The sky’s the limit for The Kite Machine

Geelong rock band The Kite Machine has soared to new heights this year, releasing their debut self-titled album and scoring a coveted nomination at this year’s Music Victoria Awards.

While their unusual band name has invited question about who they are and what they do, the three-piece outfit are adamant that great music is all that’s to come out of The Kite Machine.

“It’s (naming the band) not really that interesting of a story,” laughed frontman Levi Anderson.

“We literally just had a whiteboard and were writing words we liked and moving them around and seeing if there were already bands of the same name.”

After landing on an identity, it was all systems go. The trio spent the next three years mastering their style and sound to create what they believe is the best LP they could have released.

Levi said he and band members Liam Brennan (bass) and Kane Sherriff (drums) were equally driven throughout the creative process.

“We started recording it two years prior to releasing it. It took a while to mix because we wanted to make sure, it being our first album, that we were really happy with it,” Levi said.

“We actually got quite picky with it. It was a good learning experience for next time round. We know a bit more about what we do and don’t like; it was kind of an experimental period.”

The album – which features 10 tracks including “Sinister Sound” and “Charlotte” – was recorded at Bradshaw Music Productions in Burwood. The opportunity arose through mutual friends; much the same as the band’s formation.

“It’s a melting pot of things we really like. I took inspiration from bands I love like Rage Against the Machine and Jet, for example. We took all of the bits that we liked from our favourite bands and recordings and that really influenced it in the end.

“Musically it’s a similar story. We write songs that we think aren’t out there at the moment, and lyrically I write all the lyrics well after the songs are finished.”

Taking songwriting inspiration from the likes of Radiohead and Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys, Levi said he found himself singing “gibberish” while fiddling around with chords and tempos before he began consolidating words for verses.

“When we’re writing the songs, I sing a lot of gibberish, but sometimes it falls into sentences that might spark the idea for what we do lyrically.”

Taking the album live in March led to a sell-out national tour which saw the boys play gigs in Geelong, Melbourne and New South Wales.

The Kite Machine has clocked more than one million listens on Spotify, and Levi said the streaming world has both surprised and delighted him.

“We’re not entirely sure how it happens, but we’re not unhappy about it.

“We have people messaging us on Facebook asking us when we are coming on Argentina – it’s crazy and it’s great because it means when we release new music, people everywhere will be listening to it.”

The band recently uncovered a new look on their website along with the launch of a nine-minute documentary film by Ben Christie on their touring life.

Levi said the trio was looking to expand their live shows to Queensland and Tasmania, all the while writing their second album.The Kite Machine will play at the Nightjar Festival and the Great Australian Beer Festival next year.

To keep up to date with the boys’ gigs and music, follow @TheKiteMachine on Facebook and Instagram.