The Kite Machine

Local is better as they always say and we’d have to agree, especially when it comes to legends The Kite Machine. They’ve been tearing up a storm alongside rockers Kingswood and have just set the date for their EP launch. We had a chat to guitarist and vocalist Levi Anderson on what they’ve been up to.
Hi Levi, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us, what are you up to at the moment?
Well we’ve been hitting the rehearsal rooms heaps lately, chipping away at some riff ideas that we’ve had for ages and turning them into songs. Aside from that we’ve been playing flat stick, just last weekend playing our first show in SA at Blenheim Fest, and supporting Kingwood in San Remo the following night.
Your latest EP, Lunatics, is ready for launch, where abouts did you record this one and are you looking forward to getting it out?
We recorded it with Cam Trewin (Kingswood) at Colour-sound studios in Altona. Perfect studio for us, was close to us, so that’s a bonus, but also we were recording through this rare kick-ass mixing console that gave everything a really smoky vintage sound. Cam was all over it – best bloke – and knew exactly what we meant when we were trying to poorly explain weird sounds and things we wanted to track. We’ve been holding onto it for a while so we’re definitely keen to get it out there.
It was mastered by the infamous Brian Lucey (Black Keys, Chet Faker) how did it feel to be in those hands?
Didn’t know he was “infamous” haha. It was awesome! It was a bit weird not to be sitting in the room with someone you’ve never met working on your songs. But then we got it back and were like, “Ohh… so that’s why all these famous cats go to him”.
Your last EP, The Crook and the Skank was a great success, especially with singles such as ‘Makeshifter’, and featured plenty of funky riffs and groovy bass lines, what can fans expect from this release?
We feel as musicians we’ve grown a lot since the first EP. This one is definitely more of an electric feel, but also it’s a whole new level of The Kite Machine in our opinion.
Your hometown launch is going to be held at The Workers Club, are you excited to play at such a new venue?
Absolutely, it’s good to have a new venue in Geelong dedicated to original music. We’ve seen a few snippets of shows there already, and this place is going off.
What can everyone expect from the night?
The complete unadulterated Kite Machine experience. The best show we can manage… with lasers.
Have you any future tour plans with the EP at all? What else have you got in the works for the rest of the year?
We’re doing a support show for Caravãna Sun at the Northcote Social club on May 31, which we are calling our Melbourne Launch – so head to that. We’re definitely keen to get up the east coast at some point having already locked in a spot at “Surfers Paradise LIVE” with Sneaky Sound System. Maybe even a little Tasmania stint, we’ve heard the music scene is great down there.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
Tickets for the EP Launch are available from Spinning Half’s Oztix page, or from the Workers Club. Best get them soon, we can’t guarantee you won’t miss out.
When & Where: The Workers Club, Geelong – May 3