How a solo songwriting experiment turned into a four-record band with a sound shaped by psych, Zamrock, and raw DIY energy
Magic Machine began in isolation, long before it became a band.
For Cameron Ford, it all started as a songwriting outlet during the surreal haze of COVID.
“Magic Machine started as a solo song writing project and the weird times of covid pushed me to finish an albums worth of songs,” he says.
With unexpected free time and an urge to create, he quietly built what would become the project’s foundation.
Everything shifted in 2021 when a friend offered him a slot at the Billinudgel Hotel – “a special place to us over the years,” Cameron explains.
With no band yet formed, he pulled one together purely for that show.
What was meant to be a one-off night became something much bigger.
“I put a band together just for the show and 4 records later, that’s the band as it is today”.
The sound of the new record pulls from everywhere, but its roots lie in the unpolished spirit of early 60s psych and garage.
“Definitely inspired by the early 60s psych/garage stuff” – an era they feel marked the moment when low-quality, accessible gear allowed people to create whatever they wanted.
There’s also a strong Afro and Zamrock influence running through the album, along with inspiration from modern psych giants like King Gizz, Thee Oh Sees, and Ty Segall.
At the heart of the album is a bold three-part piece Ford calls the Rainbow Road Journey.
“The three part Rainbow Road Journey sets the overall tone and direction for the album.
Although the genre’s swing from track to track,” he says.
That fluidity reflects the way the record was made: with freedom, spontaneity and a mix of spaces.
“Most of this album was recorded in my tiny bedroom studio except The Rainbow Road trilogy which was recorded live in a proper studio in one take!”
It’s in these rawer moments that Cameron Ford feels the band really shine, stating that its “the instrumental tracks and jammy sections that are laced throughout the album” that act as the thread that ties all the tracks together.
When asked what listeners should feel or take away from this release, the artist had a deliberately loose response, suggesting that “music does different things for different people. I would say just to listen to it and see what it does for you.”
For now, Magic Machine are far from the bedroom where it all began.
“We’re currently on tour in Europe” Ford says, bringing his swirling psych world to the other side of the pond for the first time.
If you’re in that neck of the woods, check out their tour dates by keeping track of their movements on their socials or buy their Rainbow Road record here.
