Machine Girl was in Brazil for the first time last June 26th for a single show in São Paulo, at Hangar 110. The band, which blends hardcore with electronic music, emerged in 2012 inspired by a collage of mobile and broad cultural references originating from digital cultures.
We spoke with Matthew Stephenson about the band's time in Brazil, their interest in Brazilian DJs, and the themes that inspired their latest album, MG Ultra .
Read the full text:
Wikimetal: Hi Matt. Nice to meet you. It's a shame you're here in this rainy weather.
Matt Stephenson: Oh, but it's cool. It's really nice to be here and I love how green this city is compared to New York, specifically.
WM: That's so strange to hear, because São Paulo is one of the grayest cities we have in Brazil.
MS: I can see that too, but we were walking and passed through a park near the hotel. I'm from New York, so seeing something that remotely looks like a forest or a jungle or anything, even if it's just a city block away, is very exciting for me, so it's cool.
WM: I understand the feeling! This is your first time in Brazil. Do you have any contact with your Brazilian fans or know anything about your fanbase here in Brazil?
MS: To be totally honest, what we've seen for a long time is the "Come to Brazil" meme. So I'm aware that people have been asking us to come play here for a while. I was surprised when I realized we were only going to São Paulo, because I felt that maybe going to Rio or something like that would be the bigger city. I'm very excited to be here and I'm excited to see what the fans will do tomorrow. Because going to the other side of the world and meeting fans is always a very fun part of the experience.
WM: You're going to play at Hangar 110, which is a very important venue for Brazilian rock bands. I personally have always felt that hardcore and punk music come alive more in these smaller spaces. Do you feel the same way about Machine Girl's shows?
MS: Yes, I agree. I think we all feel the same way: that the smaller, more intimate punk shows are usually our favorites and the energy is much stronger. So it's cool that that's going to be the vibe tomorrow. Machine Girl shows are interesting because they're something between a hardcore show and a hardcore rave. If people enjoy that here, then I hope tomorrow will be like that and be really energetic.
WM: You're going to play in other countries and cities in Latin America. Among them, Santiago, Chile, which is the fourth city in the world that listens to Machine Girl the most on Spotify. Are you familiar with any aspect of Chilean or even Brazilian culture?
MS: I'm a bit out of touch and hadn't realized that this was one of the cities that listened to us the most, which is very exciting. Regarding modern Brazilian music, I'm not very up-to-date, but a lot of club music comes from Brazil and enters the United States, like "baile funk" stuff that I listen to. I follow a lot of DJs on Instagram and they appear in my reels [playing] this insane, super popular funk, and the DJs kill it doing live remixes, with the speakers making the whole place shake, along with the camera and the people.
I listened to a compilation of baile funk albums from last year, and sometimes when I was DJing I'd put on some of those tracks, but the mix is so crazy and so loud that it would scare the audience sometimes and it was hard to play. But that's also what makes it fun for me to DJ.
WM: Do you think we can expect some Brazilian influence in new Machine Girl music eventually?
MS: Maybe after this trip.
WM: You mentioned that Jungian psychology is one of the many themes that influenced the new album MG Ultra . What other ideas or concepts have you studied that influence your music?
MS: I still do a lot of research on psychology and I love esoteric things, like reading people's interpretations of tarot. I recently bought a book about the medieval myth of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, which is a psychological dissection of the quest for the Holy Grail and people's search for meaning in life.
I also recently bought a book called The Book of Five Rings, which is a book written by a famous samurai in the 1600s. It's a book about the study of martial arts, like sword fighting, basically, but applying discipline and the way this guy mentally and physically prepares for a sword fight to the death with someone, like a duel. The whole process of preparing and how to train and so on… His philosophy was that you could apply this to almost any art form or skill you want to pursue in life. It's a simple but profound book.
WM: I wanted to talk a little about the album cover. For me, it evokes this very accurate and modern feeling of a society that is dying inside, but increasingly mired in consumerism and performing its entire life for social media. From your point of view as an artist, how does this work for you and Machine Girl in the music industry? Do you think Machine Girl has managed to build a safe online community where you don't have to constantly try to make your music a product?
MS: Yes, I think we were very lucky and organically built a fanbase, not through marketing and things like that, but just through organic word-of-mouth and people creating their own art and videos and sharing the music with each other, which I think is the best way for music and art to be shared.
I try, as much as possible, to avoid focusing too much on the promotional marketing aspect. When that happens, you immediately feel your soul leaving your body a little, and it all seems kind of sad and fake, but I think Machine Girl did a good job, especially considering she didn't need to do it as much as other artists.
And I'm super grateful for the community we have, because overall I would describe it as a safe environment for young people to connect with each other.
WM: Considering everything you've said, would you like to see Machine Girl reach the mainstream at some point?
MS: If it happens, it happens. It's not exactly a goal of mine. I think if Machine Girl were to become bigger, the only reason it would excite me would be if it were a cultural shock, something really disruptive. That would obviously be cool and exciting. I wouldn't want Machine Girl to shut down and become another band. I'd like to make a noise that permeates beyond our musical niche. In that sense it would be cool, but it's not a goal.
