It is not easy to peg The Machine In The Garden into a certain musical direction. Sure, they do Darkwave and Gothic, but also Ethereal. They unite Electronic and Neoclassic in their songs. Sometimes the guitars sounds like at the blessedly Mephisto Walz, then again the music reminds me of Siouxsie & The Banshees. And above all the angelic vocals of Summer Bowman are floating. She's a member of the band for five years now, which was founded back in 1994 by her associate Roger Fracé. Both have just released their fourth album Asphodel (Middle Pillar Records) and this is - as we know it from them - wonderful, very emotional and challenging. That is music for listening, for lightening candles, for dreaming. But the band also has sophisticated rhythms like in "Icarus" and "Wonderland", so that they also can be found in the dance temples. This duo really able to create a little jewel out of every song - none sounds like the other. So "Seek" reminds a little bit of Faith & The Muse, while Clarity is a bittersweet lovesong with stirring lyrics ( "It feels like I'm drowning in a sea of myself."). The biggest surprise comes with Photographic: Machine In The Garden have transformed this Depeche Mode track into a solemnly and very slow ballad with heavenly voices. Amazing!

Claudia: Maybe you can first of all introduce yourself to the readers. Who are you, what are you doing besides making music?
Roger: Hi, I'm Roger. In real life, I do web development and IT stuff, occasionally still do some design and pre-press for print work as well. I originally met Summer on the internet in autumn 1996 and she joined the band in spring 1997. We definitely would not be where we are today without her talent and enthusiasm.
Summer: I am Summer. I work for a major computer company.

Claudia: You're a couple, aren't you? So do you share the same taste in music - or is it even sometimes difficult to work together if you're so close to someone?
Summer: Roger and I have a close relationship. In terms of our taste in music, we actually have fairly different tastes. There are a lot of areas where we overlap, but in general, we tend to listen to different things which I think makes our music all the more diverse and interesting. I think you have to be close when working with someone. You have to spend a lot of time together so it is best if you get along well.

Claudia: Where does the name of the band come from? Roger: A phrase that came in passing… I thought the name and concept were neat. It fit sorta my own philosophy. And the way we approach music. I found out later it's a book by Leo Marx.

Claudia: And what does it mean? It implies the contrast between nature and technology. What is more important? Summer: In terms of the meaning, we really don't try to or even want to make political statements with our music, but the name of the band reflects on more of a philosophy that Roger came to understand and that I tend to agree with. Technology is taking over, at this point, it is very difficult to live without technology, however, I love nature. What is ironic is that Roger and I are technology freaks. We create most of our music by computer and we live on the internet.

Claudia: Do you have a classical musical training?
Roger: I wouldn't necessarily call it "classical," but I do have a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Electronic Arts, which involved doing electronic music, video, and computer graphics all at the same time.
Summer: My musical training is mostly in vocals arts. I have been singing in choirs since I can remember and have also had private voice lessons. Right now I sing with the Austin Civic Chorus which is definitely a lot of fun. I also play the flute which I learned as a child.

Claudia: What are your main influences? I read that your influences are Enya, Depeche Mode and Siouxsie. And how would you describe your music? It's not so easy to peg you as Gothic or as Darkwave or ….
Roger: You're right in that we're not really Gothic or Darkwave or whatever, but there are definite Gothic and Darkwave elements to the music. People also bring up Neo-classical and Electronic genres when they describe our music. We're usually not on or another, but a blend of each. Certainly some song may be more Darkwave or Goth Rock than others, but we're not very good at doing a "pure" genre-oriented song.
Summer: I have so many influences, I can't even begin to name them. Definitely those that you mentioned as well as numerous others have been influential. In describing the way our music sounds, we run into problems as well. We definitely explore a lot of different types of sounds from neo-classical to ethereal to goth-rock. You name it, we have probably experimented with it.

Claudia: Keyword Depeche Mode: On your new CD you have a cover version of Photographic. Why that song? Roger: Photographic is a song that I first did about 8 or so years ago. We then resurrected it about one year ago for a live show and really enjoyed doing it, and decided that we would like to finish it and put it on a CD. I've always liked the song and our version is quite different than all the versions by other bands that I know of. I've been a DM fan since 1985 and their influence on THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN as a whole I think is very apparent.

Claudia: What is the meaning of your current album title? Summer: Asphodel is the name of a lily. This special lily appears in the Hellenic mythology as Persephones favourite flower. It is the flower for the underworld in the mythology.

Claudia: How important are the lyrics for you? And what is the meaning of them, especially on the new album? Summer: The lyrics that I write have always been pretty personal, but I think that personal nature is taken to a whole new level on the new CD. These lyrics were deeply personal for me and it was somewhat of a catharsis to write them. I really express a lot of my own inner fears, anxieties and feelings on this particular CD. In one sense, I am a bit nervous bearing so much of my soul on this CD, but I think it is something I had to do and I think that many listeners will be able to relate to the words as well.

Claudia: Can you tell us something about the new album? What is different from the previous ones? Do you like it more than your previous ones?
Roger: It's really hard to say if I like it better that our previous CDs… It's rather different than our previous releases, but none of our releases really sound like each other. It's dark, much like Underworld; it's more upbeat, kind of like One Winter's Night…; it's diverse like Out of the Mists. As a whole, it does have more upbeat and club/radio friendly tracks on it that our last CD, I think it has more guitar content that our previous CDs. I am very excited about this one. As for favorite song, I like them all a lot, but I have a tendency towards the song Outside: I find the layers of music and other sounds create a very massive sound that I feel is very representative of what THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN can be. This plus some very emotive vocals from Summer that fill so well always makes me gleem.
Summer: I love all our CDs. Depending on the kind of mood I am in, I listen to different CDs at different points in time. I really have a hard time selecting a favorite. In terms of a particular song on the new CD, I really am so proud of all of them. Like Roger, I tend to learn towards Outside as a song I enjoy quite a lot, but really, I love them all.

Claudia: What is your motivation to make music? What gives you the ideas? And what do you want to express with it?
Roger: Sort of a hard question to answer because most of the time I don't know where it comes from. Pretty much it's whatever my brain and fingers spit out. Sometimes a particular sound out the guitar or synth will be inspiration, but still, I'm not trying to follow any particular guideline: I compose what feels right and natural.

Claudia: You are working not only with a label, but hat your own label before and use the internet very extensive, e.g. at MP3.com. How important is it for you to be independent?
Roger: We did release Underworld on our own label which we formed, but doing all the work yourself is REALLY hard. We are actually on a label, which is Middle Pillar Presents, which was born out of Middle Pillar Distribution in New York City. We were the first band signed to them... Middle Pillar already had a lot of great contacts and distribution which is incredibly important, so we're very happy to be with them. The internet has always been very important to us and our web page has been up for ages. MP3.com is a great tool, which has been great promotion, and also a means to release more songs via their MP3 CDs. We're released 2 CDs worth of additional material through them, each titled When Angels Peer Favorably Upon Us. Each CD contains demos, remixes, alternate versions, and a few original tracks.

Claudia: Your artwork and photos are very beautiful designed. Who does that for you? And how important is the "styling" for you?
Roger: We've used the same photographer ever since moving to Texas. Her name is Donna Clancy-Goertz and her website is www.charlottesometimes.com. She does a great job and I think understands very well what we want. Once she does the photos, though, Summer and I do all the manipulation, design, and layout of everything. The new CD Asphodel, I came up with the basic concept of how the colors and such would work, then Summer did almost all the actual work.

Claudia: Hopes and plans for the future? (maybe a tour in Germany ;-)?
Roger: A tour in Germany would really be fantastic. I think our music would go over well there, and audience appreciation always feels good.
Summer: For the future we hope to keep releasing CDs and hopefully play some more live shows. As for myself, I am going strait to work on my side project, Mirabilis, with Dru from This Ascension so THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN is going to take a backseat for a little while. Now that Asphodel is done, I can devote more time to that project which I am really excited about.