Weaving together elements of soul, pop, and dub with dashes of the ambient, classical, and electronic quality, Chicago based foursome Automata possess a diverse and colorful musical palette. Still relatively wet behind the ears in the world of Chicago music, the band self-produced their 2009 debut, an EP entitled Microcosm, along with engineer Jay Marino just a few short months after confirming their line up of talent.
The quartet is in the midst of writing new music to eventually be put onto a full-length, but in the meantime has been playing out to promote Microcosm. In fact, the band will be doing just that tonight, June 19th at Lincoln Hall here in Chicago. Joining them in the line up are fellow Chicagoans Aktar, Aktar and Dastardly- show at 10pm 18+ $10 at the door.
Guitarist Justin Martin took a few minutes to talk shop with us via email just this week- see what he had to say about the band’s influences, instruments he’d love to play, and just how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles factor into his musical past.
Get Automata’s Microcamm for free HERE
Reviewsic: Can you give us a quick recap of what the band has been up to as of late?
Justin Martin: We’ve been writing new songs for our LP, playing gigs and promoting our Microcosm EP.
Reviewsic: What’s the back-story on how the band came to be what it is today?
Justin Martin: I’d been playing music with Justin McClain and JD for years and I ran into Rachel, who we went to high school with, at a friend’s birthday party. We were all itching to play music, so eventually we endeavored to scratch said itch together
Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Justin Martin: The Mars Volta because they’re my favorite band and I would love to watch them every night, Aesop Rock because I think he’s the best emcee out there and I’d love to collaborate with him and Pink Floyd just so we could play Pompeii or the Great Pyramid.
Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
Justin Martin: Casually overhearing music playing in the background somewhere influences me immensely because I hear styles that I enjoy but know little about and it piques my interest. Then, when I write in the vain of those particular styles I end up making my own perverted versions of what those traditions sound like to me.
Different places make me think of sounds and music as well, so I’d say location also influences my writing. Film scores are very inspiring, too.
Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?
Justin Martin: There’s an exhaustive list. The latest addition would be the viola de gamba: a six-stringed cello-like instrument that’s tuned like a guitar. Accordion would be nice.
Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
Justin Martin: My most recent purchase was a compilation called Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas. I’ve also been listening to Old Money by Omar Rodriguez Lopez and Laura Gibson’s Beast of Seasons.
Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?
Justin Martin: Maybe Jonny Greenwood. He’s got great taste in music, his scores for There Will Be Blood and Body Song are brilliant and that Radiohead band is pretty solid.
Reviewsic: Who was the first band/musician you saw live?
Justin Martin: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.on their “Coming Out of Their Shells” tour. As far as human artists go: Weird Al.
Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands?
Justin Martin: Fareed Haque, Tortoise, Moist Boyz.
Reviewsic: Tell us about Microcosm- is there a particular concept behind it? What was the process of making the EP like?
Justin Martin: As I see it, the unifying concept lies within the title rather than the lyrical content. Working with Jay Marino and the guys at I.V. Lab was great. The recording was a lot of fun and a little stressful in an exciting way. It was our first time in the studio together, so we were discovering how we work in that environment as a band. We got to experiment quite a bit, and those moments stand out on the recording and in my memories, but we were pressed for time and had to let some ideas go.
Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at the point of this upcoming release as opposed to when you first began playing together?
Justin Martin: I think we established a sound of our own early on, but now we’re stretching that aesthetic. We’re 
pretty much of the mind that our style is malleable; that we can include whatever we want and make it work rather than worry if something fits into what somebody would label an Automata song or not. If we ever go too far out, we can always reel things back in, right? We’re also much more comfortable on stage these days.
Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities to play?
Justin Martin: Chicago is home and we’ve been paying our dues here, so we’re enjoying the new opportunities that are coming to us. Madison is a fun town to play and we met a lot of kind people there. Milwaukee is worth the trek for the brats alone.
Reviewsic: What are the best and worst band moments so far in your career?
Justin Martin: Our record release party and our Halloween show were by far the best for me. A lot of people came out for both and we had a great time. The worst may have been trying to decide on the Microcosm artwork. I made a cover that everyone loved and then the computer the photo was on crashed and it was lost forever. I ended up making eight or nine different layouts, none of which we could all come to an agreement on for what seemed like an eternity.
Reviewsic: What are three words you’d use to describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?
Justin Martin: Soulful, cohesive, good.
Reviewsic: What are your plans for your music in the next year?
Justin Martin: Write and hopefully record our LP, tour and introduce our music to new people.
Tags: Free Music, Interview, Local Music, Upcoming Show
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