Man Made Machine was built to Rock you!

January 9, 2013

manmademachine
Interview with Man Made Machine

So not to long ago I featured Man Made Machine as our Day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas Rock. Man Made Machine is Joe Cotela on Vocals, Justyn Sena on Bass, Matt Reinhard on Drums, Marc Hernandez and Steve Siminski on Guitars. Together they bring the chemistry and energy alive. Here is a link to that previous post.  I am hoping you got a chance to listen to more of them and maybe even make it out to their show last month in Arizona.  Well, we were able to chat with the band and find out how they are doing and what they have planned for us this year. Check it out.

~ Interview ~ 

Music Junkie Press: Thank you very much guys for taking the time to talk with us at Music Junkie Press. So let’s get straight into it here… How did the band form?

Joe Cotela:  Kind of the usual thing, we all grew up playing in bands around the same area and finally fell into place together. The only difference being that all 5 of us were in a southern/hardcore band for a few years together before deciding to play more rock driven music and turning into Man Made Machine a couple years ago.

Music Junkie Press :  Well that is great that you guys did fall into place since your music just comes together and Rocks US! We want to share that your last album was produced by Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett (Mudvayne/HellYeah) and mixed by Jeremy Parker (Godsmack/Evanescence) How did you guys hook up with Chad Gray and Greg?

Joe Cotella:  Our managers had worked with them in different capacities in the past and so they passed our early demos along to them. They had just finished producing the Nonpoint album and were really into our songs. Fortunately they lived in AZ so it was easy to get together and work on the album. It was an amazing experience, we learned a lot, became great friends and I even got the opportunity to sing on the newest Hell Yeah album! It’s an honor to know legendary musicians as dudes and an even bigger honor to work on music together.

Music Junkie Press : That is awesome. It has been great to see you guys on tour with Pop Evil, Staind and Godsmack. If you could create the perfect dream lineup for a concert, what  three bands would you like to have on the bill? (they could be dead/living, together or broken up)

Joe Cotela : Those tours were all great experiences and we made some great friends on those runs! As far as a dream line-up oriented for MMM to play with…I’d say Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones and Papa Roach.

Music Junkie Press : That is an excellent lineup that would have the masses running to buy tickets. How about a Rig Rundown,  Can you tell us about your favorite gear you like to play on tour?

Steve Siminski : VHT Pitbull, Mesa cab, Gibson Les Paul Classic

Matt Reinhard : Pearl drums, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks

Music Junkie Press :  Sounds like a lot of nice gear that I hope to catch at the NAMM show coming up. Do you have any favorite albums growing up that really influenced you to pursue your dream in music?

Joe Cotela: I know we were all influenced in different ways by different albums growing up, a few of the albums that I know touched all of us when we were really young were Nirvana ‘Nevermind’, Pantera ‘Vulgar Display’ and Green Day ‘Dookie’.

Music Junkie Press : That is quite a combination there. It should be like the required listening for anyone who wants to ROCK with emotion, power and fun! Who does the writing in the band or is there a particular writing process or song writing ritual?

Joe Cotela: I usually write the basics of a song, like a main riff, verse and chorus at home on my acoustic guitar. Then we all get together in a room and jam it out to see if it gives us that ‘IT’ feeling. If we get that feeling from it and we like the vibe enough, we all move forward to structure the song together and everyone kind of evolves their individual parts as the song transforms into itself. We don’t really do a lot of the digital writing, I think it feels more like a band when it’s 5 guys shaping the sound rather than 1 or 2 doing it at home on protools.

Music Junkie Press : If you could go back and talk to your 14 year old self, what advice would you give to your 14 year old self?

Joe Cotela : Haha, well about music? I’d tell myself to focus learning guitar more and to just follow my heart, which is what I pretty much did anyways.

Steve Siminski : I would tell my 14 year old self to write “White Pony” before the Deftones do.

Music Junkie Press :  We are strong believers that music can heal your soul or just get you through the good and bad times. Do you recall a particular time in your life, where music saved you or help you heal?

Joe Cotela : I remember when I first started experiencing anxiety when I was around 19. I would have awful panic attacks and be sick for days and not know why at the time. The Postal Service album had just come out and I remember it calming me so much through those long nights. I then moved into Ben Gibbards core band Death Cab For Cutie’s “Transatlanticism” which also became very important to me at that particular time. There are many other occasions as well but thats the first that comes to mind.

Music Junkie Press : That is cool and thanks for sharing that. We have so many people send us stories about how music helped us through a certain time and it is great to hear the variety in bands and music that helped them. One thing in common: music always made it better or bearable!  Now for some fun… If we could peak into your Ipod or Playlist, what would be the next three songs on shuffle?

Joe Cotela : I’m going to do just that! Grab my ipod, put it on shuffle and see what we get… Chevelle “Face To The Floor”, La Dispute “New Storms For Older Lovers”, City And Colour “Fragile Bird”

Music Junkie Press : Very cool.  We understand that you guys are currently recording your next album. How is that going and what can we expect from the new music?

Joe Cotela : It’s going great! We have been holed in our practice studio in Tempe, AZ jamming out a lot of ideas. We’re in the studio tracking about 10-12 songs right now and the songs are sounding rad. To me, it’s a lot more energetic and aggressive than the whole of our debut album. The majority of the songs are faster, there’s more double kick and heavier influenced riffs. There are still huge anthem like choruses and rock vibes throughout similar to ‘Become’ but It’s just like ‘Become’ on steroids. Even with the music changing, I’m still going with my gritty rock singing and all that with the occasional yell/scream thing, so it’s heavier but still sounds like MMM. There also seems to be a natural theme lyrically about perseverance, strength and standing up for what you believe in. Honestly it’s hard to describe your own music, everyone will just have to hear it and judge for themselves when it comes out.

Music Junkie Press :  Wow, I can’t wait for it! I am a big fan of the double kick. You really paint a great picture for us and I really look forward to it. If you could take any song from any type of musical genre and remake it into a rock version, what song would it be?

Joe Cotela : We have racked our brains over and over again on a cover of a pop song or random soft song for a while now, I think Mister Mister “Broken Wings” or Corey Hart that “Sunglasses at Night” Song would be cool.

Music Junkie Press : Those bring back some great memories for me! Now with the 80’s making a comeback and all, if you could pick a song from the 80’s or 90’s to describe your life or be your anthem song, what would it be?

Joe Cotela : How about “Up All Night” by Slaughter, If you haven’t heard it, its an 80’s hair metal party jam! Go download it now!

Music Junkie Press: Okay everyone, that is your lesson for the day. Download that song but only after downloading Man Made Machine… Now that is an order!

Now how about checking out their video of one of my favorite songs, “Victim”


Rock it Loud,

~ Marisol

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