Chris Brennan - vocals/guitar
Olaf Janssens - piano/vocals
Luc Van Haver - guitars
Mark Somers - bass
Robert Van De Laar - drums
Influences
Scott Walker, Wilco, Elliott Smith, Velvet Underground, Radiohead, The Beatles, Small Faces, Patrick McGoohan, Family, Bert Jansch, Leonard Cohen, James Jamerson, James Blood Ulmer, James Last, Elmore James, Jessie James.
'This Machine & Me is one of those bands that do everything right.... strong, heartfelt melodies, captivating rhythms, and beautiful lyrics that tell a story'
Jennifer Beckers Cutting Edge Magazine, August 2007
This Machine & Me, an alternative rock band combining musical talent from England, Belgium and the Netherlands, began life as a duo in the Summer of 2005 when singer-songwriter Christopher Brennan hooked up with guitarist Luc Van Haver and they began writing songs together. Two like-minded spirits, the blueprint was to write songs which combined the whimsy of classic late 60s pop and traditional English music hall, with elements of folk, jazz, and any other genre that happened to take their fancy.
Having spent the best part of a year writing material, the two then proceeded to recruit other professional musicians. Enigmatic pianist and multi-instrumentalist Olaf Janssens (Kowzi, Lalalover and Satellite City) soon found himself onboard playing keys, followed by guitarist Mark Somers (ex-Street Legal and sometime Billy Jenkins cohort), on bass. By the Spring of 2007, drummer Robert Van De Laar had swelled the ranks and the line-up was complete. The group immediately went into the studio and recorded and produced 4 tracks.
Since then, the group have been busy carving out a reputation as an exciting live act, performing at venues up and down the country, as well as returning to the recording studio to prepare tracks for their debut LP.
From the understated charm of ‘View From A Hill’ to the tongue-in-cheek sing along of ‘Awesome Happy Pop Song’ and the oh so slightly sinister ‘Swamp Song’, all of This Machine & Me’s songs combine “strong, heartfelt melodies, captivating rhythms, and beautiful lyrics that tell a story…”
How are you doing? I hope life is treating you well.
I just wanted to let you know I've got some new songs uploaded as well as some new versions of familiar ones, all of which are going to feature on my forthcoming album. Please do feel free to take a listen and let me know what you think and if you would be interested in a copy.
In the meantime stay well and I hope to hear from you again real soon.
Good to have you as a friend! So great to see the internet in action this way, shortening distances between people.
I hope all's well with you and that you enjoy checking out my web site some time.
For occasional, new, refreshing, insightful and (possibly?!) valuable content, I encourage you to sign up for my free newsfeed/email newsletter (using the form on site at page right - high quality, low quantity, no spam!).
You might enjoy watching some of my films (use the on screen controls to skip between them):
I am deeply indebted to my dear friend Mary Jane Irwin for drawing my attention to this remarkable piece of cinema. It is 90 mins long but I guarantee that from the first frame to the last your draw will simply drop; firstly at the incredible images you are witnessing and, secondly, at the alarming nature of the contents of the script. It is a powerful call to arms to us all and a total condemnation of the socio-economic system that we still, often blindly, choose to embrace.
This weekend, when you have a quiet 90 mins to spare, do yourself a favour and watch this because… it’s too late to be a pessimist
If you feel sufficiently moved by this film please connect to www.goodplanet.org and pass your personal comments on, not to me, but to Mary Jane (top friend number 4 on my page). Thank you.
Yay for new music, finally ha ha! Thanks for posting these.. How are you guys doing? I will be in Leuven in 2 weeks, will be picking up Hanne for Serkans event in Gent. Maybe see you then, Kim/Khalida
Just writing to let you know about the arrival of another new album from misophone- I sit at open windows, on another-record. (another-record.com, myspace.com/anotherrecord) Due out on May 5th.
The album contains 12 unreleased songs, including the previously lost archive tracks ‘castles in the sand’ & ‘cow bell blues’.
Nah, this isn't my psycho look, this is my sexy look haha :) Really liking the new songs... especially the spring song "August". Perhaps this spring song had a long lie-in! :)
'Give a little loving' and so you did. Great songs guys and thanks for adding ;-) Give my best to Martyn while you still have a chance of seeing him in the UK!
Nice cool new sounds Chris. I don't know why but when I hear your stuff I think of being chilled in a late night, dimly lit, hazy jazz club with a bottle of something nice while watching the band.
i will send ur myspace link on to our team should you wish to make contact direct with eumtv please do email me thru myspace and i will give you one of their contact emails
Them Pubs will make you think that you are full when really all you are is full of liquid. I only go to pubs if they are paying me to play there and giving me a modest bar tab. Otherwise I drink at home. Can be boring but it's a lot cheaper.
I am honored Chris. I'm just a Texan that loves music and stays close enough to a stage that I'll probably die on one. I wouldn't have it any other way. When I am playing I am in another world.
Just send me a Physical Address and I'll send you one.
