Posted in Whathaveyou on February 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Stone Machine Electric, for most of their decade-plus tenure, have been the duo of bassist/vocalist Dub and drummer Kitchens (also of Slow Draw). Dub and Kitchens, Kitchens and Dub. Of all the times I screw-up the names in a given band’s lineup — information posted surprisingly infrequently where one might find it — I can generally be sure that if it’s Stone Machine Electric, you got Dub and Kitchens getting up to some heavy psych weirdness. I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.
Nonetheless, after four full-lengths — the latest of them being 2020’s The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld (review here) — William “Dub” Irvin and Mark Kitchens have welcomed bassist Erick Paxecko to the band as the third in a power trio. Adding (more) low end is surely not going to make them any less heavy, and well, if he’s weird enough for Stone Machine Electric to let him be in the band, he’s probably weird enough for you. Will they start calling him “Pax?” So many questions to answer, but the band are letting it be known they’ll record in March, even if they’re not sure yet whether they’ll end up with a full album or not. I love that, by the way.
Kidding aside, this isn’t the first time Stone Machine Electric have brought in a tertiary party to handle bass, as they never shy from trying something new. Best of luck to them and to Paxecko, who one assumes will make his recorded debut on whatever results from the sessions next month, to be helmed by Wo Fat‘s Kent Stump in Stone Machine Electric‘s own version of tradition.
They sent the following down the PR wire:
STONE MACHINE ELECTRIC: Three-piece into the studio!
Texas-based duo Stone Machine Electric, best known for their weird approach in crafting a darkened and spacious vision of psychedelic jamming, are ready to announce they have added that pesky low-end to their lineup and are now a TRIO! I’m sure you weren’t expecting that, or maybe you were already aware due to your social media addiction. Anyway, we wanted to make it official.
Erick Paxecko has been jamming with the band since mid-2023 and has expanded upon the band’s already heavy sound. Erick started playing in Mexico in the early 2000s and toured throughout the northern region. In 2012, he moved to Seattle, WA and played in several bands, including the doom band Mycon. Erick enjoys experimenting with his tone by trying out different pedals and bass rigs to work on getting his sound blended into the mix.
And with that news, we thought it worth mentioning we’ll be hitting the studio this March with Erick at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, Texas, with our great friend Kent Stump at the controls. Hope to get a full album’s worth of material laid down and find a way to get it to everyone’s ears.
Stone Machine Electric are: William “Dub” Irvin – Guitar/Vocals Mark Kitchens – Drums/Vocals/Keyboard Erick Paxecko – Bass
The sixth annual Heavy Mash Fest is set for Oct. 7 at its traditional home, Division Brewing in Arlington. The festival is back to one day this year after extending to two in 2022, and in addition to veteran weirdo jammers Stone Machine Electric who’ll close out, Maryland doom’s Spiral Grave will journey west to headline.
You’ll recall The Obelisk is a long-time presenter of Heavy Mash. I dig what Mark Kitchens, who’s also got a new record coming from his experimentalist solo-project Slow Draw and who plays in Stone Machine Electric, has built over the last several years, not to mention the poster art, by Joshua Mathus, reprising the froggy theme of past editions with a righteous sci-fi bent.
The likes of drum-machine riffers Lotus Sutra and doom rockers Buzzürd — whose 2021 album, The Offering, I’d not heard and can be streamed at the bottom of this post — will round out the total-seven-band bill, and if you’re like me and not entirely familiar with all of them, I at this point trust Kitchens‘ curation will at least result in something interesting to hear, even if it doesn’t grab you and become your new favorite album forever. I guess what I’m saying is if you want to chase down any of the names below, it might be a fun endeavor. I’ll do likewise and see what’s to be found.
Continued best wishes to Heavy Mash and to Kitchens. Looks like a cool party, and tickets are dirt cheap:
Heavy Mash 2023 (6th year) will occur on October 7th at Division Brewing in Arlington, Texas. Doors open at 4pm, with music commencing shortly thereafter:
$15 Cover
5pm- Sons of Gulliver 6pm- Lotus Sutra 7pm- The Infamists 8pm- Buzzürd 9pm- FTW 10pm- Spiral Grave 11pm- Stone Machine Electric
Posted in Questionnaire on May 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Mark Kitchens of Slow Draw, Stone Machine Electric & Heavy Mash Fest
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I’ve always considered myself a noise maker, maybe even an explorer. Since I was a child, I always enjoyed sounds and music. I like to find things sonically in music or in everyday sounds.
Describe your first musical memory.
I can’t remember exactly, but it seemed to involved looking at catalogs and picking out albums. It may have been the whole Columbia House thing or something like that. I remember picking out 8-tracks since we had that style player back at that time. I think I picked out The Best of the Statler Brothers because I thought it was funny the cover had women on it and thought they were the musicians. I was 6 or so years old at the time.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Seeing Phish in 1998 or so. You’d think I’d remember the year, but I don’t. It was an outdoor concert in Austin, Texas. I ended up leaving my group of friends and got to one side of the soundboard area. I just remember getting lost in the sea of people and just enjoying the music and the back and forth between the crowd and the band. It was a communal type energy, and it was fun and mentally freeing.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Nothing comes to mind. I’ve had people test my beliefs in who they are, which is greatly surprising when you thought you knew them. As far as beliefs is general, I try my best to keep those based on experience or first hand knowledge so when something does get tested, I have an easier time accepting it. I don’t want to hold onto something based on what I want it to be if it is not what it is. I hope that makes sense.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Artistic progression leads to many things. For me, most of the time it seems to lead to a refined or more distinct path or art. On the other hand, I have had it take me back to where I started, and it becomes cyclical.
How do you define success?
Being happy with the result of my art and music. For my music, if it makes me listen to it over and over because I have captured some sort of memory or emotion in it, then I have succeeded.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
My wife’s internal organs. Our children were both C-section babies. On my first born when the nurse took the baby out, they had me follow them. As I walked towards them, I looked back at Lynda, and all I saw was them putting her parts and pieces back in. That was surreal and gross at the same time. [Hard relate to this. It’s medieval. — ed.]
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’ve started saving dumb little phrases in my phone that I’d like to eventually run into songs. I’m talking 5-10 second long songs. I could see it being an album of about 20-25 songs, and it might top like 5 minutes of play time. I imagine it would sound more like a ton of shitty jingles than anything else. Maybe I could title it “Songs for the Internet” or something stupid like that.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Communication and community. Almost everything can be considered an artform in some fashion, and that brings people together, or at least within the same vicinity. This creates communities and communities that overlap.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Guess there are two things. Looking forward to celebrating 23 years of marriage in the next couple of weeks with the Mrs., and kind of still musical as we’ll be seeing The Cure on our anniversary. That’s her all-time favorite band.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
For the first time since its inception five years ago, the Heavy Mash Festival held each Fall in Arlington, Texas, will take place over two days. Mountain of Smoke headline Oct. 8 and fest-vets Doomstress headline Oct. 9, and joining them for Heavy Mash 2022 is a righteous cast from in and out of the Lone Star State, including first-timers The Angelus from Dallas, Dee Calhoun from Maryland, Fort Worth’s Novakain, Stone Machine Electric, whose Mark Kitchens organizes the event, Red Beard Wall, Monte Luna, The Infamists and more. Vorvon have played before, ditto for Orthodox Fuzz, but it’s been a few years, and with newcomers like Big Brown Bear and a first appearance from Phoenix’s Hudu Akil, there’s plenty to see.
In years past this site has been involved in presenting the fest and happy to do so. Not so much this year, it seems, but as Heavy Mash looks to expand in terms of reach and lineup, it makes sense to try to reach as many eyes and ears as possible, and well, it’s not like I’m not out here posting about it anyway. All the best to Kitchens and fellow organizer Anton Olson for another successful year and a rager Heavy Mash 2022. Looks like it’s gonna be a party.
So party:
HEAVY MASH 2022 – Oct 8 & 9
Heavy Mash 2022 is set for October 8th and 9th At Division Brewing in Arlington, Texas
Though we’re running a bit late on getting this out, Heavy Mash is back this year and ready to spend a couple of days doing what we love – listening to heavy music and watching these bands do what they do best! This will be the first year we’re letting loose for a 2-day event. Division Brewing and Growl Records will once again host us and the bands, and we hope you’re able to make it out and enjoy!
October 8th Lineup: Mountain of Smoke The Angelus Monte Luna Orthodox Fuzz Red Beard Wall Vorvon Hudu Akil Stone Machine Electric
October 9th Lineup: Doomstress The Infamists Novakain Dee Calhoun Big Brown Bear
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 1st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
I know what you’re thinking: But wait, isn’t the version of this song on the album live?
Yes, it is, and that’s exactly the kind of head-screwery I’d expect from Texas two-piece Stone Machine Electric. Indeed, the version of “Free Thought” that appears on Dec. 2020’s just-cut-and-paste-it-because-you’ll-never-get-it-right-otherwise Desert Records long-player The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld (review here) is the same one that is being played in the video below, captured at the Freetown Boom Boom Room in Lafayette, Louisiana, shortly before live shows evaporated in the face of global pandemic — timing, as ever, is everything.
Accordingly, much as Stone Machine Electric blurred the line between a live and a studio album, they’re here doing the same to the line between live and official videos. Just like they’ve been blurring the lines between jams and songs, psychedelia and doom and jazz, and so on and so forth all throughout their tenure, now past the decade mark as it is. Some bands fit easy categorization. That’s a line of which Stone Machine Electric are solidly on the other side.
At nine minutes, “Free Thought” — presented in its entirety in the video — is the shortest track on The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld by a substantial margin. And if you haven’t had a chance to get acquainted with the record yet, it’s streaming in full below.
Have fun:
Stone Machine Electric, “Free Thought” official live video
Free Thought off the album The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld on Desert Records.
[Click play above to stream Stone Machine Electric’s The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld in its entirety. Album is out Dec. 4 on Desert Records.]
Texas-based duo Stone Machine Electric are not by any means the first to put together a fusion of jazz and psychedelia, but they do it with a deceptive intricacy of purpose. Over the last decade-plus, guitarist/sometimes-vocalist William “Dub” Irvin and drummer/sometimes-noisemaker Mark Kitchens have explored the outer reaches of heavy rock and managed to capture a heavy psychedelic nuance that is both expansive and weighted. Perhaps most of all on the cumbersomely-named The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld, which is the three-song follow-up to 2019’s Darkness Dimensions Disillusion (review here), the underrated two-piece lean toward their make-heavy-things-float sensibility.
Positioned longest to shortest with the 20-minute “Journey on the Nile” leading off as the longest cut (immediate points), followed by “At Crystal Lake” (15:36) and “Free Thought” (9:07) rounding out, the band’s maybe-fourth full-length — it depends on what you count as an album vs. an EP, etc. — the album finds them working in three separate contexts and recording situations as they remain united in their atmospheric purpose.
The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld is instrumental in its entirety and arguably the “jammiest” work Stone Machine Electric have done since 2014’s Garage Tape (review here), which preceded 2015’s The Amazing Terror EP (review here), which begat 2016’s ah-ha moment of self-discovery, Sollicitus es Veritatem (review here), which begat the 2017 live album, Vivere (review here), etc., but it stands in line with impulses Dub and Kitchens have followed since their 2013 self-titled debut (review here) and the prior 2010 demo Awash in Feedback (review here) in terms of finding their place within the material itself and, even if they’re working with an overarching plan, doing so in an engaging and unpredictable way.
Effects play a larger role here than they sometimes do, but the spontaneity that feeds into the overall vibe of the record — the improvised-sounding nature of some of its stretches — is easily worth the minimal buy-in the band ask on the part of the listener. That is, they hypnotize, and whatever level of self-indulgence is inherent to an offering like this, it’s easy to follow where one is lead.
The destination, incidentally, is ethereal. Though “Journey on the Nile” enters a chugging progression at around 16:30 and from there rides a post-C.O.C. “Albatross” riff with duly respectful roll and nod, the bulk of the track brims with lysergic ambience to a degree that by the time they get there, they’ve set such a mood for the remainder of the offering that even the most straightforward of shifts feels like one is stepping on soft wax. Recorded in May 2019 with Josh Block at Niles City Sound in Fort Worth, “Journey on the Nile” also gives the first hint of how the titles play a role in telling the story of the album. There are no lyrics, and yet each track seems to capture something different in the overall sphere of Stone Machine Electric‘s sound.
“Journey on the Nile” references both the river itself and the studio in which the piece was put to tape, so what one takes away from that is that Dub and Kitchens are looking to show a process of cascading along with the underlying currents of the music itself. They do precisely that in the song, whether a given change is planned or not. Accordingly, “At Crystal Lake” nods at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, where it was helmed in July 2018 by Wo Fat guitarist/vocalist and regular Stone Machine Electric producer Kent Stump, and also references Camp Crystal Lake from the original Friday the 13th movie.
It is especially poignant that Stump recorded “At Crystal Lake” (he also mastered the entire LP), since although Stone Machine Electric have worked under Wo Fat‘s influence throughout their tenure, it’s arguable that’s never been less the case than with the initial unfolding of the 15-minute track itself, the title of which would also seem to lean toward the cinematic atmosphere of the keys at its outset. Once again, a heavier guitar emerges as Kitchens and Dub move through the runtime, but they never lose that underlying line of melodic, almost whistling drone, and the effect is to make “At Crystal Lake” not only its own statement, but also a push farther-out than “Journey on the Nile” on stylistic terms, adding to the flow of the The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld on the whole.
What, then, about “Free Thought?” The last and briefest of the album’s inclusions was recorded in Feb. 2020 at Lafayette, Louisiana’s Freetown Boom Boom Room, which is a statement all on its own when it comes to the preservation of live music in a post-COVID world. But “Free Thought” refers both to the name of the locale and the spirit of the track itself, which is open in terms of structure and not quite as avant garde as one thinks of free-jazz as being, but decidedly unhindered in its readiness to go where it wants.
It goes toward a more driving push in a linear build and then spends its last few minutes in an at-first-mellow freakout — cymbal wash and guitar noise leading to a solo, a wild tempo pickup, then finally a chugging comedown, which Dub and Kitchens manifest with the kind of chemistry that only stems from artists able to have a genuine musical conversation. And that turns out to be what unites these three songs recorded over a span of three separate years in three separate settings: the conversation. It too is called out by the band, as one suspects that’s what The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies… is about, while …Within the Cosmic Netherworld is the molten soundscapes that each song manages to create in its own way.
It’s not surprising that Stone Machine Electric would be conscious of what they’re doing in terms of putting an album together, but the multifaceted nature of their intention is emblematic of what makes them so undervalued as artists. They jam, sure, and they do it well. But though its title is long enough to be over-the-top, The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld offers interpretive depth for those willing to dig into it as well as spacey nodders for those looking for a bit of zone-out mental escape.
Dub and Kitchens are able to serve varied purposes while staying united in their own mission, continuously avoiding predictability and forging a progressive creative identity through tone and rhythm alike. Tuning into their ‘frequencies’ can only highlight the strengths so readily on display here.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 13th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
I don’t even know how many times I’ve said this since 2009, but you know why I like Stone Machine Electric? Because I genuinely don’t know what’s coming next. Of how many bands is that true 11 years later? I’ve heard two of the three tracks on the upcoming album, cumbersomely titled The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld, and yeah, there’s a sense that William “Dub” Irvin and Mark “Derwooka” Kitchens are going to be jamming at this point — they certainly were on last year’s Darkness Dimensions Disillusion (review here), but as to what shape that’s going to take was still a mystery going into the new material.
“Journey on the Nile” tops 20 minutes and “At Crystal Lake…” is over 15, so Dub and Kitchens are plenty dug in here, but even between the two pieces there’s a decided shift in atmosphere. I’m keeping my fingers crossed to review before December comes, and there’s no audio from the record out yet, so I won’t spoil it more than I have, but the way I see it these guys remain way undervalued in their loyalty to their own creativity over genre or other concerns.
They’re a good fit for Desert Records, which has signed the band and sent along the following:
Stone Machine Electric – The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld
Record Label: Desert Records Release Date: 12/4/2020
Stone Machine Electric is a Texas-based stoner rock duo best known for crafting a dark and spacious brand of psychedelic jamming that they have dubbed Doom Jazz. Formed in the summer of 2009 by Mark Kitchens and William (Dub) Irvin, the duo began to unleash their Wo Fat and Earthless inspired sonic explorations upon the earth. Since their inception, the band has self-released a demo, an EP and four full lengths, the most recent of which, Darkness Dimensions Disillusion, came out on Sludgelord Records. On top of this they have a live record, Vivere, which was released with Off The Record Label.
“Be prepared to experience the COSMIC NETHERWORLD,” warns Desert Records’ Brad Frye. “I don’t know what strain those dudes are smoking in Texas, but Stone Machine Electric is about to drop a psychedelic juggernaut. Wait ’til you hear the song Journey on the Nile. Stoked to have these guys on board!”
SME have toured throughout the Lonestar State and even made it out to Arizona, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Along the way they have played alongside groups like Mothership, Wo Fat and Jucifer as well as having performed at a variety of Texas festivals including End Hip End It, Fuzzed Out Fest and Heavy Mash.
Tracks: 1: Journey on the Nile Recorded by Josh Block at Niles City Sound, Fort Worth, Texas on May 19, 2019 Mastered by Kent Stump at Crystal Clear Sound, Dallas, Texas
2: At Crystal Lake… Recorded by Kent Stump at Crystal Clear Sound, Dallas, Texas on July 28, 2018 Mastered by Kent Stump at Crystal Clear Sound, Dallas, Texas
3: Free Thought Recorded live at Freetown Boom Boom Room, Lafayette, Louisiana on February 22, 2020 Mastered by Kent Stump at Crystal Clear Sound, Dallas, Texas
Artwork: Front Cover and Layout: Joshua Mathus
Photography: Lynda Kitchens
Stone Machine Electric are: Dub – Guitar/Vocals Kitchens – Drums/Vocals/Keyboard
Posted in Features on April 7th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.
Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Mark Kitchens & William “Dub” Irvin of Stone Machine Electric (Hurst, Texas)
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How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?
Fortunately, neither of us have been exposed to Covid-19. Our last show was on March 13, which was when things started getting shut down, and more tours were getting cancelled. Dallas/Fort Worth is a spot bands hit going to/from SXSW, so the following week would have had a very busy week and a time to see and make new band friends.
For us, we have not rehearsed or anything since the 13th. Should I mention that was a Friday the 13th? We were planning to relearn a few tunes for upcoming shows. We still will, but may be a while before we sit face-to-face and run through them.
Our 7” released on March 27th, but it felt weird to push really hard to further promote it. We make just enough from merch and shows just to cover the costs of the band, so we’re not living off of it like the few that do.
Dub has used the “opportunity” to learn how to work on and repair his own amps, and they needed it. Hopefully he doesn’t burn down his house. Kitchens has been recording some stuff for his Slow Draw project and taking care of his Mrs. who had a surgery just as this started going down — so he’s extra-concerned about getting or bringing Covid-19 home.
What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?
We are under “stay at home” orders but can go out and get groceries and food. Kitchens is fortunate enough to be able to work from home. He’s an architect that does 99 percent healthcare work, but currently isn’t allowed to go on site for anything. Dub is considered “essential” since he works in construction but has no work since projects have been put on hold.
How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?
Locally, and we imagine in a lot of other areas, people who rely on music for income or who supplement it working at bars have been doing live streams with virtual tip jars. We’ve also seen a few venues live stream bands playing to an empty venue.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?
Do what you can virtually if possible. Stay home and help everyone get through this. If you have the funds, help out those bands that tour for a living by ordering their merch. Throw something in their virtual tip jar if you see them live streaming. Support local small businesses because they’ll be the ones to suffer financially more than most. But for the most part, love one another and don’t blow this off and think it’s no big deal.
