Mechanized Warfare's Official Music Blog: 2013

1. What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name? Have you changed the band's name before?

My music project is called Mechanized Warfare. It was something I had randomly made up back in early 2005 while trying to come up with names I was running around in my mind that would sound cool for an industrial/rock project. Of course I found out many months later that the name probably stuck to my head since there was an album relased by Jag Panzer about 4 years prior to the start of this project and this was the name of that album, granted that was a good album from what I've heard of it but it wasn't intentional for me to use their album's name for my band/music project or whatever you want to call it. I haven't changed the name in the past 8 years since it's been around, but I have thought about it more than a few times, considering most people confuse my music with a certain game with a similar name that came around in late 2007. I just kept the name so far since I haven't found anything better to replace the name with.

2. Who are the band members?

Well for the past 8 years it's really only been me. My name is Aaron and I don't usually share my age, but I'll say I'm in my 20's, and i do all the producing of the music, vocals, guitar, and everything else the songs may require.

3. What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?

I consider the music project to be multiple genres really. For the most part I tell people it's Industrial Rock, or Aggrotech Metal, or some other interesting combination since it takes elements of hard industrial and aggrotech underground dance music and combines it with hard rock and metal elements. I'm influenced by many artists such as centhron, agonoize, kmfdm, rammstein, nine inch nails, alien vampires, and a lot of others in the industrial and metal scenes.

4. When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music?

Mechanized Warfare has been around since early 2005. I was basically floating around between more than a few bands at the time, and I think what motivated me the most was hearing the Nine Inch Nails' album "With Teeth" which was just released around the early days of this music project. I figured if Trent Reznor can make music different from the norm of everything else being played on the radio then why couldn't I? And of course in the years following, I also discovered KMFDM and a lot of the other bands that ended up influencing my music.

5. Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?

Nope and nope. I don't belong to a record label and I'm too lazy to start my own *laughs* I basically post everything I make online and I make it available for free download since I'm not really worried about making money at this point since my music project isn't exactly well known, and most people I know won't pay for music from a band or music project they have never heard of.

6. What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available? What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/color preference?)

Well, as far as instruments and equipment go I have 2 bass guitars and 2 electric guitars, and I have processors for them that basically work like effect pedals. I have a mic and a crap-load of cables also. The only thing I don't own are amps cause I've been in and out of apartments most of my life and I don't think a lot of these landlords would like it if I had one, hell I've been in a few apartments that don't even allow instruments granted I've been lucky I haven't been in one of those since I've started owning my own guitars.

7. Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?

Mechanized Warfare has only had one show in its existance. This was back in 2006 in Takoma Park at Sangha. It wasn't a bad place to play but I kind of put the project on the back burner for a while because this was around the time I had started my last full time job, and they didn't give me enough time outside of working to be able to do anything to help my music project go anywhere. And of course I kind of lost touch with a lot of people I knew from back then so any contacts I had with the local music scene were lost and I never had the chance to book any new shows. I am still looking for places to play, but not many people want to see a solo project, as i am the only member of this music project at the moment, and there also seems to be no market for aggrotech music in the washington DC area.

8. Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?

Well, for a while back in the early days of Mechanized Warfare I did have a few covers that have since been scrapped. But right now the only cover I have is the cover I did for "Lust" which is a song originally by Velvet Acid Christ. There are a few possible covers I am looking at but I'm not in a hurry to do covers since a lot of times people don't react positively to them, I call these people the "original purists" or "fanboys of the original" because a lot of them refuse to listen to any newer versions of songs so they are always found on youtube or other similar sites hating on covers. That's the same reason I'm not in a hurry to do remixes either *laughs*
As far as set lists, I do have one prepared if I ever was able to do a live show again. But from the way things have been going, I don't think I'll have to worry about that for a long while.

9. Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs?

I write my own songs. I like to write about different things, most of them are either talking about my observations of real life while other songs have a purely fictional topic. I think of myself as a writer, and actually I almost became a professional writer. The only reason I didn't go down that path is because I really don't like reading and that's kind of a big requirement, I can write some amazing things but the reading part is what irks me and that's why I never became a professional writer. Writing songs is a lot less stressful.

10. Could you briefly describe the music-making process?

What I usually do when I make new music is i get the actual electronic music production out of the way first. When that is done, I write lyrics and record the vocals and finally add guitar after that.

11. How has your music evolved?

In the beginning Mechanized Warfare was just me playing a distorted bass guitar along to a drum machine that I had programmed. And that is what the music project sounded like at the live show back in 2006. of course since then I added guitar, then finally I started to produce more of an electronic sound and incorporated that into the project.

12. What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

My biggest challenge is getting my name out there and getting my music heard. A lot of times I notice I will make a new contact and they will ask to hear my music, and I will send them links to my soundcloud or another place they can listen and I will never hear from them again. *laughs* I suppose that is the typical reaction to aggrotech, or whatever you want to call my music, but I usually explain the sound before sending my info out so when that happens i just laugh and move on. And as far as exposure goes, I think all music projects have that issue in the beginning no matter what genre the band may be, granted the genres i use in my music are known to be strictly underground. I didn't start this music project to become a pop star or anything so I'm not worried if it takes a while for my music to reach anyone.

13. What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune?

Well as I've said before across my social networks, I'm not in it for fame and I'm not here to become a pop star. I actually despise most pop stars, not because they are dumb or their music sucks, but because they let society morph them into something they obviously can't really be. I mean they have got to be attention whores to put it bluntly. You look at their behaviour and you wonder why they do what they do, then you turn around and surprise they have a new album out or a new tour. It's all for attention so they can turn in a huge profit and I would definately not want to be in their shoes.

14. What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?

Network. It's really important, because not everyone can do everything themselves and be able to get their music out there. I mean I don't like the fact that Mechanized Warfare is a solo project, and I'm sure many of my fans as well as friends wonder why it's still just only me in this project. But like i was saying, network! get people involved in your music and get a band together! or end up like me! *laughs*

15. How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?

http://mechanizedwarfare.webs.com is the official website for Mechanized Warfare. Everybody can find music there, or they can follow the links on the site that go to the soundcloud and youtube pages.
The 7 song Shadow Walkers EP is also available for download from that website also.

16. Is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?

Sure, any future band members that can provide amps and a practice space! *laughs* But no, in all seriousness, the only people I have to thank are the few fans I have.
And I can also give a shout out to all of those bands I used to be involved in. Thanks for showing me that I can make music on my own, no matter what people say everyone has the music inside of them!

17. Any last words?

Happy Halloween!