BLOG 3 OF THE MINI LAUNCH
This week's fantastic blog comes courtesy of Doug Lyon. Doug has probably seen Drum Machine play more times than anyone else! He has followed the band from the start taking videos of performances and now he plays Bass in the band!!!
Thank you so much Doug for taking the time to write this brilliant piece...
"'Trance' has become known as an EDM musical genre. It is though a very ancient concept I suspect, understood and deliberately sought out since humans stared into the flames and hit things to dance around a fire millennia ago.
Trance states may be meditative or ecstatic, or both I guess...
Collective trance states and the experience within that can be known as 'liminal.' Liminality is the state whereby through an induced collective experience the individual loses their sense of self and becomes One, or At One with a mass. Like the height of a rave or a big gig where everyone peaks simultaneously.
DRUM MACHINE have always induced this in me. So much so that family and dear friends, playing in the band almost immediately dissolve into that black slab of pulsating energy, and the individuals within it melt away in the entrancing sway.
I was Drum Machine's video documenter from the very start. Here is a video I made of Drum Machine at the Trades Club, Hebden Bridge with Mental Elf on NYE. I made this video as a psychedelic experience in itself to match the live one, which for me IS a hypnotic and psychedelic state of trance. A chance to space out but simultaneously lock in. Trance dance.
As an audience member it is a matter of seconds before the hypnotic sway takes me away, and the mighty wall of sound quietens everything else in my mind. The visual block of black becomes one mass, and the machine takes over. It's delicious.
As a fan, video documenter and recently bass drum player I adore that sense of dissolving into the live DM experience. It's not like any other band. I have seen thousands of bands since being a young punk in '77 and played in several other percussion based bands. The only band I would compare DM to in their shamanic strength is the inimitable Killing Joke - no ordinary band, still improving with age and endlessly keeping that simple and effective strength and groove.
I think I can personally claim to have seen DM play more than any other person as a fan, filmed days’ worth of footage and now played many many gigs.. The experience is almost always the same whatever the very diverse contexts we play in. Whether it be a main stage, in a field or a night club, whoever the audience are, Drum Machine call people in. We start the party.
(Bestival start the party video link https://youtu.be/W4H9LCmCOGk )
There isn't any other band I've seen over a hundred times and feel as entranced still as I did the first time. It's a magical mystical thing, I'm endlessly delighted to be part of. Numerous incarnations, members and musical tweaks over around a decade, and I suspect and hope DM will continue to evolve and dissolve for years to come.
Viva Le Machine!"
By Doug Lyon - Bass Player in Drum Machine
And if you are thinking about joining the band NOW is the time! We have a recruitment course starting on October 25th, 2019.
The 7PM is now FULL but we still have a few places on the 8.30PM course. The course runs for 8 weeks. Contact aid@drummachine.org.uk for more info or to book your space.
If you would like to write an article about Drum Machine for our Blog, please send your submission to kati@drummachine.org.uk