Interviews

 

MANY MACHINES ON 9

 

According to vocalist Dan Sutherland, MANY MACHINES ON 9 have wasted too much time over the years. The time for action is now, as he tells ROD YATES.

 

They say that a year is a long time in rock’n’roll. If we’re to accept that as true, then the three year gap between Many Machines On 9’s debut self-titled EP and their just released mini-album, Prosthetic Blvd., must rank as an eternity. 

 

“We’ve been trying to get this off the ground for the last year-and-a-half because even though we’ve got really good intentions we tend to bumble around a lot,” smiles vocalist Dan Sutherland. “Plus I think we’ve just been trying to find our sound. Like any band, you go through growth periods, and sometimes it’s just one long continuous growth period. So finding a sound that really satisfies our souls has been a long and arduous process.”

 

In fairness, there was the odd technical glitch to contend with as well.

 

“My computer crashed during the mixing [of Prosthetic Blvd.], so I lost everything,” explains Sutherland. “I had all the files but I had to start everything again, so that probably put us back by about three months.
“It just comes down to losing time,” continues the vocalist. “We’ve been busy with our own separate things too, other projects, and there was a period there where we kind of took the band for granted as well.”

 

In what way?

 

“Just thinking that the band was always going to be there. We all lost our focus, the result being that a lot of time slips by.”

 

What changed all that?

 

“I think we all just sat down and said, ‘Shit, where are we actually at at the moment? Have we actually moved forward in the past year? Are we just going around in circles?’ And that snapped us out of it, cos we gave ourselves a reality check. And also getting our new manager on board, he’s been fantastic in kicking our arses and moving the machine along.”

 

The result of this soul searching is that the band are now bristling with a new sense of purpose; indeed the Sydney quartet (completed by bassist Luke Ford, drummer Ben Ellingworth and guitarist Kerry Foulke) have already started writing material for their debut album, despite the fact that Prosthetic Blvd. is only just about to be released. Said mini-album further refines the electro-metal mix of their debut, gluing the genres together far more seamlessly than in the past while leaning a little heavier on the electronic contingent of their sound.
Not surprisingly, given the time that’s passed between the two recordings, Sutherland had plenty of topics to choose from when penning the lyrics for the mini-album’s eight tracks. Unlike the first EP, however, they don’t all come from a dark emotional place.

 

“The period from when you turn 23 to turning 27 is a massive period of turmoil,” he explains. “And I think me, personally, I’ve gone through so much change in that three to four year period, it’s absolutely tumultuous, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
“The chunk of the EP still comes from a darker place, but there’s one song on there which is just trying to find a bit more of the light. More than anything, trying to experiment with audiences and wanting to lift the audience a little. Just to bring in a new energy, basically.”

 

This last goal stems from the band’s recent support slot with US metallers Ill Niño and Static-X. Performing in front of 2000 people is an experience Sutherland is still buzzing about.

 

“To stand in front of a crowd that size, seven-eighths of who have never seen you before… it comes back to the energy of the crowd. The energy that comes off them is huge, and it kind of takes you aback a bit.”

 

Buoyed by this show, their recent spot at the Come Together Festival and the release of Prosthetic Blvd., the remainder of 2006 looks like being busy enough to compensate for the band’s past inactivity.

 

 

 

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