CD transports trio in a new direction

By Jeanine Soodeen
Victoria News

VICTORIA * Immaculate Machine's Transporter is a wild ride.
Sometimes the three-part harmonies are slow and moody and other times the strangled shouts are fast and loud, a reflection of the talents of three songwriting musicians.
"That's a natural product of what comes out of three different songwriters. We all listen to different music," said Brooke Gallupe, who plays guitar and vocals for the indie pop trio.
He, along with Luke Kozlowski on drums and vocals, and keyboardist and vocalist Kathryn Calder make up the dynamic Immaculate Machine. They sing about love, pain and political dissent. As Gallupe said Calder put it once, "We like to slip a political message into a fun medium, more like Dr. Seuss than Karl Marx."
Of late, the three started to compose together, which results in a more cohesive sound. However, there's no leashing the energy which the title of the CD speaks about. The band members feel "transported" by their music, and their stage presence during live shows and recordings become a part of that.
"We try to make the live show as fun as possible. That's important, to make the live show interesting," Calder said of dancing stage antics and the band's general intent.
She, Gallupe and Kozlowski started playing music together at Vic High, the latter two having known each other since elementary school. Only in the last two years did they form Immaculate Machine, and begin playing in venues around the region and Lower Mainland, most recently opening for The Trews at Lucky Bar.
Last year, the trio released its debut EP The View, followed by a summer tour of Canada. Tunes from The View ended up on college radio charts and received positive reviews.
"It was a good start, a building block, I suppose," Gallupe said. "This one, we have radio stations and reviewers soliciting us, so it makes our job easier.
"It's been a slow climb. We really do everything ourselves. We're pretty proud of that. Yesterday I made up a bunch of T-shirts, we booked the tour on our own."
It's work, but it's their own. As Immaculate Machine is their life for the foreseeable future, the Victoria threesome prefer to have control over it.
"We really like the control. We have no one to answer to but ourselves. There's no pressure aside from the pressure you put on yourself. You know people who have done it or you do things the hard way," Calder said about learning the ropes once choosing an indie way of life.
Transporter is the band's next ticket to tour the country once again. Before they leave on that second annual tour, they'll throw a CD release and sendoff party at Second Story. Immaculate Machine also opens the Ghost of Science CD release party April 29 at Steamer's.
"The only way we can expand is to travel and play across the country," Gallupe said. "There'll be cities we show up, we know it'll be a great show and there'll be cities where we don't know what to expect."
They can expect a longer tour this time around, with scheduled stops as far as Halifax. Last year, they didn't go much farther than Montreal, but the band members - all French-speaking - hope to make it to Francophone Quebec, and are looking forward to touring the East Coast.
In Immaculate Machine fashion, the all-ages CD release show promises to be quite a party May 1 at Second Story Books, 579 Johnson St.
"Since we're leaving for a while we're going to make it partyish. It should be a really good time," Gallupe said.
The lineup features Ghosts, Shapes and Siizes and Josh Doherty. Doors open 8:30 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show. Tickets in advance at Second Story and Ditch Records.