Offbeat Magazine (Victoria, B.C.) December 2002/January 2003, Issue 173
Page 14

Immaculate Machine by Matt Cooper

I first heard Immaculate machine at Thursday’s Pub near the beginning of summer. Somewhat disillusioned from much of the bland “college-rock” that had plagued my recent musical outings, I was, frankly, amazed (yes, amazed) by what I heard. Upbeat and funky, I decided to follow them around, make them like me and make them come to Oak Bay Pool at 11:45 on a Tuesday evening to tell me about themselves.

11:45pm. Tuesday, November 19th, 2002

Emerging from the change room, I run into Kathryn. “I locked my locker while still holding my wallet,” she complains. In the kiddie pool, Luke and Brooke relax against the edge, while a couple make out in front of them. They seem unperturbed. I walk over to the pool, notebook in hand (having decided, for fear of electrocution, to not use a tape recorder in the pool), and place my pad on a floating chess board. This was gonna be great.

Immaculate Machine, consisting of Brooke Gallupe [guitar, vocals], Kathryn Calder [synth, synth bass, vocals] and Luke Kozlowski [drums, vocals] has been around, in spirit, if not in name, since Luke, Brooke and Kathryn, 22, 21 and 20, respectively, were together, along with 3 other musicians, in a band called The Reactions.

For a 3 person band, having a keyboard player instead of a bassist makes for interesting dynamics. Kathryn’s synth riffs are often isolated within songs, and the interactions between guitar and synth can be fantastic. More interactions come in the vocal department – all three are singers – allowing them to change one of the most important instruments during and between songs.

All three band members have strong musical inclinations: Kathryn has quickly become a high grade piano player while Luke has recorded many of his own songs in his partially egg-carton insulated recording studio at home. To get around any possible conflicts of interest in the song creating department, they do exploit their individual creativity.

K: “Well, we sort of work on our own and then we bring the songs to the table and the other guys can input. Or wreak havoc.”

As my notepad gets increasingly wet, we decide to take a swim break. We race in the pool and use the rope swing to (try and) injure ourselves. The couple next to us in the kiddie pool, the same couple who were there when we arrived, continue to make out. They don’t seem to need to come up for air.

L: “I think we are very conscientious when it comes to our lyrics.”

B: “No ‘Baby I Love You’s.’”

L: “Doesn’t mean we won’t write love songs. It just means that they will not be clichés. We just want to sound original if we write a love song , something based on personal experience.”

B: “And we have political songs like “The View” and “Cold,” anti-war and anti-consumerism songs. Then we have more personal introspective songs based on emotions we’ve felt, relationships we’ve had, and so on; like “Dori Says I’m An Alien” or “Midnight.”

We are already becoming prune-ish now (water), and when we look up the pool is empty, with the exception of 2 disgruntled looking employees gesturing towards the change room room as if to say, ‘please leave now, the pool is closed.’ As we rose, I demanded of them further explanation. I needed to know the rationale behind their name.

B: “Ummm, it is a reference to human beings.”

K: “The Immaculate Machine is beautiful…”

B: “…but flawed. It is a contrast between Immaculate which is supposed to be angelic and Machines which are cold and impersonal.”

K: “It embodies anything that is a contrast.”