David Tyo – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

David Tyo – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Music genres are difficult for some artists. Some strictly adhere; others not so much. What is your perspective on the genre you play, or the genres you hover around?

DT: What’s a genre? Ha! In simplemachine, anything goes. Our first track “Unbroken (I Remember Everything)” is a frenetic, jilt-fueled, million-miles-an-hour angst fest with F bombs galore and our latest release “Ones and Zeros” is a musical theater show tune that features a cast of familiar voices from local bands and radio, as well as a 23-person “Broadway” ensemble and a 13-piece brass section. On the flip side, our song “Ingloria” is quite dark, dealing with the difficult topic of self-harm. We worked very hard on the music video for that song, and we’re pleased to be recognized with an Eddies Award nomination for Music Video Of The Year. Our next release might be hardcore, hip-hop, big band swing, a cappella, or polka. We won’t know until we write it.

RRX: We have to play somewhere, and sometimes those places have more going for them than a stage and a power outlet. What is a memorable place you played, and bonus points if it’s not a well-known place.

DT: We do? Shit! We must have missed that memo. For real, though, simplemachine is a two-man studio band. John and I have been playing music together in so many bands since the 90s, but our only real goal with this project is to make the music we want to make when we feel like making it. While we’re certainly not averse to playing live (we’ve done it a million times), we’re not necessarily planning on that. If they come with pitchforks to crush our silence, we’ll think about it.

RRX: We do this for the fans. For the blisters also, but mostly for the fans. Who’s one your best fans? Without necessarily giving their name, what are they like?

DT: Hell yes, I’ll tell you who one of our biggest fans is and quote him, too. “BRILLIANT!! I mean shit!! Ur band tight, sparse, and hard as chinese algebra… with a stiffy no less!! (U may quote me). Just wow man!! I’d play w/or tour w/u guys anytime.” – John Popper of Blues Traveler

RRX: Tell me about your most recent song, album, or video (you pick.) Tell me a story about what went into making it. Not a process, but a cool story that took place within the process.

DT: The music video that earned us an Eddies Award nomination is for our song “Ingloria”. There’s a shot in that video where John shoves everything off his desk in a rage, and the camera has to follow for a slow-motion shot. We got the shot, then had to set up everything on the table just as it was to try again. It took 3 seconds to take the shot, and then 10 minutes to set up again. I think we grabbed 6 or 7 of those shots, and I ended up using the first one we did 🙂

RRX: Would you rather have one of your songs blow up and make you a one-hit wonder and household name, or would you rather have all your songs be solidly received, but no chart-climbers? (You have to pick one or the other here.)

DT: Either would be serendipitous, but I’m going with one-hit wonder since I have to pick one. While we’re certainly not in this for the money (we don’t make any), it would seem to me that having one hit means more $$$ than having no hits 🙂 Since simplemachine is essentially a really cool hobby, I’ll go with the pie-in-the-sky option connected to the most dough.

RRX: How does practice go? Is the road practice enough, or do you have a practice shack? If so, how does it look? What’s on the walls? What cool sh*t is in there?

DT: As a studio band, we don’t practice. Believe it or not, we’ve never once actually played our own songs outside of making the recordings themselves. Come to think of it, if we were to play live, we’d have to learn our own material! Anyway, that said, the space where we do our work is actually a professional recording studio right on my property in Saratoga Springs. I produce music for a living, so we’re a bit spoiled in that regard. It’s a big purpose-built and detached structure with a 14′ vaulted black ceiling, white baby grand piano (featured in the “Unbroken” music video), and lots of gear and instruments.