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The Secret Machines

MusicBlog

"In the Studio..."

Location: New York, NY

Website: http://www.thesecretmachines.com

Bio: When his brother, guitarist/vocalist Ben Curtis, left the band to focus on his band School of Seven Bells in early 2007, Brandon and drummer Josh ... (more) Garza knew this didn’t mean the end. The energy and emotion that The Secret Machines fans responded to over the last decade, and continue to seek, was intact. Rather than pull the plug, they carried on with their towering third album, Secret Machines.

Longtime friend Phil Karnats, who played with Ben in the Polyphonic Spree precursor Tripping Daisy and filling in for Ben, was installed as permanent guitarist. “He’s an equal third member, musically,” says Josh, who says Karnats was a part of this record’s earliest sessions. “Ben is obviously irreplaceable,” adds Brandon, “but the transition to Phil has been very easy.”

Unfazed and undaunted, and in an industry where even the smallest task can prove Sisyphean, The Secret Machines carved their own destiny. “We didn’t know what was happening with Warner,” Josh says, “but we thought if we were going to go out, we might as well go out with a bang.” In June 2007, the trio went into Manhattan’s The Magic Shop to record (and Electric Ladyland to mix). When Warner Bros. balked at getting behind a “new” band, The Secret Machines chose to self-release the new album in collaboration with World’s Fair Label Group. Josh calls it the album they’ve “always wanted to make.” (less)