Man As Machine is an alternative rock band from Johannesburg, South Africa and was founded in 2008. Their debut album Nothing But A Thing was released in 2011 and their follow-up album Patterns is their most recent release, which was released in 2015.The band currently consists of bassist Xavier Knox, drummer KJ Forde, guitarist Norden Hartman, and singer Rob Visser.
How did Man As Machine come about?
KJ:
“I am actually the last member to join Man As Machine. They are the product of a big Brother/Idols concept, but for bands. It was a competition called ‘Do Band Up’, it was in conjunction with Broadband and there were 5 drummers, 5 guitarists, 5 bassists, 5 vocalists, all put in a house and each week they would be arranged into different bands and have to perform, and people would be eliminated. Man As Machine was the winning product of this competition. The band then decided that they were going to stay as a band, after the competition ended and all sponsors pulled out, etc. the drummer who won was originally from Cape Town and decided to stay in Cape Town. Then they were looking for another drummer and that is when I joined eventually.”
So why did you decide to join this band?
KJ:
“I had just moved back from overseas after my previous band had just broken up. They knew my old band, and when I got back and Man As Machine heard I was ‘bandless’, Rob, our singer asked me whether I wanted to play. At the time I didn’t want to and turned them down initially. But eventually I met the rest of the band and got on so well with them and so it just fell into place.”
It is usually difficult for a reality created product to last post a reality show – why do you think Man As Machine has lasted?
KJ:
“Luckily with that competition they weren’t restricted to any specific genre and a lot of the writing in the beginning was actually done by the 3 original members of the band. I think all their influences and backgrounds in music brought together quite a unique sound; a very rock blues sound, which was our first album. When I joined half of that album (Nothing but a Thing) had already been written. I then brought in a bit of my influences, which changed the sound even more and so by the second album, we sounded different to the first album. It was a struggle to settle into a sound, but we have now.”
With your most recent album ‘Patterns’ – tell me how the sound has changed for the band, from the first album?
KJ:
“We released Nothing But a Thing, our first album in 2011. We got so caught up in touring that album that we didn’t have a concept for a second album. A few years passed before we decided that we needed new material. We weren’t sure how to approach this. We then decided to write one song, which was Control, which is on Patterns. We wrote this song, and found it quite difficult because as mentioned we hadn’t written together as a band for 3 or 4 years. Our influences had also changed over the years. It took a while for us to get our groove. We then released Force and Zombie after Control, and they just fell into place. So we decided to then push for the full album. That is how Patterns came along.”
If you could then describe Man As Machine to someone who has never heard you guys before, how would you do this?
KJ:
“I always like to use our live shows as a reference as opposed to our recorded work, because a lot of south African have to establish themselves as a live band, because studio time is so expensive. We are a ‘high energy party fun band’. We love being on stage and that translates to the audience.”
Are there any fun quirks that happen within the band?
KJ:
“We don’t actually have that. Since we have released Patterns, the biggest problem that we face these days is growing up. We are all growing up, our bassist has started a family, our guitarist has just become married. So it is not so much individual quirks that we have to deal with, it is more about real life now; making time for family and band. The band has extended its band members.”
Going forward?
KJ:
“We had some international tours lined up but the timing hasn’t been good, as we have our local festivals that we have had to coordinate those dates with as well. We postponed the international tour, but are looking at touring Australia in the next year, and next month we will probably start writing again. We 
are looking at getting either another album/ EP out soon and we really want to do a live DVD release very soon. We want people to be able to experience our live show, even from the comfort of their homes.”
If you could pick one song of Man As Machine that defines the band, what song would it be?
KJ:
“I think one of the best songs that sums us up off of ‘Patterns’, is definitely Zombie. It is the second track off the album. It just screams Man As Machine. It is us in a nutshell.”
If you were on a desert island and could only choose one album to listen to – what would it be?
KJ:
“That would be Karnivool’s ‘Sound Awake’ album. It is the one album that I can listen to in any mood.”
Follow the band on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manasmachine
