Producer and engineer Machine is best known for his work behind the boards on albums by Lamb of God, Clutch, Every Time I Die and King Crimson. But as the coronavirus pandemic continues to derail shows, tour and festivals around the world, he's directed his talents into a new endeavor: "Machine Shop Live!," which he describes as "an interactive platform that brings behind-the-scenes content to heavy-music fans."
"Bands come in, interact with fans on our livestreams, and they play their hearts out on a few songs," Machine explains. "We release mixed and edited videos of some of the best live studio performances from the best live bands on our YouTube channel. The idea is to keep it free for bands through the effort of a Patreon that is loaded with exclusive content we're sure fans will love."
Today (March 25th), the producer has teamed with Revolver to launch the latest video in the Machine Shop Live! series: Prog-metal stalwarts the Contortionist's intimate in-studio performance of "Reimagined," a standout cut off their 2017 album, Clairvoyant. Watch it above.
"Creating this live mix was very inspiring," Machine says of his session with the Contortionist, who kicked off the Machine Shop Live! series last week with video of a performance of their 2019 single "Early Grave." "Just what comes out live from this band is an incredible display of talent. Then to follow up [by] being creative with a mix is just a good time in the studio for me."
Like all the forthcoming Machine Shop Live! content, the Contortionist's session was filmed and recorded at the producer's barn studio, the Machine Shop, in the countryside west of Austin, Texas. In addition to giving bands a new platform while the tour circuit is shut down, the project also aims to raise money for them in these difficult times "by accepting donations that will go directly to their crew so they can support their families in this time of need," Machine says. For more information, check out the Machine Shop Live! YouTube channel and Patreon.
