going to do a bunch of shows in March….I think…..April…..May!

EC: Secret shows?

BC: Yeah but hopefully not too much of a secret; we will tell a few people about it. I guess just major cities. We aren’t going to be in the middle of Iowa or anything. But we are going to tour a lot on this record. We did a shit load of touring on the last record.

EC: Yeah you guys were definitely road warriors on the last tour.

BC: Yeah it sort of just ended up that way. We know that we can do it; we know how to do it now so maybe we think we could even do it a little more now.

EC: I actually first heard the new album about five weeks ago because it was available on line. How do you feel about that?

BC: I think that you have to be honest and say I am lucky that anyone cares. It’s great. The last time we put out a record we put it on the internet before it was released in stores (with Now Here is Nowhere) and it was one of those things where nobody knew who we were so it couldn’t really have been leaked. But this time around we knew it was going to happen cause it happens to everybody. What can you do? It’s just the way it is these days. As long as people are listening to the music then I am happy because music has existed much longer than the music business has existed. Music will outlast the music business. I am going to be playing music anyways.

EC: Is that a master copy going around?

BC: I haven’t heard it. I have no idea. It is just so easy because everyone gets a disc. You import and it is done. I guess a lot of people don’t realize that nothing on your computer is as private as you assume. I am not even certain if it was leaked intentionally.

EC: I was curious if there was a conscience decision to use “First Wave Intact”, a nine minute plus song, as the opener on your debut. Was there a conscious decision to say “ fuck the rules, we are going to do things are way?” Was it always going to be the album’s first song?

BC: I don’t think it was ever about breaking rules; it went a lot deeper than that. I don’t think we were even considering the rules. We honestly weren’t even considering the fact that that wasn’t normal. We just thought it was a great way to start a record. When you make your first record you don’t really realize that people are going to ask you why you did certain things. That its going to be judged. People are going to be curious why you made certain decisions. Looking back on it you can say, “Fuck everybody!” but it wasn’t like that. There is that sense of independence that we have. It is more like life is too short to pay attention to what we should or shouldn’t do.

EC: No, I understand. Every time I play your album to people for the first time after that first song it is like, “Sold.”

BC: Well keep playing it then!

(Laughter)

EC: The Secret Machines make music that is expansive, it needs room to breathe. Your band is not associated with a sense of brevity so do you feel that hindered your chances of getting much traditional radio play?

BC: Absolutely. That is one of the main things that stood between us and FM radio play. That is the world we live in. I think it is up to people to realize that the songs people listen to (on the radio) are a particular length isn’t because that is the song’s length it is because you can play a certain amount of songs in a n hour and you can have a certain amount of advertisements that run in an hour which is how (radio stations) calculate their advertising rates. That is why music is like that. It has nothing to do with music. It has to do with business. It is one of those things that maybe people don’t care. But I know for a fact that most people don’t know. People are basically what they consume and art and culture is dictated by people who have a lot more money than they do. Music is something that people do and enjoy. It is a part of life that make people enjoy it, I think that people will find a way to get what they want. And right now FM radio is complete shit- it’s in a horrible state. I listen to pandora.com right now and I have learned about so many new bands and it is so much fun. We were just in Mexico City and the biggest rock radio station is called Reactor and they have 23 million people and has the biggest rock listenerhship of anywhere in the entire planet. The guy that programs the radio downloads his playlist off of Limewire. There will be Ride and Zeppelin bootlegs in heavy rotation next to the Secret Machines next to Mars Volta next to The Kills. Random shit. And this is what everybody and their grandmother and their little sister is listening to at work. It shows that the music isn’t that difficult it is just that it was never given to them.

EC: The first time I saw you guys live you were opening for Interpol in Toronto. It was great to find an opening band that I hadn’t really listened to before that completely blew my mind. Besides Interpol the band has opened for Blonde Redhead,….Trail of Dead, Oasis and even U2. Does the band have any say who you will tour with or have you been really lucky with your invitations?

BC: Its always that someone in the band is a fan of our music. I mean we will play in front of anybody. There is going to be a lot of people that don’t appreciate it but hopefully there are a few people we can turn on to a different world.

EC: The last time I saw you play was at Webster Hall in New York last December and who do I see but David Bowie sitting in the rafters with a shit grin on his face. I read an article that says your fans also include Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine and Jason Pierce of Spiritualized. What does having fans like this do to a bands confidence?

BC: It is really good. I mean you meet these people and its like they’re just musicians like ourselves which is cool. It is nice to chat with them. But at the same time it is kind of dangerous because you don’t want to be the band who all the old guys like. I think these people obviously have great taste. It is really cool touching those people but I would rather touch the kid in the middle of Nebraska. It is more interesting for me to excite them.

EC: What has been exciting you as a fan of music as of late?

BC: As far as new music there are so many great bands around. I like the new Prefuse 73 record that came out. I think he is making some great steps in the right direction. There is a lot of old stuff too. There is a lot of old records I have never heard.

EC: Right, but that is the best part of music- you can always go back and find something ancient but new to you.

BC: Yeah, but I feel bad for these bands that I am just now hearing about twenty years later. I hope it’s not prophetic.

EC: You played in Tripping Daisy with Tim DeLaughter right?

BC: Yes… (sighing)

EC: Were you ever close to picking up a robe and joining the (Polyphonic) Spree?

BC: You know he talked to me about it before they got started. He is a really charismatic character. It is kind of his show when he works. What I was kind of interested doing at the time, well my emotional palette was a little different.

EC: I could understand that. When I first saw them perform at Coachella a few years back DeLaughter came out with the band and asked the crowd, “Isn’t the sun beautiful?” It was all a bit surreal.

BC: In my opinion the occasional dark cloud will make you appreciate the sunshine a bit more.

EC: Last question. Are you pulling for Waters and the rest of Floyd to kiss and make up or is better to let a sleeping dog lay?

BC: That is a really tough one. They have already made their best records. I don’t know what it would prove. It would be fun, worthwhile to see just to kind of pay their respects. I don’t know. Those guys just need to get over it. They are kind of acting as role models for how we shouldn’t act when we grow up. If you want to see bitter old men, read a recent Pink Floyd interview as of late. I love that band but it is like you can never Dark Side of the Moon for the first time again. The first time is always the best and you have to appreciate that you were able to have that moment at all.

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MORE SECRET MACHINES
* The Village Voice discusses a Secret Machines movie
* Preorder the new album at Insound

DOWNLOAD: David Bowie Interviewing the Secret Machines (MP3)
(more info)

Interviewer Eddie Ciminelli is a regular contributor to the site PopMatters.

Previously
Tickets on sale for Secret Machines at Hiro Ballroom

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