Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with machineheart’s Stevie Scott

Indie pop band machineheart burst onto the scene with their debut EP Cruel World. Since its release, it’s amassed over 50 million combined streams, established them as one of Spotify’s Top Emerging Artists, and made them one of NME‘s 2017 Break-Out Bands.

Despite the success, the quartet made up of Stevie Scott (vocals), Harrison Allen (drums), Carman Kubanda (electric guitar), and Jake Randle (bass) are hungrier than ever. They’ve been hard at work creating an album that’s authentically their own.

Pop Culturalist spoke with machineheart front-woman Stevie Scott about the release.

PC: For readers who may not be familiar with machineheart, can you give us a quick introduction to the band?
Stevie: We’re a four-piece ethereal indie pop band out of L.A. We sound like what Fleetwood Mac would have sounded like if they were formed today.

PC: Tell us about your new album People Change. What was the inspiration behind it?
Stevie: This is our debut record so the inspiration was to let instinct take precedence and guide the creative process. The result of that was People Change. It was a formative and freeing experience to really process everything that was happening in our life during the last two years.

PC: If you had to choose one song on the album that best encompasses the band, what would it be and why?
Stevie: Even though “Altar” is the single technically-speaking, I think “Overgrown” is the best summation of us. It has all the key elements that we start songs with. It starts so delicately and, then, when the drums come in it has all the backbone to support the lyric. I love that.

PC: How has the band grown since the release of Cruel World? How is the new album different than the EP?
Stevie: I mean, this album is quite literally about the change and metamorphosis we experienced since Cruel World. It was important to us that our debut record was really, truly our own sound without the outside influence of other voices; so, we locked ourselves away in our rehearsal space in Echo Park and dove in. It felt so spacious and expansive creatively like there were no rules or boundaries. I think you hear that when you listen to it.

PC: machineheart has accomplished a lot of incredible things in the band’s history. When you look back, is there a moment that stands out to you?
Stevie: It’s funny because we are still a baby band. This is our very first record. It just took us a while to make it—which I am so glad for because I think if we had rushed the creative process we wouldn’t have fully formed the sound we wanted. So it feels like it’s just the start in most ways, and I like that.

PC: As the band looks ahead to 2019, what does the year hold for you all?
Stevie: Touring, mainly, and getting to connect with our fans face to face. We didn’t tour while making the album so I am really looking forward to that face time with them at our shows. It’s our most favorite part of what we do. I want to meet as many of them as possible at these shows.

PC: What can fans expect when they head to a machineheart show?
Stevie: Shows feel like one of the few places where we can be truly present. We are constantly being inundated by media and distraction and our phones. Shows are one of those rare forms of face-to-face interaction. It requires your focus and attention—both from us and from the audience. It’s so connective too, and we are able to come together and share the experience on an equal playing field. I love that dialogue between us and them. It makes it all worth it.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Stevie: The Office

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Stevie: Parent Trap (The 1998 version of course.)

PC: Favorite book?
Stevie: It changes depending on what I’m reading (which currently is Devotion by Patti Smith).

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Stevie: The Secret Garden. I played Mary Lennox in a version of it when I was ten so it’s very dear to me.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Stevie: The Beach Boys. Our music is so emotional and melancholy—nothing at all like theirs—but I love listening to it on warm days when I’m driving around L.A. It’s just so happy.

PC: First album you bought?
Stevie: I think it was Evanescence’s Fallen album; I played it constantly. I’d lock the door and be singing in the mirror for hours putting on my own emo concerts.

PC: First concert you attended?
Stevie: My parents played in a band when I was growing up so I was always at their shows.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Stevie: Kate Bush’s The Kick Inside. I had this odd drama-kid vibe as a teenager (maybe I still do) and a high airy voice. I didn’t know what exactly to do with it. Everyone else was trying to be Christina Aguilera, and I was just trying to figure out my sound. A vocal coach told me I reminded her of Kate Bush. I ended up looking her up, and it all clicked into place. It made me feel like there was a space for me and my sound.

PC: A must-have on tour?
Stevie: Netflix, headphones, and my notes app to write down thoughts and song ideas.

PC: A venue at your bucket list to perform at?
Stevie: The Hollywood Bowl

Keep up with Stevie by following her on Twitter, and pick up your copy of People Change on iTunes or Amazon Music.