Chris Green (electric, baritone and acoustic guitars, vocals, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, bass, electric piano and 60s vintage organ, 70s synths) plus "floating" members providing electric guitar, keyboards, drums and lap steel
Influences
Beatles, Beach Boys/Brian Wilson, The Searchers, Broadcast, Phil Spector, Love, Tim Buckley, Nick Drake, Walker Brothers/Scott Walker, The Comsat Angels, The Chameleons, Echo and the Bunnymen, Blur, Pulp, Stiff Little Fingers, Cocteau Twins, The Clash, Joy Division, Monade, Stereolab, The Wedding Present, Kurt Weill, Gary Numan/Tubeway Army, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Flaming Lips, The PSychedelic Furs, Yo La Tengo, The Hollies, The Jam, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, The Teardrop Explodes/Julian Cope, The Jam, Add N to X, Tijuana Brass plays the songs of Lennon and McCartney
Sounds Like
Scott Walker, Broadcast, Stereolab, Tim Buckley, Love, Pulp, Blur, Beatles, Kinks, Buzzcocks, Jam
Hi there - and welcome to the MySpace page of The Happiness Machine.
The Happiness Machine name covers my solo and group work.
I'll be rotating songs on here, so the listener can get an idea of the many different kinds of music I'm involved in. I'm also hoping to load up some videos before long.
Virgin Socks - a lo-fi love song. The "rhythm" guitar is played on bass and baritone guitars in unison. Rich Parrish provides the booming drums. Watch out for the stylophone vs lead guitar duet on the outro. This song also features a kantele - a five string folk harp from Finland!
The Miracle - This song shows my fascination with using folk instruments in unusual settings, this time it's tenor banjo with delay. A very sparse, but hopefully beautiful, arrangement.
L'Amour sous le Toit - (love under the roof, or love in the attic, if you like) - Rhythm guitar and bass were played at the same time on one instrument (baritone guitar). A nostalgic rockout, remembering a more bohemian time. My Wasp synthesizer was having a funny turn that day and would only play one note in a continuous drone, I put it to work here! A touch of the Buzzcocks and some guitar histrionics adds to the fun...
Somnambul 3 - a soundtrack piece for a Korean/international dance drama performance. East meets West with synth-koto sounds and guitar, looped lobby noise, synths and organ. The artist eventually used the earlier Somnambul 2 incarnation of this piece.
Easy dude! Yeah nice to meet you too man, liking your choonz on here too! Awesome to meet another guy who's all about making random music! Anyhow, yeah let us know if you ever fancy coming down to the studio and making some crazy noises! If not, we should certainly sort another gig out sometime! Take it easy mate, catch you soon!
Thanks for the add Chris!
Pretty much settled down with the cows and chickens in the country now, so let me know when you're next thinking of recording and in need of drums and percussion! looking forward to it :)
Hi Chris,
How goes it? Creating lots of beautiful music- I hope?
Hope thing are good with you and give me a shout if you're ever down this way, not sure when I'll be up in your 'hood next...
Take care
[excerpt from blog] ....despite all the personality clashes and difficulties bands have to go through, we were once part of something so much bigger than a band, part of a scene that was by the peope, for the people, and last night became a magnificent celebration of that.
Oh, and Chris Green was, and is, and remains to be, one of the greatest, most competent, uniquely talented all-round singer songwriter - performers I have ever seen. Thanks Chris, I am not worthy.............PP.
Hi Chris!
Still have your original tape, some wonderful songs on there. Best of luck with all your songwriting, you deserve success and therefore you shall have it!
What a difference to hear some finished articles from Chris, (certainly The Happiness Machine!). Having only experienced his music on the other side of an open mike, it's always hard to truly gauge ones intentions or direction, but these few tracks show off superbly his talent. An observer at heart Chris is often witty, diligent and decisive with his approach to lyrics; he certainly knows what he wants to say, and his delivery is always charming but honest. The lyrics themselves can have you chuckling along one moment and the next you can be hit with a vision of strong defiance or rejection (to name but a few subjects that he s deftly deals with) but this certainly just adds to the whole listening experience. The music itself appears at first solid and structured, but you can guarantee so much more in its depth, content and experimentation. Every track has something lurking beneath its surface, which just shows Chris' ear for perfect song craftsmanship, timing, and instrumentation. An inspiring selection of tracks that demonstrate love for music and song writing. There's something here for everyone who can appreciate depth in both construction and execution! Well worth gracing your ear holes with!
