aaamusic | On 16, Jan 2011

THE HOT NEW ALBUM
Released in the UK on 7th March 2011

Holland’s critically acclaimed alternative rock band whose unqiue sound is as distinctive as the Dead Weather, Captain Beefheart,
Nick Cave, Steve Reich, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Tom Waits

BAND EMBARKS ON UK TOUR IN APRIL 2011

What do you do, when in less than one year you become one of the biggest alternative rock acts in your native land of Holland?

What do you do if your record tops 2010 year end lists, following critically acclaimed performances at prestigious festivals including Lowlands, Pinkpop & Glastonbury?

De Staat has made an album that meets all expectations. Machinery is the band’s second album and follow-up to their stunning 2009 debut Wait For Evolution.Machinery is described by the band as a “gut-inducing slab of psycho funk.” It’s a dark sonic adventure that takes the listener through underground caves of blues, funk and electro where halal butchers, serial killers, whistleblowers, rats and sweat-covered bodybuilders cross paths.

Machinery is released in the UK on Monday 7th March 2011 on Cool Green Recordings via Mascot Records. The album can be pre-ordered from www.amazon.co.uk

“I often hear we sound like a machine when we play live,” says lead singer and songwriterTorre Florim. “I thought it would be fun to expand on that on this record and emphasise the mechanical elements in the music.”

Continues Florim – “We played a lot of rhythms, and also created crazy sounds with the guitars. I didn’t want to exclusively focus on the rhythmic parts, but instead wanted to change the way we approached the tools of a conventional rock band setup.  During the process of writing and creating the music, the album developed an industrial flavour that reminded us of a machine.”

Influences & Inspiration

The musical influences on Machinery are best experienced through the sound. First impressions cite the rhythms and soundscapes of minimal music-composer Steve Reich, combined with the raw analogue sound of garage rockers Dead Weather.

Says Florim: “What Jack White does with Dead Weather sound really cool, and that’s what I wanted as well. It’s the old school approach. At the same time I really like using samplers and synthesizers. That’s where Steve Reich kicks in. He uses a lot of instruments to create one sound. That’s what we tried to do on this album as well, but only in pop terms. It makes for a strange combination – record in an old school manner with a new school manner of writing. It works for De Staat.”

De Staat’s 2008 debut album Wait For Evolution was the brainchild of Florim. He spent eight years making the album and utilized a lot of ideas and influences from his youth. When the band was formed in 2006, and started playing concerts, the songs developed into something real and that’s when De Staat turned into an amazing live band. It’s that live vibe that De Staat has reproduced on Machinery.

“Machinery is the kind of album that stands on its own. Everyone in De Staat has an individual style of playing which makes up the band’s unique sound. On Machinery you can hear De Staat as De Staat sounds live. You can hear the tension of the band playing together.”

On the debut album the setup was really simple; one laptop, one soundcard, two microphones and one guitar. This time with a full band in tow, the options were much bigger. The challenge was to define the sound through the contributions and interaction of each member of the band.

“On the last album the additions of a shaker, tambourine or a cowbell, were pure necessities,” says Florim. “Now it’s more functional. We made the songs with five musicians and everything else that’s added is like the icing on the cake.”

This time Torre wrote all basic structures of all songs with five band members in mind. “Some songs were completely thought through and ended up on the record just like they were originally conceived. Other songs have gradually evolved into what they sound like now. It’s a joy to now have a band that functions as a soundboard. Every member has his own opinion. That way it makes the songs better.

Band Line-up:
Torre Florim – vocals, guitar
Vedran Mircetic – guitar
Jop van Summeren – bass, vocals
Rocco Bell – percussion, keyboards, vocals
Tim van Delft – drums

Creative Breeding Ground

The preparation of Machinery took place in what only can be described as De Staat’s mansion – a farm, just outside Nijmegen, the hometown of the band and a small city in Holland with a big rock scene. That’s where the basis of the tracks was laid down and the concept of the record was realized. Eventually they recorded the album in Eindhoven, with Florim as producer and engineer Attie Bauw (The Scorpions, Menace featuring Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker).

Says Florim – “We have recorded 13 songs in 10 days. It was great to have an engineer like Attie with us because it gave us a lot of experience.  On the song Wait For Evolution I did everything myself, but this time I needed to record a full band and I didn’t have a lot of experience to do that on my own.”

Wednesday 6th April
Camden Barfly
Tickets: £7.00 / Box Office: 0845 413 4444
www.barflyclub.com
49 Chalk Farm Road NW1 8AN

Thursday 7th April
Manchester The Deaf Institute
Tickets: £6.00 / Box Office: 0845 413 4444
www.thedeafinstitute.co.uk
135 Grosvenor St Manchester M1 7HE

Friday 8th April
Nottingham The Bodega
Tickets: £6.00 / Box Office: 0845 413 4444
www.thebodegasocialclub.co.uk
23 Pelham Street Nottingham NG1 2ED

Saturday 9th April
Bristol The Louisiana
Tickets: £6.00 / Box Office: 0845 413 4444
www.thelouisiana.net
Wapping Road Bathurst Terrace Bristol BS1 6UA