Indiescoveries Interview With: The Kind Machine!

The Kind Machine

Ghost: Welcome! Can you tell us about your journey into music? How did you get started and what inspired you to become an indie artist?

The Kind Machine: My musical journey really began when I started to listen to a television programme that was very popular in the UK, and that programme was called Top of the Pops. It was on weekly and it always featured the popular hits of the day. So that's how I really started gaining an interest in music. So I would listen to whatever the hit singles of the day were, and then I would use my pocket money to go to my local record shop and buy those records. Of course, listening to all this wonderful music made me want to become a musician, so I begged my mother to buy me a guitar, and she bought me a classical guitar that was of terrible quality. You could not play it above the 3rd fret. The strings were so high. But I tried the best I could, and that's how I learned how to play guitar, playing single notes, and that was the beginning of my journey to becoming a musician.

Eventually, I joined lots of college bands. We played post-punk material. We wrote our own songs very badly. And that just progressed and that just continued. After the dream had died of becoming a professional musician, I spent the rest of my time, in fact probably the next 20 years, playing in cover bands in various places where I lived. Eventually I decided that I wanted to become an independent musician and I wanted to write my own songs again, and I found some old school friends actually, and we got together and recorded an album. This led to me wanting to become an independent musician in my own right, write my own songs, and also write my own lyrics, and also sing, which is something that doesn't come naturally to me. So therefore, releasing my first single, Hearts in Bloom, under the project name The Kind Machine, was a complete surprise to me. And that's how I became an independent musician.

Ghost: Very cool! What is the story behind your artist's name? Does it hold a special meaning for you?

The Kind Machine: The story behind my project name, The Kind Machine, actually isn't that interesting, but I like to think that I'm a kind and empathetic person, and I think there's far too little empathy, far too little understanding in the world today. So the idea behind the name The Kind Machine is to try and bring a little bit of fun into the world through my music. My first single, Hearts in Bloom, is deliberately upbeat, and I want the listeners of my music to be entertained and for just approximately three and a half minutes to be taken into another world where they don't have to worry and they don't have to be sad and can leave all the problems of this crazy world behind.

Ghost: I admire that. I think Kindness and empathy are some of the most important traits for one to possess. How would you describe your music style? What genres or artists have influenced your

sound?

The Kind Machine: I would say that the style of The Kind Machine is definitely synth-pop. I remember being influenced very early on when I was 14 years old, sitting in my bedroom, and I bought the album Autobahn by Kraftwerk. I listened to the album, and it was as if I was transported off into another world. Little did I know that almost 40 years later I'd be living in Germany, I'd become a German citizen, and I would almost master the language. Of course, I am very influenced by synth-pop bands from the 1980s, just to mention a few, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, early albums from Human League, Heaven 17, another one of my favourite bands, and Thomas Dolby. My first introduction to music and influences, however, was learning how to play guitar, so some of my early influences were bands from the punk era, for example, The Clash and the Sex Pistols. One of my favourite bands as I was growing up as a teenager was Led Zeppelin. I have all their albums, and I think I know every single one of their songs. Another band that heavily influenced me was a Canadian band called Rush. And again, I have all their records and know practically all their songs, and they were a huge influence on me, and I love that band even today. But in terms of electronic music, the real game changer for me was Gary Numan, and I remember buying Replicas, which I think was the second album from Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army, and that album really made me want to buy a synthesizer. Shortly I did buy my first synthesizer and formed a band with a very good school friend of mine. We modelled ourselves on Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, but unfortunately, because we couldn't really play our instruments, we weren't actually very good at all. Another major influence on my music was the band Genesis, especially when the band had Peter Gabriel in their lineup.

Ghost: Very awesome. Can you share the creative process behind your latest album/single? How do you usually go

about writing and producing your songs?

The Kind Machine: So, most of my songs start out as a chord progression. I normally sit in front of my keyboard, and I will work out a few chords. I sometimes get a spark of an idea. I don't always know the number of chords that I will use in a song or even the arrangement, but that is the next step. Like most people these days, I use a computer and a digital audio workstation. and I will map out the project in my session and that will include the verse and the choruses or any breaks or any solo sections in that particular song. The first thing I will record will be a piano scratch track and that will be a full composition according to the arrangement. I generally like to work out the percussion and the drum section first and then probably the bass to give a foundation to the entire piece. and then everything else will be layered on top of that. Once all that is completed, I will then find a melody and then I will look for lyrics. I'm not a natural lyric writer, so for me this is the most challenging part. So, once I have a basic arrangement, including piano, bass and percussion, once the lyric and the melody have been written, I will then record those as another scratch track and then continue with the rest of the production until it's finished. 

Ghost: Nice! What a fun and creative process! What challenges have you faced as an indie artist? How have you overcome them?

The Kind Machine: I've mainly been a guitarist and an instrumentalist for most of my musical life, so the biggest challenge that I faced as an indie artist was finding my voice, so to speak. It just took hours of repetition and hours of practice to try and sing, and the more that I tried to do it, the better I became, which was a big surprise to me. Writing lyrics is also very challenging, so I try and put myself in everyday situations. Most recently, I've been collecting phrases or just words or just anything that pops into my head and I note them onto my iPhone. I use the Notes application and if a line comes into my brain, I will just write it down and that maybe in the future will form an idea to write a lyric for a song. Then of course, since I became an independent musician, one of the biggest challenges is the technical side of things. If you're a solo independent artist such as I am, You have to wear literally every single hat. And what I mean by that, not only do you have to create the song, but of course you will need to record it. So we end up being our own producers, our own recording engineers, our own mix engineers, and sometimes even mastering engineers. And this has been a real challenge over the last few years. I've never taken any lessons, I've never been to audio school, and I don't have a qualification in audio. For many years I was an IT professional, so my profession, I think, has given me an advantage when learning the dark arts of music production.

Ghost: Nice. I can definitely relate to that. I was in Radiology Data Management for a number of years, and I can't even read music lol. Guitar tabs I can read, but other than that, no music theory or music education in my past. I was kicked out of 5th grade music class, because I couldn't play the baritone after a few weeks. The thing was bigger than I was, and I dropped out of college piano class lol. The teacher was mean. Making music from the heart is always the best method in my opinion, and I can tell that's where your music comes from. Can you tell us who inspired your passion for music growing up?

The Kind Machine: I think my parents were a big influence on me growing up. There was always some music being played in the living room. We had one of those typical large, massive pieces of furniture, which served as a radio and also a record player. Even the television used to sit on top of it. They had a rather small record collection and I used to sit in front of this large piece of furniture and start to play records. I remember my parents being big fans of Jim Reeves, Nil Sedaka and of course the Beatles. Other musical influences that inspired me were many. I grew up in the 1970s in the UK, and I remember that the glam rock scene made a huge impression on me, especially artists like Slade, The Sweet, and Marc Bolan with T-Rex. But I think the single most inspirational event of my early musical life was the advent of punk rock. Up until that point, to make music, I thought you had to go to university, get a degree in music, learn how to read and write music, before you could become a musician. Punk rock for me broke the glass ceiling. I was very influenced by the Sex Pistols and John Lyndon, otherwise known as Johnny Rotten, and I think the whole punk era demonstrated that you didn't have to be a technical wizard to create art. After my mother bought my first guitar and I played in my first band, I never really looked back.

Ghost: Music is in the genes :) Ah the Sex Pistols... What a great band. What message do you want to convey through your music? Is there a particular theme or emotion you aim to evoke in your listeners?

The Kind Machine: The Kind Machine is a relatively new project, so I don't think that I have any real specific aim or message to give through my music. However, there are so many crazy things happening in the world at the moment that the emotions I want to invoke when people listening to my music are those that bring enjoyment and not sadness. I'll leave it to others to write about world events, politics and poverty. That doesn't mean that I don't care about these things, in fact I do. So, in fact one message I'd like to convey through my music is to encourage empathy, through positivity, and hopefully at the same time make the world a better place. 

Ghost: That’s a beautiful sentiment. Empathy through positivity. What a powerful antidote to the chaos. I think music has this rare ability to bypass the noise and speak directly to the soul. Even without a defined message, the energy you put into your sound becomes its own kind of language. Definitely keep channeling that joy. I think the ripple effect of your sonic optimism is already making the world a little brighter. What are your future plans? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that your fans should look forward to?

The Kind Machine: Future plans for the Kind Machine, of course, include writing more music. I'm currently working on my follow-up single to Hearts in Bloom, which will be called I Want to Believe, and that should be out very soon. I want to try and steer away from creating an EP or album project, because these typically take a long time to complete. I'd rather get my music out there quickly. That way I feel I can stay more relevant as an independent artist. In the past, I have worked on a collaborative project called That's Sfumato Effect, and we released an album in 2022. My role in this project was to be a producer, a recording and mix engineer, as well as writing some of the material. I never actually contributed any lyrics or real songs to this particular project, which is why I was keen to break out as an independent artist under the project name The Kind Machine in the 1st place. I find remote working a bit of a challenge, so currently being a bit of a control freak, I prefer to have complete control and work on my own, but there may be further releases from that Sfumato Effect. However, my primary focus will remain on my solo project, The Kind Machine. Before I finish, I just want to say thank you very much for interviewing me. I really enjoyed answering all of your questions, and I hope my answers will be of interest to all of your readers.

Ghost: I'd Like to Thank The Kind Machine so much for taking the time to speak with me. It was a pleasure to learn more about your work, your creative process, and the inspiring energy behind your projects. I truly appreciated the opportunity to connect and hear your insights firsthand.

Your openness and thoughtfulness made the conversation both engaging and memorable. I'm grateful for the chance to share your story and look forward to seeing what you create next!!