Machine: Fine-Tuned
If you want to create the perfect album, it seems logical to go to a guy who calls himself Machine. Sure, he’s got the perfect name for the job, but he also happens to be one of the best producers in the business. He’s shaped hit bands like Fall Out Boy, Armor for Sleep, Eighteen Visions, and most recently, Grammy-nominated masters of metal Lamb of God. But Machine is much more than just a rock producer. In fact, he despises your typical, cookie-cutter rock recording. He’s a master of musical matchmaking, drawing the best sound out of every band, regardless of the kind of music they play.
“When I met Lamb of God I told them how much I didn’t like your typical metal recording,” he says. “That got me the gig. You can’t take the metal out of Lamb of God. They are metal. But they wanted a different sound to their metal. And it worked.” The band’s “Sacrament” stormed the Billboard charts, hitting number 8 during the first week of its release. A song from the album, “Redneck,” has been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category.
Machine is a monster in the studio, squeezing awe-inspiring performances out of bands. He’s also a mindreader. He absorbs a band’s vibe, spins it around in his head, and produces albums that expose a band’s inner workings. “A great producer has the ability to tap into what’s special about something,” he says. “I’m tapping into other peoples’ passions.”
To accurately portray that passion, Machine uses a Mac Pro running Logic Pro chained to Apogee interface gear — creating a fully native recording solution. “I’m always looking to make a better record and Macs have always been the better computers for making music,” he says. “I’ve always used Logic. These are my tools — they’re solid and they simply work.”
Natural Progression
Machine was practically born a musicmaker. Both his parents are classical musicians by trade and the young Machine was immersed in notes, scales, chords, and meters. When he hit high school he grabbed a pair of drum sticks and a guitar and started rockin’. Then came the four-track and eight-track recording decks. “I got into recording as a way to get my music down,” he says. “It turned out that I was kind of a natural at it — I was really good at getting sound.”
Naturally, Machine found better and better machines to work with. In a short while he was programming drum loops for friends and hip hop artists in New Jersey using Notator, the precursor to Logic Pro. He was recording tracks for his friends using his newfound computer equipment. He was massaging tracks, mixing albums, and molding bands. He was, in every sense of the word, a producer. “But I didn’t know what a record producer was,” he says. “I was just recording and helping out bands. It was just what I did every day.”
Then he got hooked up with White Zombie. “I did a remix for them that went platinum,” he says. The doors flew open and suddenly Machine knew exactly what a record producer was. “V2 records had just started and I got a call from some people at the company,” says Machine. “He was looking for a producer and he hired me to work on a new act.”
Through word of mouth, and some awesome work, Machine nabbed a legit gig with a cutting-edge label and never looked back.
But wait. . . how did Machine get his name? “It’s a nickname I got while working as a bartender in college,” he says. “The boss gave me the name and it just stuck. It’s comical to me now, but I don’t regret using such a kooky name. It’s memorable and it’s been a big part of my career.”