Secret Machines

Secret Machines are a space rock band which formed in Dallas, Texas, United States in 2000. They consist of Brandon Curtis (vocals, bass, keyboards), Phil Karnats (guitar) and Josh Garza (drums). Benjamin Curtis, the band's founding guitarist and Brandon's brother, amicably left the band in mid-2007 to focus on his new band, the dream pop trio School of Seven Bells. Karnats and Benjamin Curtis were former members of the 90's alternative group Tripping Daisy, Garza of the space rock group Comet. Revealing a sharp songwriting instinct and unfolding a distinct indie rock influence, the Secret Machines unveil singular scenarios and refined tunes within the alternative pop/rock scene. Guitarist Benjamin Curtis, Drummer Josh Garza, and Brandon Curtis (vocals, bass, keys) formed the Secret Machines in the midst of summer of 2000, in Dallas, TX. The trio swiftly managed to create its own sounding marks, mostly due to a common musical and band experience. Before forming the Machines, the Curtis brothers played with the punk rock squad Ufofu; in addition, Brandon’s also a regular headliner of the Dallas underground music scene, namely through his active participation in projects such as captain audio alongside Garza. After several months of rehearsals and recording sessions in Chicago with engineer Brian Deck, the Machines offered their debut disc, the EP September 000, in March of 2002. After touring throughout much of 2002, the band returned to their adopted hometown of New York City and began recording the debut full-length for Reprise with producer Jeff Blenkinsopp. The album Now Here is Nowhere was released in May of 2004. This was then followed up by their second full length album Ten Silver Drops, released in April 2006 to mixed critical responses. While working on their third album, Benjamin left the band to continue his work with School of Seven Bells, a new project with members of the disbanded On!Air!Library!. Josh and Brandon have been joined by guitarist and vocalist Phil Karnats, restoring the band to a three-piece. The Secret Machines are featured on the soundtrack for Universal’s movie musical, “Across the Universe”. In 2008, the Secret Machines joined the ranks of other iconic artists such as NIN, Radiohead, and Pearl jam, who are putting their music out without the support of a major label. Having recently parted ways with Warner Brothers, their follow up album to 2006’s Ten Silver Drops will be self-released on TSM Recordings on October 14, and features 8 new tracks: ‘Atomic Heels’, ‘Last Believer’, ‘Drop Dead’, ‘Have I Run Out’, ‘Underneath The Concrete’, ‘Now You’re Gone’, ‘The Walls Are Starting to Crack’, ‘I Never Thought To Ask’ and ‘The Fire Is Waiti After much press speculation and heresy, er...hearsay... here's the REAL story, as only the band can tell it.  As they prepare for their upcoming UK/EU tour and to celebrate the release of their third album, Secret Machines (featuring 2 bonus tracks), in the UK - the band have spoken publicly for the first time since the departure of former guitarist Benjamin Curtis.  "Secret Machines is supposed to be a vehicle for us to be ourselves and play and do what we wanted to do, and that's why Ben left." - Brandon Curtis "I wouldn't have joined them if they hadn't been open-minded in that way." - Phil Karnats "We wanted someone who could just grab it. We're really tough musicians, if you can play, cool - if not, get the hell outta here. Phil can hang." - Josh Garza Released today on the band's social network www.thesecretmachines.com, the uncensored video clip of Brandon, Josh and Phil - who speaks out for the first time on camera - reveals what really happened, why Benjamin left, and how they rose above uncertainty to continue the musical revolution known as The Secret Machines. Check out the never-before-seen-footage , Part 1 in a series. Shot in hi-def by Susan Stahman and Howard Berger, courtesy of PalmDoorFilms.  http://thesecretmachines.ning.com/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.