Following in the hallowed history of psych-rock music in Australia is Sydney-based Magic Machine. But where Babe Rainbow firmly plant themselves on the beach under the sun, or Bananagun flower their sound with flecks of funk and diverting jabs of world music, Magic Machine’s psych-rock is grounded in a grittier style.
On their new album Escapism, the four-piece sound like a bluesier version of The Doors, tracks unspooling languorously as the band commit to jamming; a sound born out of time, it’s easy to imagine Tom Wolfe listening to this when he was writing The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
If it’s not been made clear already, Magic Machine have floated to contemporary Sydney from the deep recesses of the U.S. in the 60s. With noodling guitar lines that never want to end and haunting stabs of organ sounds, the band take their time on the appropriatedly titled Escapism. It’s all effortlessly cool and intoxicatingly groovy.
Despite only releasing their debut album, Strange World, last year, Magic Machine have been consistently moving upwards on the live circuit – they were recently asked to support Skegss – and they’re set to play the Wanderer Festival alongside the likes of Confidence Man and The Teskey Brothers in September (more information here).
To celebrate the release of Escapism, we caught up with the band as part of our Get To Know series to find out more about their lives and music.
Magic Machine’s Escapism is out now.
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How did your artist name come about?
James: The idea of a magic machine sparks great imagery. Do we use the magic machine to make our music? Maybe we are the machine of magic. Whatever is happening with this hocus pocus, our minds are under the spell.
How would you describe your music to your grandma?
James: Can you imagine what it might sound like to hear Chuck Berry and The Doors sucked into a time warp vortex?
Tell us about a few of your tracks; their titles and what they’re about?
Blake: Each album has a kind of theme that influences the lyrics and the music. Strange World was all about how people walk around in this world like its normal, when really everything is weird and strange and it is about embracing that strange. Escapism is about escaping the mundane reality and exploring ways to live freely.
What do you love about your hometown?
Cammy: The beach and the bush.
Career highlight so far?
Cammy: Releasing two albums and getting on the Wanderer Lineup is a pretty big deal for all of us.
Fave non-music hobby?
Lambo: Art
Cammy: Skating
Cloud: Skating
Blake: Surfing
What’s on your dream rider?
Baker: Volcano water, a room with a view, all of our friends, a sufficient supply of delicate delights, but not too much as to be wasteful, and hot sauce.
Dream music collaboration?
Cammy: Frank Zappa
Blake: Led Zeppelin
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Baker: Hopefully we’re making music and living away from the city. We have this dream of building a commune together and living there with our friends.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Cammy: Gloria – ‘Them’
Cloud: Bob Marley – ‘Three Little Birds’
James: Paul Kelly – ‘Dumb Things’
Blake: Shakira – ‘Hips Don’t Lie’
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Cammy: There are no rules. Be authentic and create whatever you want.
What’s one obsession you have that no one would guess after listening to your music?
Magic Machine: Nature in every form.
