KSPC DJs Becca (DJ Granny) and Sydney (DJ Syd) sat down with Matt Stephenson of Machine Girl to discuss the band’s new album MG Ultra, their sampling process, our current dystopia, generative AI, and more. Read their interview below.
Sydney (DJ Syd): Thank you so much for being with us here at KSPC! I’m Sydney, AKA DJ Syd on KSPC.
Becca (DJ Granny): And I am Becca, AKA DJ Granny on KSPC.
Sydney: And we are here today interviewing Machine Girl – Matt Stephenson from Machine Girl – so yeah, thank you so much for being here!
Matt Stephenson: Of course, thank you for having me.
Becca: Yes, we’re happy to have you! We’re going to start off the interview with something really short, really simple, just to get the ball rolling. How is tour going? You are here at the time of recording of this interview in SoCal for your LA show. What are the vibes like right now?
Matt: The vibes are good. We are about two and a half weeks, technically three weeks into our tour. Yeah, it’s going great. I mean, the shows have pretty consistently been great. Everyone’s in good spirits, and we’re excited to continue onward.
Sydney: Nice. How do you like LA so far? I mean, I’m assuming you’ve been.
Matt: Yeah, I’ve been to LA a bunch of times. It’s cool. It’s… I always like visiting. You know, we’ve only been here, like, I woke up this morning in LA. So I haven’t really had a chance to do anything yet today, but I’m going to try to – since today’s a day off, you know – find something cool to do or see.
Sydney: And yeah, I mean, you kind of saw the questions that we were anticipating asking in our communications with you, so our first main question is: you guys really seem to resist categorization in terms of genres and don’t let yourself be boxed by these Spotify algorithms. How do you navigate this in terms of marketing yourself and the audiences that come about this? How does transitioning through these genres, through your different eras, affect your fan bases and all of that?
Matt: Um, well, I don’t really like trying to get too concerned about how to market it or whatever, you know. I just kind of make what I want to make and then, you know, it’s more about sometimes figuring out how to put it out. So like taking a bunch of tracks that maybe have similar energy or vibes and putting them on a release together to make it more consistent or palatable. But yeah, with the fan base, there’s definitely the fans that only like the harder stuff and there’s the fans that only like the softer, more ravey upbeat stuff. But I find that most of the fans kind of appreciate and enjoy all of it, which is awesome. And I think that speaks to how varied and eclectic and open-minded people’s tastes are nowadays.
Becca: Yeah, most definitely. So with that process of creating your music, because a lot of your samples make up the bulk of your work, how do you choose your samples? How do you decide what to do with them? What is the process like?
Matt: Well, I definitely sampled a lot more early on. I still do, but less so now. And there’s two different kinds of sampling; there’s two kinds of samples to me. There’s the samples that you drop that are obvious references or something, like movie samples, video game samples, whatever. And again, I think that a lot of the time it’s just a way to add your own voice – without using your voice – to your tracks, you know. I sample things that I like, so it definitely gives listeners and fans an insight into what I’m into, which is clearly anime, video games (specifically fighting games), horror movies. It just sort of gives it a character. And then also there’s sampling that’s like, you know, I use a lot of sample packs from either producers or sample packs that have existed since the dawn of the internet it feels like. Like old break packs and drum samples and samples from other songs. You know, especially for the DJ kind of stuff, I feel like a lot of DJs use the same samples for the same sounds. And I think it’s kind of cool because, especially during a DJ set, for the people listening, it gives the song a context that’s interesting and a frame of reference. So yeah, that’s the different ways that I guess I’ve sampled stuff in Machine Girl.
Sydney: With that I’m wondering, when you’re sampling stuff specifically from different pieces of media, is it more so – I mean, it’s probably a mix of both – but is it more just for the sonic factor of what you’re sampling? Or is it also, or is it mainly, for the referencing and the themes that it adds to the song?
Matt: I would say most of the time it’s the former and sometimes the latter, but that usually comes later and when I’m working on a track where I’ll be like “oh yeah, there’s already a sample” or it’s reminding me of this movie or theme or something. And then I go and I find something that I feel like thematically fits.
Becca: Interesting. How did you get into that, sampling and just creating music in general.
Matt: You know, it was when I started really getting into producing in Ableton like 12 years ago. A lot of it was like, just go on YouTube and just rip. It was very easy to rip audio from YouTube. I was already into so much music – like electronic music – that was sample based and stuff. So it just was easy to do, you know? I could rip a bunch of samples off YouTube and then I’d have a folder full of samples. And then whenever I was working on a track, I could go through and pick out stuff from those folders to drop in.
Sydney: Who are some of those particular electronic artists that you initially drew that inspiration from?
Matt: Venetian Snares, I think, who’s a breakcore artist. I think he’s one of the greatest sampling artists, period. His sample choice and ability to chop up samples is unmatched. You know, certain Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and Shitmatt, a lot of Bradycore artists. And then also, you know, growing up on 90s rap and hip-hop and stuff which was all sample based.
Becca: So with the process of composing music and just like creating your songs, you have an education in film and [your Machine Girl partner] Sean has an education in music; how does that duo dynamic and composing inform the way you guys create music?
Matt: I compose most of the music. Sean’s input is usually later on. We’ve recently kind of tried to work on music more as a band for the first time, more organically with him playing drums along to what I’m doing. And that’s been a fun change. But yeah, I think that for me, I think of music still very visually, and that’s why I’m so drawn to samples and stuff. And Sean’s music background helps a lot of the time to articulate what’s happening – what I’ve made. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe certain things with the music and Sean is able to be like, “oh, this is a blah blah blah moment or like rhythm” or whatever. And that helps a lot.
Sydney: With that music education background, I was wondering: so music theory does come into it when you’re composing?
Matt: I would say within the composition, very little. But I would say that comes more into play with the performance. Like trying to understand the songs, wrap our heads around it.
Becca: What is the dynamic like performing together?
Matt: You know, with the backing tracks, it’s interesting because we’re sort of both relying on a third, inhuman element. We grew up playing music together. So like we already have a very strong musical connection; or our ability to communicate just while playing music without saying anything is very strong. But truthfully, with Machine Girl live, that doesn’t come into play that much since we rely so heavily on backing tracks. And now, we have a third member right now, Lucy, who’s a guitar player. And so the goal is to turn it more and more into a truly live band and get away from the ‘press play’ karaoke style of playing.
Sydney: This is kind of going back to something you said a bit earlier, but you said at least when you’re composing music, it’s a super visual process for you. When you’re visualizing something as you’re composing, how do those aesthetics come into the final product in your music videos and your album covers? Because to me, those are really striking images that you guys use.
Matt: Yeah, definitely. I start thinking about the album art, or even if a video will never get made for the song, I kind of always envision what a music video might look like. And yeah, I mean ever since I was little I would always project internally these narratives over my favorite songs, and with my favorite Machine Girl songs, I do that subconsciously.
Sydney: Can I ask, what are your favorite Machine Girl songs?
Matt: I mean it changes, but I’ll say from the newest record – from MG Ultra – I think that “Ass2Mars” is probably my favorite, personally, of all the songs. I just feel like it’s the most unique. Maybe “Psychic Attack”. But it’s interesting because, like, “Schizodipshit” – which I’m still proud of – it’s maybe not my favorite track on the record, but it’s becoming one of my favorite ones to perform. So it’s also like, there’s a difference between the ones that I think I love how they came out compositionally and on the record, versus the ones that maybe aren’t my favorite on the record, but live, I love playing them.
Becca: On the flip side of that, were there any songs that you struggled with, or were there any songs that you had a hard time composing or putting together?
Matt: Totally. I mean, like, pretty much all of them at some point or another, you know? It’s difficult.
Becca: Between the favorites that you perform and the favorites that you’ve made in general, what are the favorites to perform?
Matt: From this album or in general?
Becca: Maybe in general.
Sydney: Yeah, anything.
Matt: I mean, I feel like it’s probably similar to the audience’s reactions. I love playing “Scroll of Sorrow”, I love playing “Batsu Forever”, which is on hiatus right now. When we would play it, “Status” was always fun. Yeah, there’s a bunch that I really like playing for different reasons. “ATHOTH A GO!! GO!!!”.
Sydney: I was also wondering, I noticed on MG Ultra in particular, there are a lot more softer moments with lusher instrumentation. In composing, how did those come to be in this album? What is that like to perform, transitioning from this kind of wonderful electronic chaos to these more beautiful moments?
Matt: It’s cool. I think it breaks the set up and gives it more dynamic, you know? I’ve definitely described this before – even internally – I’ve described this as, to me, a Machine Girl pop album. That was a little bit what I was going for in my own way. And I’m sure that came from touring with 100 gecs, you know? So, they kind of rubbed off a little bit.
Becca: I want to know more about touring with 100 gecs and just collaborating with artists in general. What was that experience like?
Matt: Yeah, I mean, they were awesome. They’re great people, and touring with them was honestly an amazing opportunity. It was a challenge for us, having to play super massive venues and crowds, and adjust to more of a pop show. But it was a really fun challenge, and we’re super grateful for the opportunity that they gave us to do that. So yeah, it’s awesome. And with collaboration, I mean, collaboration also is great. To any aspiring artist, that would be my number one piece of advice; if you’re at home by yourself working on shit, collaborating with people either on the internet or with your friends as much as possible because, that’s something I wish I did more when I was younger. You learn so much.
Sydney: Speaking of when you were younger; when you were in college and all that, did you ever envision yourself being at the place you are now? Was that ever part of the plan?
Matt: I mean, it was like, you know, it was like a pipe dream. But now that it’s here, it’s crazy. It’s surreal. I mean it’s cool because for us, it was a slow and steady build up, so it’s not like an overnight thing. I was suddenly just in my bedroom, playing to no one, and then suddenly now we’re in front of thousands of people. So it has slowly dawned on me. It’s been a slow and steady trip.
Becca: Was there ever a moment where you were like “oh man, this is happening”?
Matt: Yeah, different points. I mean, I think early on, our first opportunity opening for a band, which was The Garden back in the day. That was the first time I was like, “whoa, someone’s actually paying attention to us.” And then the 100 gecs thing was definitely that too. There’s just been a couple moments like that, but I still feel like for me personally, there’s more room to grow and more goals that we’ve yet to achieve.
Sydney: Always. Makes sense. And yeah, I’ve also been wondering; I’ve seen a lot of places describing your music as rather dystopian. How does that feed into our current environment, especially after some of the news in these recent weeks?
Matt: I mean, it’s not about a future dystopia. It’s that we’re definitely in a dystopia now, you know? And so it’s just music that’s reflecting that, and that it’s a really, really weird time to be alive, and we’re too aware of everything. So there’s I think a collective anxiety about the world and the future and stuff that it’s hard to… it’s like we all kind of push it down a little bit to just deal with day to day stuff, but it’s always lurking there, you know? And so a lot of the Machine Girl stuff is just sort of talking about that feeling.
Becca: Yeah. And to go into more specific stuff with your work; in the “Motherfather” music video, the first thing that pops up is a disclaimer about no generative AI being used (in the YouTube description of the video). So we wanted to ask what was the process of approaching that music video, especially with the visual aesthetics? Was it made intentionally to look like AI as commentary? And what was the approach with creating the music video?
Matt: So that video, I had no real creative input on other than reaching out to the director, John Lee, who is the co-creator of Wonder Showzen and Xavier Renegade Angel (which if you’re not familiar are two very legendary Adult Swim shows from the early 2000s). And I am a diehard fan of John’s work. So we just reached out and he was down to shoot a video. So he shot it and all the creative decisions about the look of the video and everything was on him. When I first saw it and I had concerns about the AI thing, I called him and he shared the same sentiments as I did about generative AI. Ultimately the decision to have that look was on him. So yeah, that’s the best answer that I can give.
Sydney: It was really effective. I thought it was AI and I was like, “oh, dang.” And then I checked the description. I was like, “oh, that’s cool.”
Matt: It’s like, it’s using tools that AI uses, like neural whatever, link, net, blah blah blah. But it’s using footage and stuff that they fed the AI or whatever. Because it is AI, it’s just not generative scraping from other pre-existing stuff.
Sydney: Okay, that makes sense.
Becca: That’s really interesting. For the album in general, or as a whole with MG Ultra, what were the beginning processes like in creating the album? Or did you have a theme in particular for the album? How did you and Sean approach it?
Matt: For a while I had this idea of MG Ultra and the double entendre of the title. Again, it was just sort of like, for personal reasons and because of my own interpretation or perspective on what’s happening in the world. That mentally we’re not okay, and that people are just so out of touch with reality, and that reality is more than ever before becoming this totally subjective, cubicle-like existence. It’s kind of like everyone fully exists in a totally different sort of reality than everyone else. Believing in all types of conspiracies and all that kind of shit. So there’s a lot of that theme across the album.
Sydney: With that disconnection from reality, what do you think social media’s play is in that? Because I feel like it affects me.
Matt: I think it’s terrible. I think that there should be regulations and it should be like alcohol or something, where honestly you shouldn’t even be allowed to go on it until you’re like 18. The effects of it alone on adult brains is bad enough, but what it does to a 12-year-old or even younger, it’s completely just eroding people’s attention spans. But you know, the echo chamber shit is very real.
Sydney: I think I would have benefited from not having it until I was 18; that sounds wonderful honestly.
Matt: Yeah, I mean, I was in high school when only Facebook was around, and it was like you had to get an invite and you couldn’t even sign on if you weren’t in a college or in a high school. It’s that long ago. And even that limited version of Facebook where there were no social media influencers, like you couldn’t get famous on Facebook because you could only be friends with people that you actually met in person, you know, it was weird to friend request a total stranger – and even back then, it sucked. Even back then, it made me feel like shit. So I can’t even imagine what growing up with Instagram as a 15-year-old would be like.
Becca: Most definitely. And on that very optimistic note, we’re going to end this interview by just asking a really quick question: What are you bumping right now? What are you listening to?
Matt: I mean, truthfully, on the tour, I haven’t even been listening to anything. It’s so bad. I’ve fallen off. But always in my rotation is Autechre. The new Chat Pile was cool. A lot of older shit. Melvins. Hakushi Hasagawa, he’s a cool new artist. Yeah. I can never remember when people ask me this question.
Sydney: No, it’s fair. It’s a lot of pressure. Well, thank you so much for doing this interview with us! This has been great. We really appreciate your willingness to do this for a college radio station. It’s super cool.
Matt: No, totally, totally. I love doing this shit.
Sydney: Awesome.
Becca: Have a good rest of your day.
Sydney: Yeah, have a good day! Thank you!