| Eureka Machines | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Leeds, West Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | Pop-rock Pop-punk |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Wrath |
| Website | http://www.eurekamachines.com |
| Members | |
| Chris Catalyst Davros Pete Pseudonym Wayne Insane |
|
| Past members | |
| Steven Morricone | |
Eureka Machines are a British pop-rock band based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, who formed in 2007.[1] The band consists of Chris Catalyst (also of The Sisters of Mercy[2] and The God Damn Whores) on lead vocals & guitar, Davros (aka Dave) on guitar & backing vocals, Pete Pseudonym on bass guitar & backing vocals and Wayne Insane on drums.[3] Described as "power pop" by The Sun[4] and Classic Rock magazine,[5] they are something of a cottage industry, putting out their own records and being self-managing and self-promoting[6] while also touring and gaining press coverage and airplay at a national level.[7]
Contents |
Eureka Machines began with Chris asking Wayne to join but since Wayne was still committed to his previous band,[1] Chris had to wait for him to become available before they could start working together in 2007 on early tracks.[8] Some of these tracks then appeared on MySpace in August 2007.[9] Dave/Davros and then Steve Morricone (also of The Scaramanga Six) were invited to join the band.[10]
All 4 members had previously been in other local, and in some cases more well-known acts. Chris Catalyst is a current member of The Sisters of Mercy,[11] The God Damn Whores and was previously in AntiProduct, The Scaramanga Six, The Dead Pets, Catylyst (with 2 'y's)[1] and used to do a solo act as Robochrist which he has described as being currently on indefinite hold.[12] Steve Morricone is a founding member of The Scaramanga Six and also plays with Kava Kava and Being 747. Wayne Insane had previously been in Vatican Jet and Orka.[13] Dave had previously played alongside Chris in Catylyst[1] but had then taken a break from music before being invited back to join Eureka Machines.
The band played their debut gig supporting Forward Russia at the Brudenell Social Club on 14 December 2007 (a line-up which also included The Scaramanga Six).[13] Further local gigs followed, with 3-track demo CDs being sold at the shows.[14]
From the start they had a uniform appearance onstage, wearing black suits with white ties and matching T.U.K. shoes. Chris has described this as being part of the act: "so many bands nowadays look the same. I wanted to stand out from that."[10]
In February 2008 the band were asked to appear as support on a UK tour with Ginger of The Wildhearts, this was an acoustic tour with Chris and Dave playing acoustic as support.[15] During the tour they sold their original demo CD and a limited edition 6-track live acoustic session CD,[16] selling almost 500 CDs over the 13 date tour.[17]
In March the band appeared on the Raw Talent show on BBC Radio Humberside to do a live session, again acoustic (9 March). Regular airplay followed on both BBC Radio Humberside and BBC Radio Leeds[18] with another full band live session being broadcast on 5 October 2008.
In April a planned UK tour supporting AntiProduct was cancelled due to health problems within the AntiProduct camp.[19] Instead they quickly organised their own local dates instead, and amongst other gigs they played Live at Leeds, a local weekend-long festival which saw Eureka Machines play twice on Saturday 3 May, once during the afternoon as part of Live at Leeds[20] and again in the evening at local rock night 'Rock of Ages'.
In July the band recorded their first videos with Ash TV, one was a promo for the track Everyone Loves You,[21] the other was a spoof version of MTV Cribs which appeared on YouTube in early August.[22] More live videos were recorded at another local festival, Leeds Unity Day on 16 August.
Their largest live date for the summer was being asked to appear on the BBC Introducing Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.[23]
"Eureka Machines make their festival debut at Reading and Leeds next weekend and, judging by this dazzling debut, it's going to be well worth catching their slot on the BBC Introducing stage. Led by Chris Catalyst (Sisters of Mercy, AntiProduct, The Dead Pets) this four-piece peddle some mighty big tunes which often lead the listener down unexpected paths. And it's all lovingly smothered with gorgeous multi-layered harmonies, bringing to mind Silver Sun, The Beach Boys or even Queen. Do or Die is hard-rocking while often hitting the heights of power pop perfection. A hugely impressive first album."
The debut album 'Do or Die' was released on local label Wrath Records (run by Steve and Paul Morricone) on 1 September both digitally and physically,[21] with an album launch party taking place the same day in local Leeds curry house The Bengal Brasserie.[13] The album was both self-released and self-produced, and grew out of recordings Chris had started with additional tracks being added on in stages.[8] The album was mastered by Jase Edwards (of Wolfsbane and The God Damn Whores)[24] and as well as guitar, bass and drums it included Chris playing piano, trombone and xylophone and Steve playing saxophone.[25]
Describing the album, Chris said 'it's basically like rock and roll cabaret - a big heap of rock music that makes people smile'.[26] 'Do or Die' gained positive reviews from The Sun, Kerrang!, Classic Rock, Rock Sound, Leeds Guide, Sandman magazine, No Title magazine and Black Velvet Fanzine,[6] as well as airplay on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Xfm, Channel Five, MTV2, Scuzz and various local stations.[27]
Following the album release the band toured throughout September,[28] including supporting The Wildhearts at their sold out show at Shepherd's Bush Empire on 20 September.[29] More touring followed throughout January and February 2009.
Increasing workload led to a parting of the ways as Chris Catalyst left The Scaramanga Six in October 2008[30] to concentrate on Eureka Machines (although he remains a member of The Sisters of Mercy) and Steve Morricone left Eureka Machines in February 2009 to focus more on The Scaramanga Six and the educational Being 747 show 'Amoeba to Zebra'. Both parties have been quoted as saying they still remain friends.[31] Steve was replaced on bass by Pete Pseudonym, previously from Leeds band The Gushers.[6]
In May they released the single 'Everyone Loves You'[32] and album title track 'Do Or Die' was made Classic Rock magazine's track of the day.[5] The single was supported with further live dates both headlining and supporting other artists such as Ginger of The Wildhearts, Laika Dog (featuring Tony from Terrorvision), The Stranglers and Sigue Sigue Sputnik.[28]
In the Summer of 2009 they played festivals including Guilfest,[33] Moor Music Festival, Wickerman Festival[34] and Trashstock in Nottingham.
Single 'Being Good Is Okay, But Being Better's Better' was released as a free download on 2 September through their website, with a video to accompany it made by Paul Morricone of Poison Pen Films.[35]
Classic Rock Magazine featured the band again in November 2009 by putting ‘The Story of My Life’ on a cover mounted CD[36]
In December the band completed their biggest UK tour yet, supporting Electric Six for 14 dates throughout the UK in Academy venues.[27]
At the end of the year they picked up nominations in 2 categories for the 2010 Pure Rawk awards[37] and a piece in American Spin magazine where the album 'Do or Die' was reviewed as a 'gem you may have missed'.[38]
In January 2010 Eureka Machines were included on a charity download album called The Haiti Project[39] put together by Round Records.[40]
Work started on recording album two at the start of February 2010,[27][41] and was completed almost exactly a year later. The album will be released at the start of May 2011.
Eureka Machines won the two awards for which they were nominated at the 2010 Pure Rawk Awards - Best Band and Best Frontman.[42]
On 2 December 2010, Eureka Machines released the first single from the second album, These Are The People Who Live In My House, as a free download on their website, premiering the video at the same time.[43]