Always a massive laugh!
We seem to go massive periods of time without practising, for various reasons. Though most of the time it’s due to John’s never ending holiday spree, recently it was also because we were in the recording studio. But, other than THOSE times, every Tuesday evening at WMD Studios, The Machete can be found honing their skills.
We record basically everything, wait, what did I just say?
The Machete @ Victorious 2016
It’s actually completely possible that you’ve witnessed a Machete practice. It’s not that uncommon that we stream some of our sessions live on Facebook. Ever since I’ve started playing music with him, Hallett has always been big on recording. And I mean recording everything. And I mean recording EVERYTHING. So, naturally a good part of the start of any session includes getting all of the instruments running through an interface so that we can record all the audio.
This does mean that we have HUGE amounts of recorded music in the archive, as well as video. And also means we broadcast our sessions quite frequently.
Having the camera rolling out onto Facebook is actually a bit unnerving, mainly because you easily forget that it’s on. Then that moment when you remember… “Shit, what have I been saying?“. Not that I think I’ve necessarily said anything bad, but it’s the fact I don’t know what I’ve said, and whatever it is I did say, has in fact already gone out across the internet.
If the video has been streaming and we haven’t been playing, then it’s most probable that it’s just been broadcasting the endless, mindless babble that goes on in between playing. I usually wonder if there’s anyone really paying attention, and if they are, they probably just think we’re making loads of in jokes that no one outside of the band will get. Which is kind of true, in the sense that we’ve probably made some of the jokes before. But, my personal approach is always “if I say enough random shit in a short space of time, at some point, I’ll get a laugh out of the others.“. Which tends to be true most of the time.
Trust me, we’re hilarious
I was initially thinking I might try and share some of The Machete Practice Time jokes here, but I think they would be lost. The point that I was making is that we love our practice slots because we have a really great time, not just playing music, but having a laugh as well.
I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all been in a few bands that have taken themselves a little bit too seriously. Not to say that you shouldn’t take your music seriously, we certainly put some effort into trying to make it work. (Sitting on a Saturday afternoon writing on the band blog for example…)
But, the fact that we spend most of the time in stitches really makes even the parts that are hard work seem like they’re not. 40 hours worth of studio time for example.
It’s good when you get to do this type of stuff with good people.
Wait, I think I might start crying…
I just love you guys so much!
Group shot at Mayfield Studios!
