ONE THING BAS INSISTED ON WAS THAT WE CONTINUE ON NO MATTER WHAT.
Interview with Mach Fox from ZWAREMACHINE by Diego Centurión.
Hi Diego – It's a pleasure to be in touch and thank you for this interview and the continued support from Revista The 13th for my band Zwaremachine.
To begin, could you mention five songs from your discography that our readers should listen to in order to understand Zwaremachine’s sound?
For a list of songs I would suggest:
"Be A Light", which is the title song from the first album and one of the few optimistic songs I have written for the band, it also has 1 verse and 5 choruses which make it perfect for sing-alongs at our concerts!
"Ripping At The Fabric", is an EBM favorite written with Darren Corri and the video seems to get quite a few views so maybe that is our hit!? The original version was released on an EP of the same name and we also released a new version on the Conquest 3000 album.
"Conquest 3000", is the title track from our second full length album and a personal favorite of mine that was produced with Planktoon who the band has worked with for many years.
"Actions and Forces", is the first song featuring new Dutch band members Paul K(guitar) and Marshal B(electronic drums) and was written by bassist Dbot and myself. This single and video was released in 2024 and not available on any album. It also marks a new chapter for the band both in sound and personnel.
"Waking The Night", is our most recent single release and is a bit of closure to our time with our dear friend and drummer Dein Offizier who passed away in 2023. His surdo drum can be heard pounding through the mix and we featured him on the cover artwork to honor him. This song also touches on a bit of goth sound with some guitars and ethereal synth parts.
Let’s talk about the origins of Zwaremachine. Tell us: how and when did the project begin?
I had first released a song titled “The Zwaremachine” in 2011 and wanted to get a band together shortly after. My original idea was to have a DJ style improvisational performance where we would not be locked into a set song arrangement and we could improvise with myself on vocals and live electronics, a DJ and and electronic drummer. I was able to get some friends to join and we performed several times live but I feel the actual start of Zwaremachine was later in 2017 when I began to write songs that would be come the first album titled Be A Light. I was able to perform the songs live and get a better feel for the direction that would later become our Minimal Hypnotic Industrial Body Music phase. Several friend performed with me live during this time and I was able to determine that a trio with myself and an electronic drummer and synth player was the ideal version of the band.
After a few years, the pandemic feels far away, yet its aftermath -especially on a mental level- still lingers from that madness we all lived through. What do you think has changed since that critical moment in the world? And of course, afterward came wars that still continue today…
Well...speaking mostly to the experiences of Zwaremachine performing live, it really took away a lot of our momentum and the whole scene shifted and the bar was lower for what was expected from a live performance. Many venues closed and festivals struggled with cancellations and lower pre-sale tickets which deeply effected our opportunities to play live in other parts of the country and the world.
I spent many years in punk/alternative, DIY style bands and still focus on live concerts as the way to present my band and our music. I consider us electronic but there will always be a punk rock attitude to what we do so we continue on and do most all booking and promotion ourselves. You can listen to the lyrics and understand that point of view most strongly on the Conquest 3000 album which is a theme album set in the year 3000 when most of the earth has been ruined by corporations and government exploiting the people and resources for their own wealth and I never expected that reality to be here so soon. But here we are today.
"Zwaremachine - Ripping At The Fabric"
Let’s address a delicate subject: the loss of your drummer. We’ll focus on what’s coming next shortly, but first I’d like to ask—how did Dein Offizier’s passing affect Zwaremachine?
Of course we are devastated. Bas/Dein Offizier was such a cool friend and band mate with a strong presence and humor that can't be matched. He will always be a part of Zwaremachine in our hearts and I miss him deeply as does everyone who he met and touched. One of a kind!
We had made plans and had discussions on how we would approach the writing and recording for what was to be our 3rd full length album shortly before his passing and when he was back in the hospital we still hoped he would be joining us on stage in with us for a concert to support Front 242 in September of 2023 which was something we all looked forward to and was a goal for him to recover and join us. Unfortunately he passed in August shortly before that and I can tell you that perfoming the concert without him was truly an out of body experience since many of our mutual friend were there to grieve with us. However we were able to honor him with his surdo drum and officers cap on stage in his place and a video tribute on the screen when we performed Be A Light which was dedicated to his memory and spirit. It was fitting and I am so glad we were able to do that.
Did you ever think about leaving this project behind and starting something new because of that loss?
Absolutely. But one thing Bas insisted on was that we continue on no matter what. So that is what we will do.
What ultimately made you decide to continue with Zwaremachine?
Since Bas had insisted we continue it was a great comfort to have Paul K and Marshal B join Zwaremachine as they were also Dutch and very respectful of Bas/Dein Offizier and his contribution to the band and our live performances. I really want to thank them for helping to push me through that period of uncertainty and darkness. They give me a new vision of how we can continue on.
After the release of this year’s EP “Waking The Night”, where we can still hear Dein on drums, what are the most immediate plans for the band?
Waking The Night became the closure and gave us the start of our new sound and we keep Bas' strength, courage and humor with us moving forward. I still wanted to complete the recordings we had started with Bas/Dein Offizier but there were long periods of time I just could not bring myself to work on those songs in the studio and to hear his big booming surdo drum was a bit too heavy on my mind. Since we now had Paul K on guitar it opened up the possibilities to add guitar to the new songs since I was a guitarist myself before exploring synthesizers,drum programming and sequencers. As I recorded and added guitars the songs changed quite a bit and although the Zwaremachine trio of Dbot, Dein Offizier and myself are on those 7 songs we decided that it did not represent how we would like to present the next album and we had no intention to perform any of these songs live. Those songs will be released as a Mach FoX band album with he first single titled Biteback released on September 5th 2025 with the album Mach FoX – Chaos of Man following in October 2025.
What does the concert schedule look like for the coming months?
We are preparing now for our Zwaremachine 2025 The Machine Comes Alive Tour EU/USA Fall tour dates which start in Belgium on September 19th and go through October 4th with concerts in Belgium,The Netherlands,Germany and then we will return to USA for the remaining dates in Midwest USA with a concert on October 20th in our hometown of Minneapolis,Mn. Supporting Leaether Strip and the final tour date on October 25th in Chicago,IL. with our friends Absynthe of Faith.
"Zwaremachine - Actions and Forces"
Beyond the live shows, what other plans does the band have in the near future?
Since the songs we were recording for the next Zwaremachine album ended up scrapped and used as the next Mach FoX album I will go back to the demo phase and start writing songs for the 3rd full length Zwaremachine album. This will also give the opportunity to have all the new band members involved in the recording process and present on the next album which I feel is an important step forward for the band. We also intend to continue touring next year and will be booking dates soon.
Thank you very much, Mach.
Thank you Diego.
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