Issue 155

Viva Machine

14th April 2007

"Oh my God! Yeah, Swansea," exclaims Chris, the vocalist of up-and-coming Viva Machine. "Its getting better though isn't it?"

"Going to other towns and seeing the music scene there makes you realise that Swansea isn't really that bad," adds guitarist Gar. "There are a lot of bands trying to do something different and it's hard to get bands together for gigs."

Viva Machine are on the threshold of putting Swansea firmly on the music map as they ascend the upward curve towards stardom, having already toured with the likes of Shiny Toy Guns and YourCodeNameIs: Milo. The band supported Shiny Toy Guns at DV8 before the Easter holidays, and the band are happy with how that tour went.

"We got along with them really well," reveals Chris. "And the thing about that tour was it was more our crowd."

"Yeah, you know people who are there to hear new music," adds Dai, Viva's drummer.

The Automatic are another band who Viva Machine are friendly with, and have played together on numerous occasions already, and both bands will meet again on the bill at this year's Summer Ball. It's a link that Viva see continuing for the foreseeable future too.

"It was a coalition which started long before that really though," admits Tom.

"They were one of the only bands we really got along with," says Chris.

"Not that we hate other bands though!" Tom adds hastily.

Asides from their friendship with The Automatic and Shiny Toy Guns, Viva Machine happily cite bands such as Biffy Clyro, Jarcrew and Weezer as favourites. But with a fairly eclectic range of influences, how would one describe the music that Viva produce, especially if you're not familiar with them?

"My description would be Queens of the Stone Age meets the Knife meets Weezer meets Muse epic-ness," Tom replies.

"Happy Armageddon," suggests Chris "Apocalyptic," adds Dai. "A bit of pop, a bit of rock."

"It sounds a stupid to say electro rock," explains Chris further. "It sounds like some Welsh person saying 'Well it's a bit of electro rock innit'."

"Thing is," claims Tom, "then you think of the Klaxons then and we are not like that!"

At present, and somewhat incredibly, Viva Machine remain unsigned, although that hasn't deterred the band from working on their debut album.

"We are in the process of recording it and writing it at the moment," explains Tom. "But the thing is we need someone to release it! We've had some offers but nothing solid yet."

This summer could prove to be an exciting one for the Swansea band, as they prepare for appearances at Scotland's Rock Ness festival alongside The Automatic, Manic Street Preachers and the Chemical Brothers, as well as the Full Ponty festival. Although it could be argued that the real big one is their appearance at the Summer Ball.

"We are playing with Liberty X aren't we? That'll be awesome!" claims Tom.

"In fact we might have a special surprise for them, so all you Swansea students go to the Ball, and we will have a bit of a dedication to Liberty X," adds Chris.

Yet the band doesn't necessarily see their appearance at the Summer Ball as a hometown gig in the normal sense, as Tom explains.

"The uni is a bit strange really. I don't consider it home town because everyone is from away."

"When we play the Monkey," says Chris, "it's a lot different from the uni as anyone can go there, though it's quite small."

There are worse places that the band could find themselves. In particular, their experience of Swindon doesn't fare very well in their estimations.

"If Satan came down to earth and needed to feed on some souls," explains Chris, "and I saw him in the street, and he said excuse me do you know where I can feed on some souls, I would send him to Swindon because they were the most horrible people and he'd love it. It'd be like a three course meal."

Show your love to Viva Machine at the Summer Ball, because a visit from Satan wouldn't do Swansea any good at all.

Roz Moger