Z Machine
Five Go Mad In Swansea - musical mad scientists cooking up explosive prog and fusion
“The first jazz fusion wall of death!”
“It was a meeting of musical minds,” says guitarist Gareth Piper about the birth of Welsh prog/jazz fusion quintet Z Machine. A chance encounter at Swansea Comic Con led Piper and Owen Rosser to invite fellow local muso Rob Harrison to form a band. “I used to pull out a flute with my old band and they thought, ‘Aha, jazz fusion!’” says Harrison. “I’d got hold of a saxophone about a week before Comic Con. I said, ‘Oh, I’ve just got a saxophone actually, maybe I could play that?’ And then realised I don’t actually know how to play this thing, so I luckily managed to get lessons with Ian East from Gong.”
The resulting sound, captured on their 2023 debut album 'Merging Worlds', is a mix of swaggering riffs, scorching saxophone, and Z Machine’s take on the Canterbury scene, or “Aggressive whimsy” as Rosser dubs it. From debuting in Crowley’s, “a tiny pub in Swansea” according to Piper, they’ve taken their furious brand of progressive fusion to festivals including A New Day and Bloodstock. “Owen and I have been long time Bloodstock goers,” says Piper. “It was my first time playing there, it was nice to play with a not-metal band to a metal audience, and they still absolutely loved us.”
“The first jazz fusion wall of death!” adds Harrison.
For Rosser, the keys to connecting with any audience are “Energy and groove, which perhaps is how we go over so well with people who aren’t necessarily into prog rock or jazz fusion. They pick up on the energy, they pick up on the groove, and it makes them feel something.” Piper concurs, noting that while they love to improvise, Z Machine’s songwriting focuses on “hummable melodies and catchy riffs as well. People come to speak to us and they’ll be humming one of our riffs; it’s a very surreal moment. We must be doing something right if a hook from one of our songs is stuck in someone’s head.”
In November, Z Machine kicked off the proceedings at HRH Prog. “We’ve often opened festivals,” says Harrison. “Often there is hardly anyone there when we play the first note, but by the time we finished the first song it was packed out. It’s really rewarding to get that response to this mad stuff you cook up in your music laboratory and then unleash on an unsuspecting world.”
Plans are afoot to record their second album in 2026. After tracking 'Merging Worlds' live in one room, they’re considering a different tactic for the next outing. “I wanted to try and capture some of the live energy we have onstage,” says Rosser. “Next time round, we might have a little more embellishment that isn’t possible live, but I really like the idea of those jazz albums from the 50s where they just all hammered it out in the room together. There’s a certain amount of magic that isn’t quite the same as tracking one-by-one. There’s a sweet spot in there somewhere.”
- David West
Prog File:
Line-Up: Lester Greenhalgh (drums), Rob Harrison (sax), Maddy Kiley (bass), Gareth Piper (guitar), Owen Rosser (guitar)
Sounds Like: If you took Frank Zappa, Cardiacs, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Rush, and made them have a fight in a lift - dense, complex, yet somehow danceable.
Current Release: 'Merging Worlds' is out now via Bandcamp.
Website: Music | Z Machine