W: Charlie Jolley 

The Dream Machine are a nostalgia-tripping indie-rock band from New Brighton in Merseyside, who are infatuated with the depth and drama of their musical ancestors. Amidst their worldwide tour, lead singer Zak McDonnell took the time to speak to us about their new trio of singles.

The Dream Machine’s singles ‘Things That Make Us Cry’ and ‘Fort Perch Rock’ have an undeniably vintage aesthetic. While the latter mirrors old-school rock and roll with a modern edge, like a

punked-up Eddie Cochran track, ‘Things That Make Us Cry’ is a cinematically romantic, piano-laced track that seems to imitate the psychedelic softness of Lennon’s vocals on ‘A Day in the Life’. I asked Zak whether he thinks all good music is rooted in the past, or whether there is any newer music he finds equally inspirational, and he commented “You’ve got to be looking for new music all the time, but a lot of the new music I like, I like because it resembles the old things that I like, so I’d say we still look back a lot more than forwards.”

It’s not just music from the past that inspires The Dream Machine. When asked about the inspiration behind their recent single ‘Flowers on The Razorwire’.  Zak said, “It’s about a comic we found at an antiques show and we took a load of lines out of that.” 

This dreamy, relic-of-the-past aesthetic carries into their music video, which uses grainy footage to construct a striking French New Wave look: “We just shot it when we did a little tour of France, and then we went on holiday in Spain. We shot it on my old Super 8 camera, and I did all the editing myself.”

Zak spoke about the band with a kind of modest sincerity, as if fame and success are just background noise to his love affair with music. His passion started early, as he explained how “Me and the guitarist Matt have been messing about since we were about fourteen/fifteen, then we got Jack,  the bass player, when we were about eighteen and then the other two shortly after that …we’re best mates.”  Their earnest and lifelong devotion to music can be seen in the finepoint detail they pay to their songs, each one resurfacing the musical landscape of the past with a uniquely modern flair.

Zak said that his dream artist to collaborate with would be “Bob Dylan. It has to be soon before he dies.” There are obvious notes of  his influence in the slower, ballad-style songs of The Dream

Machine, more noticeably in their 2023 album ‘Thank God! It’s The Dream Machine …’. Zak’s

entrancingly romantic lyricism and the stripped-back instrumentals in songs like ‘Sweet Mary’ and ‘Angel Of The North’ are definitely evocative of a Merseyside Bob Dylan, but the band use a

whimsical layering of backing vocals to create a more modern, cinematic experience, showing how artists can use familiar techniques while still being original.

With glamorous expectations, I asked what The Dream Machine’s most interesting tour anecdote was, only for Zak to reply “Scotch eggs and the band in the van,”  probably summarising the bleak reality of life on the road rather than the dazzling ‘Almost Famous’ lifestyle we might fantasise about. Adding to this, he said that his favourite gig was their recent show supporting Kula Shaker: “We were supporting them in Manchester, and they’ve got this new psychedelic oil lamp light show, and we were all dressed as Ghostbusters. That was up there with my favourites.”

At a time when it was near impossible for new bands to establish themselves, I questioned Zak on the difficulties of breaking into the seemingly impenetrable gate of the music industry: “It’s hard, we’re still doing it now, really. I still don’t think we’re where we want to be or where we could or should be.”

Still, he explained how his music has been a passport for him to travel around the world, to the likes of Belgium, Holland, France, and most recently, Germany. 

The Dream Machine are a gimmickless band that uses their old-meets-new aesthetic and musical

creativity to stand out amongst the crowd. If you’re a self-professed old soul or a chart follower sick to death of indie-by-numbers, stream The Dream Machine’s new album ‘Fort Perch Rock’ or catch them on the tour for a stylish and innovative take on the past.