Introduce yourself…
We’re The Machines, a Punk Rock and Roll band from Southend/London, and were formed in 1977 by Nick Paul, and after splitting in ’78 were regenerated in 2006. We consist of Nick Paul on Guitar and Vocals, Stephen ‘Tash’ Reddihough on Bass and Backing Vocals, and myself, Steve Machine, on Drums.
How did the band start?
Nick started the band in early 1977. He’d originally been in Southend based Proto-Punk band Raw Power with Stephen Reddihough (Tash) in ’74 -’75 then after that split began writing newer, more urgent songs, and after going to the 100 Club Punk Festival in ’76 and then going to the Roxy early in ’77 and being especially blown away by The Clash & The Heartbreakers, he felt he had to get a band going immediately. He recruited Duf (Bassist) via the local paper, and he met John (Drummer) in a pub, and both were into playing loud and fast, so The Machines were born.
How did you come up with the name?
A friend of Nick’s (Martin) suggested the name. As well as any implied critique of industrialization and the turning of individuals into automatons and drones, the name also reflected to an extent the bands location, with ‘Playing On The Machines’ being a euphemism for spending time gambling at the seafront arcades!
Who would you say are your influences?
Essentially everything that has ever inspired us, broken our hearts and made us want to change things. Musically we all love real heartfelt, blitzkrieg punk rock and roll, especially Iggy & The Stooges, The New York Dolls, MC5, Ramones, Patti Smith, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, The Clash, Lou Reed etc.
What was the punk scene like in the UK in 1977?
As Nick often says, ‘The most exciting time of my life’…
How do you feel it has changed?
Well without the media focusing on it so much (unless at time of a significant anniversary) it has been allowed to develop and evolve at its own pace and I think there is a richer diversity of bands operating under the umbrella of punk than ever before. Also, it is a more global phenomenon that continues to expand everywhere. I think the scene is more inclusive too and I see the punk spirit everywhere. Revolution Forever…
Describe the song writing process...
Normally Nick will come up with a rough structure for a song and then we’ll take it into the studio and I’ll try and work up an arrangement for it. Everyone will contribute their parts and we all try and put as much input in as possible, ranging from creating dynamic Intro’s, to sometimes bouncing lyrical ideas and themes etc. We like to trim things down and remove any excess, so don’t like anything that goes too much beyond 3 ½ minutes. Live its different, as for example on a song like ‘Don’t Be Fooled’ we like to push it to the extreme and may extend it as we see fit if the spirit is flowing, (and as Johnny Cash used to say, ‘Unleash The Beast’) but everything normally comes in at a reasonable time.
Your first release was a single in 1978, tell us about the single...
Dave and Richard, the band’s two mangers at the time knew Paul who was looking into setting up a label (Wax) and wanted to release something by the band, so Dave paid for the band to go into the studio and record the EP. The songs were four of the best in the set at the time, with True Life being a special crowd favourite, so it made sense to record them.
As can often happen, the pressing didn’t reflect the original recording and there was a lot of controversy over the sound mix. Thankfully, earlier this year, 1977 Records in Japan put out a limited edition re-press of the EP, and that sounded much closer to how it was originally intended to sound.
What caused the band to split in 1978?
The inevitable musical differences reared their head, and combined with Nick’s disenchantment with things, he moved to London for a fresh start.
In 2005 the band got together again, what sparked this reunion?
In late 2004/2005 Stephen Reddihough (Tash) got in touch with Nick (they hadn’t seen each other since the Raw Power split in ’75) and over a few drinks decided to have a couple of plays with an old drummer friend of Nick’s. Then things went quiet for a bit and in about September 2005 I got in touch with Nick as I was putting together a website (SouthendPunk.com). We ended up chatting for hours about various things, as I come very much from that Punk Rock and Roll school of music – Johnny Thunders, Stiv Bators, Hanoi Rocks, Social Distortion, Iggy, Ziggy etc, and recognizing each others love of this music, decided to get together in early 2006 for a jam to see how it all sounded.
We all really enjoyed the session, and Nick, Tash and I decided to make a go of it to see what we could do and to take it as far it can go. The main thing that then gave us some impetus was when Dizzy of Detour Records told us he was planning to arrange a launch party at The Boston Arms for ‘Bored Teenagers Volume 4’ (which featured two rare Machines songs from a ‘lost’ 1977 demo), and he asked us to play at it. We enthusiastically agreed, and on 10.09.06 The Boston reverberated to the sounds of True Life, Evening Radio, Everythings Technical, You Better Hear etc, the first time most of these songs had been played since 1978.
In 2007, you released two promo EPs, tell us about the EPs...
The EP’s were both recorded live – one on a Saturday in April, and one on a Saturday in June, and the results then taken away and mixed by engineer Barry Gardener. The primary purpose of both EPs was mainly a) to give us an idea of what the songs sounded like, as when we play live, we tend to play quite ferociously amd this sometimes makes it hard to step back and hear what we’re doing, and b) to use them as promo items to help us book more shows etc.
What else have you released?
The discography is actually quite small at the moment, there is the original EP from 1978, which has been bootlegged ad infinitem and has now been issued again on 7” vinyl in Japan this year, the two tracks on the Bored Teenagers Album from the 1977 Demo, and a couple of the more recent racks have been included on various covermount CDs.
Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
We’ve played with Vice Squad, The Vibrators, London, The Plague, The Fast Cars, Choking Susan, Manufactured Romance, The Rabble, The Duel and many more
Do you prefer to do shows at large venues or small clubs?
It varies really, its wonderful to play at intimate places like the Bridgehouse and the 12 Bar in London, as the audience are right in front of you, and they really help propel you forward and give you an extra energy boost, whereas slightly larger venues sometimes have a different feel and aesthetic. As long as people can hear/see us and the sound is clear and powerful, I don’t mind where we play.
Where have you toured?
So far only the UK – we have been talking for a long time of making some forays into mainland Europe and the US and possibly Japan, but it would really depend on the level of interest and desire to see us there.
Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
Impossible to answer as we’ve played with so many great bands whom have also turned out to be great people too. The important thing I think is to make it an exciting, dynamic evening for the audience, and to make each gig a memorable event.
Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
I know in 1977 Nick loved playing The Vortex, and more recently we’ve really enjoyed most of the places we’ve played really – especially London and Southend I guess. We all really enjoyed some gigs we played in Windsor and Brighton a while ago, and playing at the infamous Rebellion festival in Blackpool was certainly a highlight.
What Do you see is the future of the Machines?
Well, we’ve had some time off recently, as the main goal is to get the debut album out. I am launching a label – Angels In Exile (www.angelsinexile.com) –and the inaugural release will be the Machines album The plan is for it to consist of the 10 tracks from the two promo CD’s, plus 6 Bonus tracks – the original EP plus the two 1977 demo recordings, which is everything the band has recorded to date. If we can recoup costs on this, then we’d love to get a second album out of new material such as Denmark Street, Rocket Red, Mainline etc. From there who knows, but anything is possible and I do like the idea of playing our songs in somewhere like New York I must say.
How can people contact the band?
There are a number of ways, the best being through the official website at (www.the-machines.com). This links to all our other sites etc.
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