Interview with Machete Girl Cyberpunk E-magazine, November 20th, 2015

This Interview was conducted under the name "Nova Prospect", our original band name

Interview with Machete Girl Cyberpunk E-magazine, November 20th, 2015:

Have any of you played in other bands?
Josh: When I was much younger yes, nothing serious just myself and some close friends jamming out! I'm sure you can find it if you look hard enough online.
Jamie: Absolutely! Throughout my entire life I'd say, I have worked with all manner of musical groups from solo artists to bands across many genres and even
classical ensembles. I always loved the huge ensembles, I think that's where I get my love for classical music from.

How is it that you started playing music?
Jamie: I started playing guitar when I was nine years old, and it was around that time I realised I had a love for music. It was the personal help from my music tutors that
started it off seeing as i was such a quiet child they really paid attention to me since I actually cared about music in class. Their three faces I'll never forget.
Josh: For myself it was very much something I always had an ear for, I didn't really get the motivation to play music until Paul Gray (Slipknot's Bassist) died in 2010.
I felt like that was my sign to start doing something with the little skill I had at the time... it's also why I first started learning bass.

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Jamie Everett (20) and Josh Grayson (19) - 
Josh: We both do a little of everything, for me I'm just a jack of all trades master of none type.
Jamie: We are both kind of on equal footing in the band, but going into specifics I'd say I am more focused on instruments where as Josh shines electronically
with synth based material.

Have you had other previous members?
Josh & Jamie: Nope!

Did you make music even when you were young?
Josh: I was in a band when I was younger called Vermilion and I wrote some surprisingly pretty good stuff in logic when I was first experimenting. Nothing
mind blowing. Anything remotely good was uploaded onto our soundcloud.
Jamie: I've been writing music here and there since I first started playing guitar, even wrote a few songs with my sister back in the day. I've only really started taking
songwriting seriously the last 4-5 years I'd say, once I realised I wanted to do this as a career.

Where are you from?
Josh: Well I live in the middle of the void aka a small woodland town called Verwood but collectively we are based out of Bournemouth.
that's a big town/city in the south of the UK.

What year did the band form?
Jamie: October 18, 2014

What's your style of genre?
Jamie: To be honest, that's hard to put a finger on. All I can say is Metal/Cyberpunk/Orchestral/Electronic, if that makes any sense at all!
Josh: Anything and everything we can possibly try.

What inspires you?
Jamie: Emotions, environments, current events.. anything that can set that little orchestra off in my head.
Josh: I could never nail just ONE thing that inspires me, but right now it's mostly nature and machines and the way they effect one another.

How often and where do you rehearse?
Jamie: We try to get together as often as we can, but these are never rehearsal times, more creative brainstorm sessions. Once we start playing live
rehearsal will be a must though.
Josh: As a composing group we don't really rehearse or have yet to find a reason to do so. If we started playing live I'm sure that would all change.

How have you developed since you started with the music?
Josh: Personally I feel a lot healthier working on music. I feel it gives me something to escape to when ever I hit up the studio with Jamie.
for a few hours any issues in life outside of our control are gone.
Jamie: For me, music makes everything better. I know me and Josh have come a long way both musically and personally since we started taking this seriously.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band?
Josh: I'm a big art person so I would say most of my time not focused on this art project is spent on something else artistically, such as my glitch art
under the name of Ghost_Machine.
Jamie: All I can say is I'm a huge gamer ha ha, other than my job but I wouldn't say that's an interest by any means.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?
Jamie: I think we will be more concerned when we plan to start playing live in the future.
Josh: Well we don't play live at the moment but it is something we have talked about. We are open to the idea in the future.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?
Josh: I don't want to speak to soon but we have a rough idea of a label we would like to work with... but I won't go into detail at this time.

What made you decide to make this music?
Jamie: Well I think we both have been wanting to do something like this for years, but we just had no idea that we could work so well together. I mean it just
sorta.. happened. I had been doing many solo projects before we started writing together and i think it was a birthday meal at Nando's where we kind of looked at each other
and went... "bruh we need to jam some day".
Josh: I don't think we ever talked about it, we just DID. we are very alike when it comes to our styles and inspiration so we sort of fell into
working on our sound together without really thinking to hard about it. We started working together when I got the job doing a soundtrack for a cyberpunk
RPG called Last Night In Neon City. Since then we have just been doing all kinds of music really.

What are your songs about?
Jamie: Well each track is different, and the hint is usually in the title, but all of our tracks are open for the listener to interpret in their own way.
Josh: That's for you to figure out - the less I say the more interesting the results of your interpretations are. We do how ever have a few movie related
tracks online.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?
Josh: We both compose the music but I write lyrics for things all the time, mostly because it's a "good idea" but I never use them for anything.
I wrote some lyrics for a friends band the other day. If they use them or not is only a matter of time.
Jamie: I never write lyrics, and it's never been my strong point either. Maybe I will in the future, but I'll see where the mood takes me.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics?
Josh: Music, Music, Music, ALWAYS music first.
Jamie: What he said.

Do you compose in a certain environment?
Josh: When we come together we have a very chilled out creative energy in the room. It's one of my favourite things. We never argue about anything musically
and that's nice.. I've had a few times in past projects where I felt like I was carrying all the responsibility on getting the mood right.. it's nice to show up
and already have that good energy from the get go. I know when I write something for myself to bring into the studio for us as a team to work on I'm normally
in the room with the lights off and buzzing off caffeine, but that's mostly when writing something that needs a dark tone to it.
Jamie: Inspiration can happen anywhere, but when composing it needs to be in a comfortable, natural, and SILENT area. Silence is key- the ease at which one can lose
their mental train of thought is surprisingly easy, especially when it's an idea you're really proud about.

Have you done any covers?
Josh: Nope, not yet.. although I keep hinting at Jamie that we should give a few songs a go just to hear what our take on something would sound like.
Jamie: I have done covers in the past with other bands but none of them were really anything particularly masterful. In terms of Nova though we have considered covers, 
but we primarily prioritise writing our original tracks. 

What language do you sing in?
Jamie: English, but we have yet to write a track with vocals. 
Josh: If we did sing it would be in English, but if we felt a song needed it another language isn't out of the question I don't think.

Where do you plan to gig the coming year?
Jamie: Unfortunately we have no plans for gigging yet, but that is definitely one of our developments for the next couple years.
Josh: I don't know if we would gig at all let alone in a year or so.. it's definitely something to consider for the future. but for now I think our
focus is on the music and art.. let the gigs and money situation take a back seat.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale?
Josh: We don't have anything available that people are aware of just yet. but we will in the future open up the doors when the need is there.
We will sell what ever anyone feels they want to sport... with in reason...

Where can people buy your merchandise?
Josh: Keep an eye on our Facebook page for news on that but I would like to think via a big online distributor.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?
Jamie: I mean it's a shame to see that illegal downloads are so easy to do in this day and age, I am a firm believer that people should get paid for what they make and
put effort into. However the fact that it's impossible to keep tabs on illegal downloads nowadays, I guess all you can really take it as is a compliment that people are into your music.
Josh: I'm personally OK with it... anything that helps get the art into peoples hands right? Sure when you live of music it sucks not getting paid
for an album... but the money isn't the be all and end all... it's what the people get from the music.

How do you think the music industry has changed because of this?
Jamie: It can be a whole lot harder to do music professionally if you don't earn anything from your music, and likewise the fact that there is so much competition
in the music industry now it just takes the slightest break in the right area to get someone noticed. Money isn't just a token of gratitude, musicians have to pay bills and
eat too.
Josh: I think for smaller bands such as ourselves it's been easier to get your name out there but in contrast, its a massive ocean with lots of fish..
I think it's become a lot better to start a band and get "big" but a lot harder to maintain a solid income.

How do you think this interview will help you in the music business?
Jamie: Hopefully to get our name a little further out there, going back to my last point, maybe an interview like this could be all it takes to kick things off! 
Josh: I think these early interviews are good for us more than the music business.. it will be nice to look back onto this interview and see where we were at
with our views on things and where we got inspiration from. I think in terms of the music business it helps get our name out there and that could lead to big things down the line.

Do you have any role models or idols?
Josh: Anyone from Chopin to Slipknot to Klayton from Celldweller for me. I aspire to incorporate little bits of everything they have taught me musically into my own art.
Jamie: My role models seem slightly random but they all have their places in my heart, for example people like Celldweller and Blue Stahli, to guitarists such as Paul Gilbert
and Yngwie Malmsteen. Even some classical composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach or my personal favourite, Frederic Chopin.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?
Josh: For myself it's a mix... I look at what old model bands did such as Black Sabbath and I respect elements of it.. but I know in this day and age Black Sabbath wouldn't
have gotten where they are today unless they evolved... so I have a lot of respect for the new guys in the music scene who are really changing the game.
Jamie: For me, the time at which the band was more active isn't the main factor, less so than the impact they had on me. It depends on personal taste, but in the modern music industry, 
bands that don't have anything new to offer often get lost. I really have respect for guys that can consistently keep people entertained and stay on top of their game and keep going.

What have been your biggest obstacles?
Jamie: Definitely juggling work and music. The hours I work are so unsociable and it is really difficult to balance work, music, a social life and also MONEY. Minimum wage sucks.
Josh: My life outside of music has been pretty rough since starting the project and I have had some very bad lows and some very good high points, the project being one of them.
So I would say just trying to shift though personal demons has been my biggest obstacle.

What advice would you give other bands or artists?
Jamie: Trust your dreams. You will make it if this is really what you want to do. Most importantly, KEEP PRACTISING.
Josh: Do it for the love and art and not for the money. if you are in it for the money you are in the wrong industry.

How do you get psyched for a gig?
Jamie: I don't really get nervous for gigs, the hype just kind of sets in automatically, but you know, punching things helps.
Josh: If we played live I would envision myself grabbing a truck load of energy drinks and KFC then cowering in the corner ha ha.

Do you have any new material?
Josh: We might have an EP in the works right now...
Jamie: To be honest we are always churning out new tracks, our EP however, that's secret...

What are your web sites?
Josh: You can find our music via Soundcloud.
soundcloud.com/nova-prospect-uk

How can people reach you?
Jamie: Right now you can reach us directly via our Facebook.
facebook.com/Novaprospectmusic/

What are your plans for the future?
Josh: We are focusing on our EP but we have also considered a name change to avoid legal battles in the future. we will keep everyone in the loop on our
facebook page.

Do you have something to add?
Jamie: All I want to add is thank you for the opportunity and keep doing what you're doing, it's an honour.
Josh: I just want to take the time to thank you for reaching out to us and providing us with our first written interview. keep up the good work.