The Secret Machines
01.07.06
Q&A
words:
Russ Josephs
photos: Official Band Photo
I heart The Secret Machines. I really do. I love how they’ve taken such diverse influences as Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd and the Flaming Lips and made them their own. I love how there are two brothers in the band who both sing, like the Bee Gees but with better hair. I love their live shows, which are at once powerful and intimate. I especially love that they struggled, took a chance and made it. Unlike a lot of other bands out there, these guys actually deserve it. Hurray for them. And hurray for us.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Brandon Curtis (vocals/keys/bass), and we talked about what it’s like touring the world, working with his brother and dining with Buddha.
Loose Record: I’ve read a ton of interviews with you guys, and all the interviewers ask the same questions.
Secret Machines: (laughing) Yes, they do.
LR: I’m going to try my best to ask you questions that you’ve probably never heard before. However, some of them are pretty weird. If there’s something you don’t want to answer, just say so.
SM: Okay.
LR: First of all, what does the name “Secret Machines” mean? Where did it come from?
SM: Josh (drums) and I were in a Texas band called Captain Audio, and at one point we started a spin-off called Captain Audio and the Secret Machines. We used the name to do things that were different from what we would normally do, more experimental things, like having a potluck dinner for a concert. When my brother Benjamin joined us later, we dropped the Captain Audio part and just kept the Secret Machines. The name has many different meanings. It can literally mean “hidden machines,” or machines that manufacture or generate secrets.
LR: You’re stranded on a desert island, and can bring one food item, one drink, one book, one CD and one woman. What do you choose?
SM: I’d take the Tao te Ching, “Universal Symphony” by Charles Ives and probably tequila. To eat I’d take sandwiches. I could eat sandwiches every day no problem. Oh, and my girlfriend.
LR: Good answer. You guys moved from Texas to Brooklyn, which really kicked off your career. Did you know anyone when you came here? How did you get gigs? Where did you first play at, and who with?
SM: We knew a couple people here. A few friends, but no one in the music industry. Before we came here we recorded a record in Chicago, in September of 2000. That became our first EP. We had a friend in Dallas who made 500 copies of it, and when we came to New York we went out ever night and gave them a way. We went to see a show at the Cooler – possibly Lightning Bolt – and ran into Jedi, the owner, who booked us there. Our first show was actually a party at the Parkside Lounge. We also played at Brownies a lot. We did some shows with Lee Ranaldo, Jim Carroll, Lenny Kaye. It was a good time.
LR: It’s a shame that those clubs – The Cooler, Brownies – don’t exist anymore. A lot of New York and Brooklyn bands now prefer to play in lofts and at underground parties, rather than clubs. Did you ever play in any places like that?
SM: We played some loft parties, three I think. But we tend to play really loud and they all got shut down by the cops.
LR: You can have dinner with any five people, living or dead. Who do you choose?
SM: Lester Bangs, Bertand Russell, Pushkin and Bach. Can it be anyone? A fictional character?
LR: Sure.
SM: Okay, Buddha. [note: Buddha actually existed]
LR: You guys have a new album coming out called Ten Silver Drops. When will it be released? Can you tell me something about it? How is it different from your previous work?
SM: It’ll be out in April, March in the UK. The album sounds like us. Like our first record, we produced it ourselves. The main difference I guess is a shift in subject matter from large to small. There’s a level of universality about it that we wanted to capture, which I think we did.
LR: You’re granted three wishes by a genie. What do you choose?
SM: The first would be the means to continue making art and music and to sustain myself doing so. The second would be that if I died I’d die suddenly. The third would be to travel some way without airplanes.
LR: You mean like teleportation?
SM: I didn’t want to say that, but something like that, yes.
LR: Will you be touring soon? What bands will you be playing with?
SM: We’re going to Europe a week from Sunday supporting the Foo Fighters. Then we’re doing South by Southwest. Then we’ll be playing several shows in the UK.
LR: How do you think it will be opening for the Foo Fighters? Do you worry there will be a big difference between your fans and theirs?
SM: Not really. We’ve played a variety of shows with all sorts of bands – Blonde Redhead, the Chemical Brothers, Oasis. When we played with Oasis, it was for 62,000 people, who were all there to see them. We just did our best and hoped they’d like us. And they did.
LR: If you could tour with any three bands, which ones would you choose?
SM: The Beatles, My Bloody Valentine and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
LR: That would be an awesome show.
SM: Yes it would.
LR: You play in the band with you brother. How is that? Is that a positive or negative in your opinion, working so closely with a sibling?
SM: I’d say it’s mostly, almost always positive. We’re very close and work well together. We have lots of things in common and share musical tastes. He’s a great musician, and I feel fortunate to be in a band with him.
LR: You build a time machine and can go anywhere you want in the past or the future. Where do you go?
SM: There are so many places I’d like to go. Definitely the first performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, whenever that was. And Dylan’s show in Manchester in 1965.
LR: The one where he was booed?
SM: Yes. But I wouldn’t boo.
LR: How are the audiences different in different parts of the world? Can you talk about the differences between playing in the U.S, Europe and Asia?
SM: At the end of the day, the shows are the same and the audiences remarkably similar. We’ve had shows in London where people went crazy, but also in San Francisco and D.C. A lot of the differences might be because of the drug of choice. In the UK, Ecstasy is popular, which leads to a more energetic response. In New York people are more restrained, which might be because they’re stoned.
LR: I’m stoned right now. What about in Asia? Japan, for example.
SM: We played a festival in Japan and people didn’t know what to do. We played our set pretty much straight through, not really stopping much between songs, and during the pauses there was just silence. It was very quiet, and a little tense. It was a good experience, just different.
LR: If you had to have sex with someone of the same gender, who would it be?
SM: (pause) I can’t really think of anyone. You’re right, these questions are a little strange. It’s almost like a test for the person answering them, trying to push their limits.
LR: Something like that. Are you interested in fashion at all? Is fashion relevant to music, and vice-versa?
SM: I like fashion and looking at how people dress. I don’t look at fashion as being relevant to music in particular, but to the world in general, what surrounds you, what you see, and what you present to the public. It’s definitely something I’m interested in.
LR: Last question. Is there anything you want to say to the people out there? Any words of wisdom you’d like to impart?
SM: Well, a lot of times when we’re speaking or giving interviews, you have a conversation with a singular person, and it gets turned into a mass message. The actual truth and kernel of thought you’re trying to impart gets messed up, and the truth is clouded. Things read in interviews are taken as actual facts when they’re not. The whole thing is kind of a daunting process actually.
LR: Does that include this interview?
SM: Yes.
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