As The Ministry of Machine Building is now available on Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music, here’s a quick run through of my initial thoughts behind each track…
Aparition Haze
I think of this piece like the opening titles to a film or series. The imagery in my mind was a mysterious city shrouded in a dark smog, under a veil of perpetual nightshade. This is the start of our journey into a mechanical underworld…
The Ministry of Machine Building
The epic title track was the first piece I composed for the project; a long and evolving track that takes you on a frenetic tour of The Ministry, from crashing steelworks and forges to production lines, this is where the action happens. I was imagining a huge, complex hive of non-stop industrial activity, computing, assembly and testing The . workers continually clock on and off their shifts as they work to build the machines.
Nightwatch
After such a dense and complex track comes a little respite, and a welcome gasp of night air. Part of the album concept was to follows the life of one of the workers, from days on end in the darkness of The Ministry to moments of contemplation while on the ‘night watch’.
Assembly
As the title suggests, this is the first of several tracks which explore what is being created in the ominous depths of this industrial city. Much of this album is heavy; there are often two or even three drum tracks layered up to create a robotic, mechanical movement. Part of the challenge musically was to also create a catchy piece of electronica; something with groove and a solid beat.
The Hall of Machines
This track was probably the most diccifult to make and I worked through several iterations of it before it started to feel right. My original idea was for it to be quite a sparse, minimal composition with no or little drums, but – as is often the case – it found its own way, drifting from that starting point, although echoes of that idea can still be heard in the intro and outro. In terms of the concept, this is really taking the listener on a journey through the giant central hall of The Ministry, where the machines reside, awaiting activation and instruction.
Insomnia
I wanted to create a piece with a slightly delerious, dreamy atmosphere. Even though the work shift is over, sleep doesn’t come easily, and we find ourselves wandering the city streets from the darkest night to the early hours of morning.
Modularity
The follow-up to Assembly in some ways, this is the album’s heaviest and most powerful track. Here, we travel through the networks – physical and virtual – of The Ministry; the electronic networks of the computer brain and creation of artificial intelligence.
Escape Plan
The underlying plot in so many classic science fiction stories is the notion of escape; those dreams of leaving that will one day be fulfilled, in a frantic and tense adventure in face of all odds. This was an older demo track that was left unfinished – this provided a solid framework on which to build an energetic, groove-based track.
Reactor
I wanted the album to culminate in a dark and dramatic finalé. What is the reactor, or what – or whom – is reacting? This could be our protagonist’s reaction to his live enslaved by The Ministry – reaching breaking point and working to bring the whole thing crashing down… or perhaps this is the sound of the reactor itself; the deadly molten core and beating heart of The Ministry.
Undiscovered
A kind of epilogue. Fast forward many years, and The Ministry of Machine Building is no more; a relic of the past, consigned to history. But perhaps one day the old site will be unearthed. Still there after all this time. The machinery abandoned and rusted, the Hall of Machines a derilict shell. Or is it? Geiger counters crackle, and if you listen closely, what is that low drone, emitting from below the surface?
The Light Dreams 