Additionally, I Speak Machine will be touring during February, March and April supporting the legendary Gary Numan. Kicking off on February 23 at The Fonda in Los Angeles, CA, the tour will hit major North American markets such as San Francisco, CA on February 24, Austin, TX on March 2, Nashville, TN on March 7, Atlanta, GA on March 8, Toronto, ON on March 11, New York, NY on March 13, Chicago, IL on March 21, Vancouver, BC on March 29, Seattle, WA on March 31, and culminate in a performance at The Ventura Music Hall in Ventura, CA on April 5. Tickets for all shows are on sale now and a full listing of dates can be found below.
Exploring the world of music technology, vintage synthesizers and production for over a decade, the genesis of I Speak Machine was in 2013 when musician Tara Busch produced a live score for filmmaker Maf Lewis’ debut short horror film, The Silence. From there, a personal and professional relationship developed, leading to the formation of the audio-visual project.
Now based in LA, Busch remotely co-produced the forthcoming WAR with Sheffield- based Dean Honer (Roísín Murphy, Add N To (X)). For years, she had worked alone, releasing albums with on seminal record labels Lex Records in London and Tummy Touch Records in New York, feeling pressured to prove that she could be self-reliant as a female artist. It was a freeing choice to allow another voice into the project — particularly Honer, whom Busch had long admired for his work with Add N To (X).
“I felt like, ‘fuck it. I don’t feel like I need to answer anybody for wanting to work with a producer again. Bowie did it. The Beatles did it. They sure as hell weren’t editing drum takes like I was’. But women are set to different standards; it’s a million times more difficult to be taken seriously if you are a woman in this field, and I wanted to say ‘fuck you’ to that.” From their respective sides of the Atlantic, the duo worked with an impressive armory of gear — Busch with her Roland 808, ARP 2600, and Oberheim Two Voice, and Honer on Synthi AKS, Polivoks, and Minimoog.
The album opens on title track “WAR,” where with darkly danceable synths Busch creates a rousing battle song. Elsewhere, the defiant “Beat Down By Heaven” and the haunting “Dirty Soul” utilize some of the album’s grimiest synth sounds to face the spectre of Busch’s childhood in the Catholic church head-on. “No record about mental turmoil would be complete without a prod to the ribs of Catholicism,” she says. Of the latter song, she expands: “I wanted to sing about the painful yet delightful yet embarrassing yet weirdly satisfying breakdown of when the facade of religion cracks, piece by piece. If I have what is considered a ‘filthy heart’ by the Catholic church, I must be doing something right.”
After 11 tracks that are at once exhilarating and exhausting, ultimately, I Speak Machine come home victors. “This album feels like a culmination of all the different voices and mistakes and fun things I’ve done over my career,” Busch sums up. “This album dove into some really, really dark shit in my life that I felt could be minimized and put in perspective a bit if I sang about it. I wanted to do something that was just through my eyes and not anyone else’s. The big thing was just trying to not give a fuck and get rid of inhibitions. And I wanted to shout my head off a little bit too.”
I Speak Machine will be making the following North American appearances supporting Gary Numan. Dates below.
Feb. 23 — Los Angeles, CA — The Fonda Theater
Feb. 24 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore
Feb. 25 — Pioneertown, CA — Pappy & Harriet's
Feb. 26 — San Diego, CA — The Observatory North Park
Feb. 27 — Santa Ana, CA — The Observatory
Feb. 28 — Phoenix, AZ — The Crescent Ballroom
Mar. 02 — Austin, TX — Emo's
Mar. 03 — San Antonio, TX — Aztec
Mar. 04 — Dallas, TX — Granada Theater
Mar. 05 — Houston, TX — Numbers
Mar. 07 — Nashville, TN — Basement East
Mar. 08 — Atlanta, GA — Variety Playhouse
Mar. 09 — Carrboro, NC — Cat's Cradle
Mar. 11 — Toronto, ON — Phoenix Concert Theatre
Mar. 12 — Buffalo, NY — Town Ballroom
Mar. 13 — New York, NY — Webster Hall
Mar. 14 — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club
Mar. 15 — Washington DC — Lincoln Theater
Mar. 17 — Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer
Mar. 18 — Pittsburgh, PA — Thunderbird Music Hall
Mar. 19 — Detroit, MI — El Club (Early & Late show)
Mar. 21 — Chicago, IL — Park West
Mar. 22 — Milwaukee, WI — The Rave
Mar. 23 — Minneapolis, MI — First Avenue
Mar. 24 — Omaha, NE — Waiting Room
Mar. 25 — Denver, CO — Gothic Theater
Mar. 26 — Salt Lake City, UT — Metro Music Hall
Mar. 28 — Portland, OR — Revolution Hall
Mar. 29 — Vancouver, BC — Commodore Ballroom
Mar. 30 — Tacoma, WA — Spanish Ballroom
Mar. 31 — Seattle, WA — Neptune Theater
Apr. 02 — Sacramento, CA — Ace of Spades
Apr. 03 — Santa Cruz, CA — The Catalyst
Apr. 04 — Pentaluma, CA — Mystic Theater
Apr. 05 — Ventura, CA — Ventura Music Hall
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