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Conrad Schuman and Stefanie Ku are creating sublime synth tunes under the name Beautiful Machines.
We’ve heard two songs already – “Control” and “Survive” – and can’t wait for their album Singularity to drop this summer.
The music of Beautiful Machines is redolent of sunny teenage days when the likes of New Order, Yaz, Depeche Mode, Alphaville, and OMD were brightening up our speakers.
And what do you know… Beautiful Machines will be opening up for OMD in Germany from July 31 to August 7th.
Yes, we once had a memorable summer (or two) of synth. Looks like we’re about to have another one.
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Six Crucial Questions for Beautiful Machines
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NAME: Beautiful Machines
HOMETOWN: Originally San Francisco, currently nomadic (EU + UK) since 2017.
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1. What is your earliest musical memory?
Conrad: My parents singing “Yellow Submarine” over my crib as a lullaby.
Stefanie: Johannes Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5.”
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2. What has been your most embarrassing musical moment?
Conrad: There was one super transformational and simultaneously embarrassing moment. I had been playing guitar since age 11, and on my 12th birthday my parents and friends took me to an Italian restaurant with a large outdoor area and a live band playing just feel good covers. All of a sudden, the band does a birthday song for me and then proceeds to invite me on stage. I go there all abashed and wave, then start to walk off the stage. The singer and guitarist says we’d like you to join us for this next song. I’m like I don’t know how to play or play what you guys are playing. He said, it’s easy, we’ll do a 12 bar blues. At this point in life, I have major stage fright. I mean I will lose my breath and pass out stage fright. He takes off his electric guitar and puts the strap around my neck. Props me up on a stool and counts the band in. I can’t handle it and the guitar resting on my leg starts to shake violently, so much so that I can’t even pick the guitar. It just wouldn’t stop, I was so nervous and clammy and feeling faint. Somehow I make it through and being super super shy and embarrassed, I just want to escape. Instead, he grabs my shoulder, holds me in place and says, let’s hear it, applause, then I try giving him the guitar and he says, no it’s yours. I’m like huh, I keep trying to give it back to him, like five times, before the rest of the audience says, “It’s your guitar.” My parents gifted me this awesome red mahogany electric guitar, which became the tool in which I used to drive the neighbors crazy all hours of the night.
Stef: One time I was head-banging so hard that I fell on stage.
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3. What do you like and dislike about touring?
Conrad: When you rehearse together with your band, you spend so much time writing the songs and dialing in just how you want your music to sound. So when we’re on tour, I would love to have a consistent sound. Every place you go, there will be some sonic challenges, feedback is the worst, or technical issues. Other than that, touring is the best, you are out doing what you’re intended to do and sharing your music, can’t complain.
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4. What is your favorite record store, anywhere in the world?
Conrad: I’d have to say Rough Trade East in London. Who doesn’t love listening to music, having a coffee and pastry, while gearing up for an in-store performance. But there is also this whole area in Brussels, Belgium in the Saint-Gilles district with a bunch of record stores all in one area that you can pop in and listen to vinyls on headphones. That is such an experience, you can get lost in new music, and I love the diversity in French-speaking parts of the world’s found music, it’s incredible.
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5. Other than your own music, what is your favorite song or album of all-time? Why?
Stef: Holst’s “Planets.” Why? Because it is an orchestration bible, I can go really deep listening to all the interacting components and continue to discover new relationship dynamics between each of the instruments.
Conrad: I’ve decided to go Russian Roulette with it, so just picking one out of many here: Queen’s – Night at the Opera – it’s got rock, classical vibes, great guitar solos, unique sounds, Freddie Mercury, it has personality, unexpected moments, prog rock, glam, flare, tons of vibe and quirkiness.
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6. You wake up in a seedy Berlin hotel room with no recollection of the past 96 hours. Who is your first call?
Conrad: Of course I will call my partner Stefanie, as she’s probably the one who got me there 🙂
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Images Courtesy of Beautiful Machines
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