Hum Machine

After ten years, Madison, Wisconsin's Hum Machine has released five full-length albums and two seven-inch singles. Hum Machine has sold a total of 6,200 combined copies of its five albums. All five received extensive air play in the college radio market and ended up charting in Gavin and CMJ. The highest chart came from KCWU in Ellensburg, WA at #4.
Hum Machine has played a total of 681 dates in its ten years of existence. After wearing out two Ford Econolines and a Chevy bus, they continue to tour the USA. Hum Machine is currently finishing up its sixth full length titled Songs Before the Blackout. The new record will be released this summer followed by shows across the nation.
Hum Machine was catapulted into the national scene when their first record Speed Kills The Dying Beat was released in 1996. The record did surprisingly well on Q101 in Chicago, IL and a short write-up in Billboard Magazine followed. For the next release, The Trance Voltage Solution, Hum Machine chose a different route and had some success in the college market. The album charted in the top 30 of over 100 college radio stations. The innovative radio editing and strong guitar hooks made the album a favorite of many clubs and DJs.
By the end of 1998, Hum Machine began working on its third full-length album, Pay Victrola. In late 2001, Hum Machine released their fourth album and followed it with a 32-date tour across the western United States. The album, No Joy In Mudville, featured 12 carefully crafted songs. "It was a great change of direction for the band. It's a sound, copious sense of what we were always trying to do," guitarist Eric Geving said.
2003 saw the release of Hum Machine’s most successful album to date. The critically acclaimed Theorems and Compositions of the Last Action Rocker was followed up by a massive 63 date tour that brought the band to both coasts and everywhere in between. Recorded at the band's own studio and mixed by Mike Zirkel (Garbage, Everclear, Promise Ring) at Smart Studios in Madison, WI, the album captures the hard traveling of an independent band on the road.
The band is confident that Songs Before the Blackout will follow the success of it’s predecessor. "The songs on Blackout are by far the best that we've had on any record," said bassist Dave Hunt. "I'm very comfortable with this album, it's full and complete. We recorded over 20 songs and chose the best 11. There's no filler on this record, just straight up rock-n-roll."
Hum Machine's goal is to continue to tour and record. And so, like The Great White Buffalo, the band continues to roam the plains, never to be lost in the heard.