Machine Head – Interview

The climb to the top has been a twisted one for California’s Machine Head. They experienced huge success, but all the while the band was in turmoil with former axesmith Logan Mader. Now he’s gone, and another talented grinder has taken his place, and elevated the band to yet an even higher plain. The new album is heavy, both melodic and bludgeoning. They’ve been cast as sellouts by some, and geniuses by others. Where do they think they stand? I had a chance to chat with the newest member of the band, Ahrue Luster, and got his view from the inside of the wrecking ball known as Machine Head. Take cover.

How’s the tour going?

The tour is going excellent. Probably ninety-five percent of the shows have been just totally kick ass, off the hook. Kids have been just going nuts.

How has the response been with all of your new stuff?

Most of it is excellent. Then there’s a couple of people who totally hate it. They say how different it is, but anytime you’re going to do something that’s going to be a step forward, then there’s always going to be cynics. But if we came up with a record and people are saying it’s alright, to us, that’s no good. It’s good when people love it and hate it, because you can’t just settle on the middle ground; you’d just be repeating what you did before.

About the album, how long were you in the studio?

About six weeks, all together. We took a little break for the holidays. It took about three weeks to mix it.

How’s the tour going?

The tour is going excellent. Probably ninety-five percent of the shows have been just totally kick ass, off the hook. Kids have been just going nuts.

How has the response been with all of your new stuff?

Most of it is excellent. Then there’s a couple of people who totally hate it. They say how different it is, but anytime you’re going to do something that’s going to be a step forward, then there’s always going to be cynics. But if we came up with a record and people are saying it’s alright, to us, that’s no good. It’s good when people love it and hate it, because you can’t just settle on the middle ground; you’d just be repeating what you did before.

About the album, how long were you in the studio?

About six weeks, all together. We took a little break for the holidays. It took about three weeks to mix it.

Did you just step in? Was it an easy transition?

Yeah, one thing that helped out was that I’ve known Robb (Flynn, lead singer) for about eleven years. I knew Adam, not as well, but when I got into the band, it wasn’t like I got into a band with a bunch of strangers. Plus I lived in the area, and it wasn’t like I was moving into a new place or being in a band with guys I didn’t know. It was the same for them; they knew me, so it was a lot easier that way.

What kind of input did you have in the studio?

They had three or four songs that they had been working on before I got into the band, but nothing was complete. Ever since I entered it’s been about equal, contribution wise, for the music between me and Robb.

From your standpoint, what did Logan’s dismissal do to the band, especially recording?

I know they’re a lot happier now. Before shows, we screw around, have fun. They never did that. Before they went onstage when he was in the band, they’d be off on their own. I think that stuff shows in the show, so now it’s way more like one unit, everybody gets along. It’s just a lot cooler.

Why didn’t Ross mix it?

What we wanted Ross for wasn’t because of the sound. We wanted him because he can, better than anybody else in the world, bring the best out of you, the best performance out of all of us. We wanted to have the best sounding recording by far, of all the other ones, and we thought the best person for that was Terry Date. We got what we wanted from each person.

Robb was real down for a while and sick at some point. Did that affect anything at Indigo (Ranch, the recording studio)?

I know he had a cold during vocals. But there wasn’t anything as far as problems went, with Robb or anything else.

Is there a reason why you covered The Police’s “Message In A Bottle”?

It wasn’t so much we picked it. We weren’t trying to think of a cover when we were writing the record. I used to play the song at practice all the time. I’ve been playing that song since I started playing guitar, and also Genevra, Robb’s fiance, bought The Police’s greatest hits cd, and she was listening to it at home. He just had it stuck in his head and one day he was doing guitar tracks, he was trying to figure it out. Ross walked into the room when he was doing that, and he was like “What is that?” It’s not like we chose to record it. We decided that day to do it. The day it happened, we recorded it. It wasn’t rehearsed, just one shot. We weren’t even going to put it on the record, but it came out so good we just said, ‘Fuck it.’ So there it is.

What kind of set do you play? Does it change between older or newer stuff?

Probably half new, half old. We’ve experimented with playing different songs, but it’s pretty much the same.

So what’s next for Machine Head?

We’re going to be touring with Sevendust in the States. After that, we’re taking Slipknot and Amen over to Europe with us.

What do you think of Slipknot?

They’re great, and really cool. The first night of the tour we were like, ‘We have to go on after these guys?’ They’re pretty wild, but after a while, you just do what you gotta do.

Are you going to be in Europe for the millennium?

No, we’ll probably be back before then. We’ll probably be partying with friends.

+ rick hinkson