Spotlight On... Water Machine

Water Machine are Hando Morice (vocals, violin, synth), Flore De Hoog (bass, vocals), Nicky Duncan (drums, percussion), Baby Cousland (rhythm guitar) and Ellie McWhinnie (lead guitar). Made up of component parts of various other Glasgow bands, Water Machine was birthed in 2022 as a trio, expanding over the years to the five-piece we know now. Musically, Water Machine are spiky, wonky, jangly, angular and direct; their forthcoming album God Park, set for release on Friday 20 June via FatCat Records, is a real party of a record, and an exemplary debut. Ahead of its release, we catch up with Hando and Flore to chat inception, inspirations and more.

To quote Julie Andrews, let’s start at the very beginning. How did you all meet and what inspired you to start making music together?
Hando: Water Machine was formed originally with me, Flore and Jimmy, our original guitarist. A classic lockdown project just for fun which evolved. Presently our lineup is me, Flore, Nicky, Ellie and Baby – Nicky and I played together in Goth GF for years and are basically like siblings at this point. In the past year we met and added our new shredders Ellie and Baby to the lineup, who were recommended by friends!

Where does the band name come from? Like the chicken and egg situation, did the song of the same name come before/after?
Hando: The band was going to be an office-themed band as none of us had worked in an office before and we thought it’d be funny. We were almost called Office Chars!

Flore: It's me being foreign! I wrongly assumed a water machine was called a water machine universally, in all languages. It made my friend laugh, and its been a running joke since. And it happens to fit in perfectly with the office theme we were going for!

Your forthcoming debut, God Park, truly doesn’t sound like it could have been made by a band from anywhere other than Glasgow; your love of Orange Juice is alluded to on Tiffany, but what other artists would you cite as inspiration for Water Machine?

Hando: We are hugely inspired by the incredible local music scene. Within our local scene, bands like The Pastels, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Dancer (who are supporting us in our album launch) and Belle and Sebastian to name a few!

I really love some of the unexpected left-turns found across the album, adding to the different personalities found in the band. How does the writing process work for you as a band – is there a set format, or would you describe it as a more fluid and organic process that can change from song to song?
Hando: Each song is its own organic process. We write together and the songs generally come from the moment. Sometimes there’s a discussed theme or a starting point, like a riff, that someone has come up with, but the bulk of the songs come from an idea that is expanded upon while we play together.

Flore: I agree with Hando! We all kind of take turns, accidentally, coming up with riffs or stuff comes up naturally whilst goofing about in the studio. We all have very different musical backgrounds which can be heard distinctively on the album, and all bring different influences to the table which usually ends up being a big melting pot of sounds and genres.

What are some of the themes found across God Park, and is there anything linking the songs together?

Hando: There’s a lot of dogs, cars and water themes throughout! Water puns are always included as a standard. With the cars, we had just spent many days together in Flore’s car (named The Crab) which seeped into the lyrics. And we all love dogs! We even have guest vocals from Pat the dog on the album.

Flore: Mainly cars and dogs, we're simple people with simple themes to our songs.

What has been your favourite experience so far as a band?

Hando: I nearly wet myself when Henry Rollins got in contact to say he was a fan. Playing The Great Escape has to be up there, we played Horatio’s bar on the end of the Brighton Pier which was surreal!

Flore: I second that. We also played twice in one night at Stereo a few years back, the second gig was a big drunken mess for the Viagra Boys afterparty. It was carnage. Insane fun carnage.

You’re celebrating the release of God Park with a launch party at The Old Hairdresser’s on 20 June. What can people expect on the night – any surprises up your sleeve?

Hando: People can expect a lot of old and new songs, we have been working hard to put something really fun together for people. Party hats will be present!

Flore: We're trying out our song Junction live for the first time, it'll be the first time ever for me to be on the mic not playing an instrument. I'm terrified.

And you’re playing our stage at Kelburn Garden Party in July – we can’t wait! What are you most looking forward to about playing the festival and what's one bit of festival advice you'd be willing to share?

Hando: We can’t wait to play Kelburn too! I’m looking forward to the amazing atmosphere.

Flore: Festivals scare me but Kelburn is genuinely so nice, just don't do anything I wouldn't do. Such as sleeping in a tent.

And what does the rest of the year have in store for Water Machine?

Hando: We will be playing shows across the UK and even shows in Europe are on the cards!

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God Park is released on 20 Jun via FatCat Records; Water Machine play The Old Hairdresser's, Glasgow, 20 Jun and Kelburn Garden Party, nr Largs, 6 Jul

Follow Water Machine on Instagram @wearewatermachine