Obsolete Machines

A large screen shows seemingly random projected images. A close-up of the steel fan blankets the two people standing on the stage. Suddenly, a drum machine kicks in and the music starts. Both the music and movies are the brainchild of the local band Obsolete Machines.
"One of the main goals with the band was to try to figure out a way to incorporate all of the senses in order to give the audience a full sensory experience," said lead singer and guitarist Adam DeHaven.
The Obsolete Machines are a local band that has wowed crowds with their narrative lyrics and artistic imagery. The band's music sounds like a mash-up between singer-songwriter lyrics and Radiohead-style electronics.
"Its always a hard thing to do, describing your own music, but we kind of sound like Radiohead with a west coast feel," keyboardist Shanna Teresinski said. "I'd also say our music is very organic but also synthetic with the electronic sounds."
The band incorporates more than just music into their live act, as they have abstract movie clips projected on and behind them when they perform. The film aspect of the band is DeHavens labor of love.
"Personally, my true passion is film and I like for the audience to think visually,"
DeHaven said.
When the band initially incorporated the imagery into their act, they tried to use movies and puppet shows that linked up with the music, but they switched to abstract clips when it was too difficult to match up their live music with movie clips, DeHaven said.
The band formed in 2001, when Teresinski approached DeHaven after a performance the singer had at the New Moon.
"I had just broken up with my band at that point, she came and asked me if I could write some things for her, because at that point she wanted to be the singer," said DeHaven. "I was planning on moving to Seattle at the time, and I asked her to come with me to try to form a chamber orchestra thing I wanted to do at the time."
After moving to Seattle, the band found it difficult to find musicians who were on the same page musically. After the chamber orchestra project fell through, they returned to Oshkosh.
"We decided to come back to Oshkosh because we could either be in Seattle struggling to make it, or we could come back to Oshkosh and work and save money and expand our options as a band by buying all the technology we needed to get the sounds we wanted," said DeHaven.
After the band was back in Oshkosh they bought equipment to make the two-person group sound like a full band, performing under the name Shattercell. The band decided to change their name to the Obsolete Machines "The name Obsolete Machines is a combination of two different ideas," DeHaven said. "The obsolete part comes from the way we feel music is going into pop, without much substance, and the machines part is based around us using electronic gear, and our rhythms sound like they come from metal machinery."
After the band perfected its songs,they began playing bars and events in the Oshkosh area. They played at Barley and Hops, the Reptile Palace, The New Moon, Titan Underground and the Oshkosh Art Walk.
"The Obsolete Machines were chosen to play at the Underground because I had seen them play before and really enjoyed their show," said Titan Underground Programs graduate project assistand Sara Haley. "Their music offers students an opportunity to relax and enjoy both visual and musical art as well as finding a connection with the song lyrics."
Though the band has achievd relative success in the Oshkosh area, they plan to move back to Seattle in a few months.
"Wisconsin isn't exactly the best place for original bands, everyone wants to hear cover bands and it's really hard to break out," Teresinski said.
The band plans to move to Seattle and tour the west coast for a year or so, and they hope to be signed to an independent label, DeHaven said. The band doesn't hinge their success on being signed, though as they already have a contingency plan if they are unable to get a record contract.
"If we can't get signed, we'll maybe start our own independent label and take on bands that are pushing boundaries and really encourage that,"DeHaven said.
Whether or not the Obsolete Machines succeed in Seattle, theyt'd definetly be welcomed back to the Titan Underground.
"I would definetly book them in the future,"Haley said."It's not everyday that you can find performers like Adam and Shanna that offer such a unique perspective on music."
- Andrew Winistorger of the Advance Titan