The Secret History

“We were just there, playing with The Thrills and when we got there it was dark and when we left it was dark. We didn’t even see daylight there.”

According to frontman Brandon Curtis, the Secret Machines stole in and out of Dublin last December in a matter of hours. Still, their support slot with The Thrills at the Point has sent reverberations through Dublin’s gig-going community. It’s no surprise, given the Secret Machines’ almost Zen-like dedication to their live shows.
“We have our little idea of what a live performance should be like,” muses Curtis. “We want to have some kind of impact on the space, both musically and physically, and we try to not break the trance or the spell of it. We want to have a continuous ride or feeling to our music. I guess we want to offer a moment of…I wouldn’t say escapism, but a moment where you don’t have to worry about it. You can just turn off a little bit and listen.”
While The Chemical Brothers may not be the most obvious candidates to complement the Secret Machines’ esoteric guitar sound, Curtis reckons that the electro outfit will make perfect touring partners.
“I think in a weird way, we share the same sentiment,” he notes. “The way a DJ or an electronic band performs is with that continuous chain of music that isn’t interrupted. That’s what we want to do too. We want to create an immersive musical environment. We did a show in Fabric (dance venue in London) and what we did fit in that venue and with that audience.”
Currently based in New York, the Secret Machines hail from Texas, where they served their apprenticeship in a variety of local outfits. Most notably, Brandon’s brother, drummer Ben, once shared a stage with Tim DeLaughter in Tripping Daisy. So he didn’t feel inclined to become the 40th member of the Polyphonic Spree, then?
“Um, no,” he laughs. “They seem to have that under control, and we’ll leave it to them. I think it’s kind of Tim’s ultimate dream band. It’s what he always wanted to do, to be around a big group of rotating musicians. He’s always been interested in having a lot of people to execute his ideas and to trade ideas with. I applaud him for that… he’s made it happen.”
DeLaughter’s loss is most certainly our gain. After painstakingly crafting their sound, the Secret Machines’ album, Now Here Is Nowhere, has been hailed as a masterpiece. So sublime is their sound that they managed to rouse legendary Pink Floyd producer Jeff Blenkinsopp out of retirement to co-produce the album (after famously turning down the services of Bob Ezrin, producer of The Wall ).
“I think it’s been a pleasant confirmation of our suspicions that we have something to offer,” says Curtis of his music. “We came at it with a certain level of confidence and intention that we’re doing this with a sense of purpose, and it’s nice that it worked out.”
With interest in the follow-up album close to fever-pitch, does Curtis ever fear a Kid A type scenario, where the band’s creative impulses go slightly haywire under the weight of expectation?
“The second record is going to be different,” he states. “We’re not intending to repeat it, but we’re not going to ‘do a Radiohead’, where they seemed to alienate themselves from what they did with OK Computer. They stepped so far to the left that they avoided any comparison to OK Computer. I don’t know if we’ll go that far.
“There’s two ways of looking at it,” he concludes. “A band that’s as creative as Radiohead have a massive audience, and you could say they make esoteric music with the intention of alienating those people or leading those people into something different. With really creative people, I want them to indulge their whims so I can see their residue. Like if they’re capable of delivering something like Bjork’s new record (Medulla). It’s her best-sounding sonic record.”
Having already built mighty psychedelic pyramids with their distorted sound, watching this band unfold will be little short of enthralling.

Secret Machines play The Point Theatre, Dublin on March 16 with The Chemical Brothers.