Speakeasy with Brandon Curtis
by Danica Johnson
Rounded out by Josh Garza and brother Benjamin, Brandon Curtis is the defacto frontman of the Secret Machines. The trio is currently finishing their next album to be released in early 2006 on Reprise Records. www.thesecretmachines.com.
Q: You seemed to have missed Indianapolis on your tour this summer.
A: Yeah, I don’t think we came anywhere close to that, really. Chicago being the closest. We’d been working on our record off and on and spent a couple of our “off” days working in a studio there. After the tour [with Kings of Leon] ends we’ll mix it and hope to have it completed in October.
Q: How is it shaping up compared to Now Here is Nowhere?
A: It’s definitely a development; a progression from where we were with the first. We’ve been on tour for almost the whole time the first record has been out. We play every day and that’s given us a different approach. There’s a lot more subtlety and sonic complexity, the song writing is a bit different. But we’re different now, and the world is a different place from two years ago. We’re definitely excited about it and proud. It’s not part two of that record, it’s definitely a step deeper.
Q: Was it a fight to put the un-radio-friendly nine-minute song “First Wave Intact” as track one on the last album?
A: We put the record together in that sequence to deliver to the label and everyone agreed that it was the correct sequence, that it made sense. They realized that it was a little counter-intuitive to start a record with a nine-minute song, but at the end of the day I think it made the record have the sort of feeling and vibe it does. We’ve enjoyed the full creative support given by the people at our label.
Q: That’s not a common scenario.
A: Yeah. I don’t know how it happened. It must be good karma or something because it has really worked out for us in that respect.
Q: You guys collectively explain making music with almost new-agey inflection. Is there anything to that?
A: Everyone has their own perspective and for us the music we make is a reflection of that perspective; our attempt to interpret the world as we see it. Our discussion of the music comes off as sort of cosmic and universal perhaps, but I’m not sure what that means anymore. Like we don’t carry around crystals, wear ponytails and celebrate the solstice or anything like that. (laughs)
Q: Being a trio and having your brother in the band surely helps with staying in tune with each other directionally.
A: It’s a strange phenomenon for me to encounter people that play in bands and don’t know why they do what they’re doing. Not to say that we have some sort of grand plan, but at the end of the day there is deliberateness and intention. Maybe that’s just how we are as people, but I can’t see doing it any other way, you know?
Q: Like through two-and-a-half-minute pop songs?
A: I don’t think we set out to make songs that are long; we set out to write songs that unfold in a way that makes sense to us, as concise and short as we think we can to get the point across. It just so happens that is takes us at least five minutes to do so. (laughs)
