Wave Machines Interview: SXSW 2010

Hailing from Liverpool, the members of Wave Machines (Tim Bruzon, Carl Brown, James Walsh and Vidar Norheim) say they're eager to play in the States -- and especially eager to introduce their distinctive sound to the audiences at SXSW. When Spinner spoke with Bruzon, he was jetlagged but cheerful, confident that he and his band would have a blast playing to American audiences.

How did your band form?

We all knew each other in Liverpool, which is of course quite a small city, so we were aware of each other from the scene. I'd been playing in a band with Carl, and after that we were wondering what to do. After that had finished, I had written a bunch of songs, so we decided that we'd try and put a new band together around some of this new material. We knew James from around town, and we found Vidar playing the drums in a bar, thought he had a good feel and just asked him, and he came along not knowing what he was getting himself into.

How did you guys come up with your band name?

That was Carl's idea. We were throwing names around, and he had this image of "brainwaves" and "brainwave machines." We condensed this idea down to the essential bits, and thought. "There's a little phrase that's pretty common, but it's got layers of meaning if you dig a little deeper." We were quite surprised that it didn't appear like anyone else had used it, so we jumped on it.


Describe your musical sound.

Our sound is a bit of a mix-up between danceable disco beats and guitar-driven indie songwriting. There's quite a little journey that happens throughout the course of our album. There are a few straight-up indie guitar songs, and then a few disco-y grooves on it. So it's not as straightforward as it could be, and perhaps that might make (the sound) a little more difficult, but we like to keep ourselves entertained, so we mix things up a bit.

What are some of the challenges your band has had to overcome to this point?

Really, it's the same thing that most bands face: You're at a point where you know that starting from scratch with no records or profile, and we set ourselves goals and made a plan of where we were -- which was nowhere -- and where we wanted to be in one year's time. After the first year, we had achieved a lot of the things from that list: We'd gotten ourselves a van, driven around the U.K. on tour and played to as many people as we could. And we'd managed to find a small label that would put our single out. So really, the challenge is that it takes time and that puts a lot of pressure on people, especially when you've got girlfriends and jobs. Everybody wants to see progress, but it's really about everybody having faith and just hanging in there.

What are your musical influences?

I suppose they're quite diverse between the four of us. James and I spend quite a lot of time listening to electronic music, such as Aphex, Autechre and a lot of dance music, but at the same time there's a real love of the classic songwriters, such as Neil Young and the other big songwriting names. We try to combine that classic, guitar-driven songwriting ethic with a bit of an electronic production style -- that's our goal musically. I suppose it's quite directly reflected in those influences.

Are you looking forward to any performances at SXSW?

To be honest, I'm not too sure about a lot of the American bands that will be playing there, so a lot of it's going to be about listening to the word on the street and getting directed to what seems to be the most talked-about shows. With the U.K. bands, there's Slow Club playing, and I've got a lot of love and respect for them. I'll also be wanting to check out The Invisible, another U.K. band who had a really funky album out last year.

What are your expectations and hopes for SXSW?

The main thing for us is to go and play as well as we can and just put ourselves out there. We couldn't expect to come to America and break America -- we're lucky enough to have this nice little run of two weeks' worth of dates leading up to SXSW so that we can find our feet before we play our first show there. We've been playing these songs for a while now, and we're in a really nice place with them, and we feel confident that we've got something that's gonna be exciting for people to watch. So we're just gonna come and do our job and enjoy it.

What's in your festival survival kit?

A box of wine is very useful. Then you just need a couple of plastic cups and you've got a little party in your rucksack, all day long. Well, maybe not all day long -- it depends on how quickly you drink it. That's my festival essential.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

I want to be entertaining for anyone who reads this, but I fear that I'm not going to fulfill the expectation of a question like that! The craziest thing. At a gig in the U.K., while we were waiting outside of a venue, the bouncers of this club had their cars parked right outside the club. We saw these really drunk lads come down the street while the bouncers weren't attending the door. One of them headbutted the rear window of the bouncer's car and smashed it, much to the joy of all his friends -- they must have been really messed up on something. They ran off down the street, then the bouncers showed up and they ran after the guys, and a big fight happened. It was one of those moments where you stand there thinking, "I think I lead a really quiet, dull life." Exciting, crazy, naughty stuff is best to be observed from a distance. We're fairly mellow chaps.

What is your musical guilty pleasure?

I've been listening to a bit of Whitney Houston recently, her 'Whitney' album. When that album came out, it was one of the first albums I'd ever heard. Someone gave it to me on cassette, and it was one of the first times I ever heard something on stereo, and it's a really amazing experience when you get that the first time. Recently I found myself wanting to re-live that and find out whether it was as good as I remembered, so lately it's that album.

What is your biggest vice?

I stopped smoking a few years ago. I don't tend to drink too much, so I live quite clean, I suppose. I sleep in, which doesn't sound like much of a vice, but it can certainly de-motivate you and stop you working. And also, the Internet -- I sit and waste hours online. It's a real problem for me. That's why I don't have an iPhone -- and I'm not gonna get one, because I'd never speak to anyone again.


Clea Major is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.