Matt McJunkins He is a renowned musician who has dabbled in the industry with great bands like Ashes Divide, Eagles of Death Metal, in the projects Puscifer and A Perfect Circle of Maynard, in which he is the current bassist and chorus girl of this one, in addition to leading The Beta Machine, a rock band that has elements that achieve great harmony for the viewer, which undoubtedly allows us to appreciate the incredible talent of Matt on the bass and backing vocals.
I loved your new song 'Embers, your voice is on point. Your next album 'Intruder' will be out soon, what can we expect from it?
Thank you! the album will be released on March 29, it will have 10 songs, and as for the content we are not trying to recreate the same, but I think we were able to find some interesting sounds and textures that we really liked, you know the experiments are part of this and it gave an incredible result. Maybe we have songs with happy melodies with a darker meaning, some songs may sound sweet but it is intentional, it has a meaning beyond the soft melody. I think it feels natural and amazing how we did this to try new things with this album. The EP had 5 songs so it was natural that over time, we achieved an album with more songs, we are ready to breathe and have more possibilities as a band. So that's it.
I really enjoy the harmony that can be felt when I listen to 'The Beta Machine', what do you want to convey with your music and lyrics?
First of all, thank you very much! I don't know, I think we don't make it intentional when writing and making music, we just make songs that move us and make us happy, songs that have meanings for us, you know we can obviously be directed to something, but it's more of a personal meaning, something that matters to us, something that we have lived in our lives, so showing that to the world, sharing it to the world with whoever hears it, will be able to take a seat and be a spectator of our world, and will be able to swim a little in our heads.
Speaking of A Perfect Circle, the songs are obviously Maynard's, but do you and he discuss them to make sure they're on the same page before something is released? Even the last album 'Eat The Elephant' had a little twist that many fans liked. What are the plans for the next material?
With A Perfect Circle, Maynard indisputably writes everything, I am not part of that process. As for 'Eat The Elephant', that would be something that Billy and Maynard will be able to answer you, I am not involved in those decisions. Everything related to APC, be it music or writing, corresponds to the two of them.
You were with the band 'Eagles of Death Metal' when the terrorist attack happened in Bacatlan, Paris. How did this situation change your life?
Yes ... That of course changed my life and that of everyone who was involved in that event. Honestly I think it has changed a lot of people who lived through that, even left a fear of going to shows in the people there, but it changed my life emotionally and psychologically, something difficult after living that terrible experience. Anything that happens to us, be it 4 or 5 years ago has changed in us to influence us now. And what happened that day is something I have to deal with but I try to ignore remembering that moment.
Tell me about the musical direction of 'The Beta Machine'
You know, right now it's super difficult to think about the future for us, because we are focused on what we already have ready with this album, we are practicing the new songs for shows, and we just want to keep what we have been doing, keep growing and show our music to the world. We currently have a new study, so I think we will find a way to continue doing our job well.
You are a member of many bands, how do you manage all the ideas to create music in each of them?
Well, each band that I work with or have worked with, they flow differently and have a different process, and I'm not necessarily always part of the writing process, sometimes I come up with some ideas on the bass, make suggestions or re-play a idea, having a different choice of what the bass lines would be like, which is fun, because I like to get close and make everything sound amazing whether it's singing or playing, suggest what the bass parts should be like, do everything because the song It sounds good, it's my point of view and any part I want to play or any role I play in a band, or with an artist, I'm just trying to do my best and help with the songs they want to create.
You started in the music business at a very young age; What kind of bands helped you to become passionate about this? And what has been your greatest inspiration to continue on this path?
Ha sido un largo camino y muchas bandas en las que he estado, he tenido mucha influencia de todos ellos. Cuando empecé yo tocaba la batería, tocaba en la escuela y pues ya no toco la batería (risas) ya olvidé muchas cosas, pero siempre fui un ‘set drum player’ al inicio, entonces yo inicié más en una onda más sinfónica, incluso en bandas de marcha, pero eso me ayudó a practicar y estar preparado a hacerlo en un modo más profesional y lo disfruté mucho. En ese tiempo mi hermano Erik estaba emocionado también por tocar la batería y yo estaba muy metido en esto de la música, en cuanto a las bandas,me gusta muchísimas bandas, entre las clásicas que me han inspirado han sido Guns n’ Roses, Pantera, Metallica… pero también me gustaba mucho apreciar a los artistas con los que pude tocar en diferentes bandas, en el estudio, mientras estábamos en tour, creo que disfrutar la banda en la que estaba es lo mejor que pude hacer, tocar diferentes estilos, cambiar las cosas, me inspiran los músicos así, pero ya sabes hay muchísimos artistas buenísimos, bateristas icónicos, es fascinante poder tocar con tantos artistas que manejan estilos diferentes. Es muy impresionante. Luego empecé a tocar el bajo, y no quería solo estar en la banda y ser uno más, un músico de tour o solo estar en el estudio, siempre quise aportar más de mi persona, y lo disfruto mucho es una experiencia totalmente diferente con lo que hago en The Beta Machine, ahí escribimos y grabamos todo, somos parte del proceso en cada paso que tomamos. Grabamos cada parte, a diferencia de otra banda, que no siempre estás en ese proceso, solo formas parte del tour o en el estudio, es como jugar diferentes roles, soy a veces como un músico de Broadway o de una película, hay un director y yo soy el actor que interpreta, y todas esas partes de la película tienen que encajar para lograr algo. y la verdad disfruto mucho todo esto. Es fantástico intentar diferentes cosas, mantener las cosas interesantes.
What are your short and long term plans as a musician? What do you want to achieve?
Well, in the short term I want to focus on The Beta Machine, with our new album coming out on March 29, and the truth is the only thing I could tell you right now. We are rehearsing the new songs to get ready for the shows.
In the medium term I want to start having more shows and be on tour.
and in the long term, keep on touring and keep writing, come up with more music and record new songs.
You have collaborated with great rock icons such as: Maynard, Josh Homme and Jeff Friedl, what have you learned from them?
Oh man! Where I start, it has been a lot of what I have learned with them, I feel super lucky to work and play with incredible people and incredible musicians, a good team, and know that I can help too. They can be two things, a specific and a general. A specific one I think it helps a lot to sing with all these bands, I sang the choirs with Ashes Divide, from Billy I learned a lot about his singing technique, he is a great vocalist, and I think I appreciate that I have tried to do all this, at least I have the good mechanics of being able to sing and play at the same time, something that is very good on stage. You have already seen what I do lately, play and sing, and from the beginning I prepared to sing properly, in 2008 I started with the tours, and because taking lessons while on the road I learned a lot, it is a privilege to be on a tour , because you really have a lot of practice, night after night, you have a chance to improve your techniques, each opportunity is incredible, the vocals don't always come out perfect as you want, but each show is an opportunity to be better, and give audiences something better Every time, people want to see a great show, I am also a fan and spectator of the bands, and I like to hope that they do it super well on stage; I also think perfection is boring, but I always try to do my best, make it fun and put on a good show. So working with people who give all of them in each show is incredible, there are bands that have more experience, and people have to know everything that involves being on stage, how good we need to be to make our audience happy with our style, sound, experience. And I never want to be on stage with someone who makes the audience feel bad, for me the audience is super important, but I have been lucky to be with great people, and I have learned all this thanks to them.
You were in Mexico at Knotfest 2017, what do you like about the Mexican audience? Would you like to come back soon?
But of course! We were with APC at Knotfest in October 2017 and it was incredible, I think it was the first time that APC was there, and it was great and magical to be part of the reactions of all the people when they saw the band for the first time, it was very exciting for us. I've been to Mexico on other occasions like Corona Capital, playing with 30 Seconds to Mars ... and I really love Mexico City and Guadalajara, I hope to play there soon with The Beta Machine too.