Liverpool’s crazy. Never knowing whether it’s coming or going, its delightful inconsistency makes listening to its underground more like a merry-go-round that occasionally spits out legends. One such band is Wave Machines.
Listen to Wave Machines’ debut album and you’ll soon see that they’re not short of influences. A kind of poppy pick‘n’mix, they bounce from lo-fi disco to Bollywood to a military marching beat with the confidence of a band well versed in just giving it a go. This is in part due to their involvement with a group of Liverpuddlian artists, poets, writers and suchlike known as Mercy.
“Mercy definitely inspired us,” says vocalist/keyboard player/guitarist Carl Brown. “It’s not a well-known Liverpool scene but it’s definitely a really tight connection of artists under the surface who are creating amazing content” Carl is joined by Tim Bruzon (vocals/guitar/keyboards), James Walsh (vocals/bass guitar/keyboards) and Vidar Norheim (vocals/MalletKAT/vibraphone); all but Vidar met when their paths crossed in a studio whilst working on other projects. Vidar was spotted playing drums in a bar, and when it was discovered that he was a vibraphone player first and drummer second, he was recruited into the band. “Now we have him on stage playing electric vibraphone and drums, each with one hand,” says Carl.
As each member can play an array of instruments there’s always competition when it comes to coming up with parts, with bass lines and keyboard parts being swapped for melodies and vocals. “It’s just whoever’s got it going on at that time gets the part,” he reveals. “You might not end up playing that part live, you might be playing another part.”
With their first few singles laced with heady electro-pop, comparisons with the recent barrage of such bands were going to be rife. “We definitely have been lumped into a group and it’s understandable,” Carl sighs. “It’s just our next single, ‘Punk Spirit’, is not electro-pop at all. Our album is definitely an attempt at an eclectic journey, and for some people that doesn’t work being so eclectic on an album; they like a certain colour and they like it all the way.”
The album may be an eclectic entity in itself, but the band want this to be translated to their live shows, with their club nights already featuring live music interspersed with comedians and poetry readings. “We’ve got some plans at the moment to work with visuals and brand new software that’s come out, so we’d love to be able to put that on show. I think the live scene’s improved massively over the past few years. With record sales falling through the floor people are having to go out live and produce the goods on stage and I think that’s great because it can be so much better than what it already is. I just hope our band can be one of the ones to go out there and do something about it.”
Words by Stevie Keen
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Wave Machines are to appear at this week’s Clash Live gig in London with Motel Motel and Foreign Office. Find out all about it HERE.
Read ClashMusic’s review of Wave Machines’ debut album, ‘Wave If You’re Really There’, HERE
