Interview ZWAREMACHINE
Interview with Mach Fox:
Hi! Give a brief history of ZWAREMACHINE, music style, and the members.
Mach Fox - Hi Iron Backstage. I am Mach Fox and Zwaremachine is my electro-industrial band from Minnepolis Minnesota USA.
I formed Zwaremachine in 2011 after years of playing and touring with several punk rock and electro rock bands and we released our first full length in 2018 and began touring to promote it in 2019.
I do lead vocals/synth and visuals for the band with Dbot on bass/vocals and Dein Offizier on drums.
The bassist and I live in the Midwest U.S. and our drummer is in the Netherlands so we combine our punk, metal and electronic tastes to perform our own style of aggressive and danceable electro
while giving a nod to early EBM & Industrial bands.
Give in more detail, some information about "Be A Light (Special Edition)" and how well it sells?
Mach Fox - We had released Be A Light in 2018 as our first full length album and were pleased when it got a great reception by DJs and reviewers, but the initial release was not widely available to fans throughout the world on its original CD and cassette version. As we promoted the album in 2019 with live shows in the U.S. and Europe it was decided with the band management that we should look for a label with worldwide distribution to really give that album a shot to be more known before we released another album. We decided to partner with Sliptrick Records for the special edition re-release of Be A Light not only because they had strong distribution and mail-order set up but they also could expose us to potential fans outside of the U.S. electronic music scene. We added the track Remain Unseen which is a dark brooding track that was only available as digital single and we also added select remixes from our bassists other projects
and our favorite remixes from Planktoon who is a Swedish music producer we have been working with for quite some time making this version a bit more stylized for DJs in the European scene since we have been concentrating our touring in central Europe. As this special edition version was just released June 9th 2020 it's early to tell how it will sell but we hope it will be well received.
ZWAREMACHINE has signed with Sliptrick records, tell more about that?
Mach Fox - We look forward to the partnership with Sliptrick Records and want to stay open to new possibilities as we promote the special edition re-release. I like the idea of being on a label with bands of different genres since I don't feel we are simply an electronic band and there's no reason not to mix it up!
What is the difference between your latest and the very first records?
Mach Fox - The short answer is we bumped the tempos and the rough edges up since we started. Now Zwaremachine is more buzzing and grinding sound with dark decaying edges and with addition of live bass guitar from Dbot and heavy acoustic drum by Dein Offizier we can reach a depth and aggression that wasn't achieved with pure electronics.
The first Zwaremachine track was titled "The Zwaremachine" and was included on our release "Raumschiff" in 2011. This EP/single release was an electro-industrial style with noisey sampling and dirty edits.
Those initial tracks were written and sequenced as sound design and I hadn't considered the live performance yet. In 2012 I was able to add a synth player and drummer to begin performing as a trio several times a year until around 2017 when I began writing the tracks that would become Be A Light. At this point I had committed to an idea of writing an album with the emphasis on live performance and went to work to assemble a soundset and arrangements by playing the songs live over several months and finding the way I wanted to present those songs before they were tracked for the album. We also have an EP just released that was a spontaneous recording with faster tempos and many of those tracks have been added to the live set we are preparing.
What inspires ZWAREMACHINE music and lyric writing? What does ZWAREMACHINE lyrics talk about?
Mach Fox - We describe our music as Minimal Hypnotic Industrial BodyMusic. There are also references to rock and metal in the live versions in the set. The minimal hypnotic part is often enforced in the instrumental arrangements and that choice is something we embrace. I was inspired by many of the bands on the label Wax trax! and those ideas of using sequencers as part of a rock band context still excite me.
The arrangements and lyrics are sometimes informed from a cinematic viewpoint and sometimes just riffs in phonics. The themes of lyrics come from cyberpunk, sci-fi and horror with some themes of noir which is also the reason why we choose to work with Paul Gerrard and Mark Gerrard so we have a continuity not only in the visual world surrounding the band but the lyrics also.
Do you play live often? Do you like abroad gigs?
Mach Fox - The band had been playing regularly since 2018 both in U.S and Europe and we had set aside 2019 to tour and promote Be A Light and thankful that we were able to play in festivals in Belgium, Germany and Netherlands.
We had planned some Be A Light(special edition) Release Party shows for summer 2020 in Europe followed by U.S. shows in the fall but plans are on hold until we are able to travel freely.
We have had a good reception abroad in regards to our live performance and we will be back as soon as possible to visit many friends and fans.
How often do the band practice and work on new material?
Mach Fox - Since the bassist and I are in the U.S and drummer in Netherlands we each work on our own and then spend time rehearsing together when we meet up before scheduled dates.
There is always some audio or visual element I am working on or I'm putting together a better live rig for touring so unfortunately it takes me some time to work on new material once a record is done but that can all change with a spark of inspiration.
How did the band come up with the name ZWAREMACHINE and tell what does it means for you?
Mach Fox - The name was taken from a track I wrote called "The Zwaremachine" and inspired by the artwork provided by Paul Gerrard
I had the idea the band could be an entity that was a type of alien life form that mankind would struggle to suppress and conquer. It also had meaning as a name since the hardware electronics, amps and CRT monitors for visuals that we hauled around became the heavy machines and we were merely the human labor setting them up for transmissions.
What does the band plan on doing in near time?
Mach Fox - We have been working up a live set and i think all 3 of us are ready to get into the same room and pound out some songs that we haven't got to play together yet.
When I am able to travel, the drummer and I will rehearse and record together while we make some booking plans with our manager/booking agent who is also in the Netherlands.
Any message to Iron Backstage readers?
Mach Fox - Thank you for letting me introduce our band and release. If you want some new noise check out the Be A Light(special edition) available at Sliptrick Records/Dead Pulse.
We also have a new EP just released and we will update our sites ASAP about any live dates.
Official website: