Classic Album: Machinedrum, Now You Know

Merck, 2001

Travis Stewart conceived of the Machinedrum project while still in high school. He was experimenting with complex rhythms, underground Hip-Hop editing, and the Junglistic tempos and noise palettes favoured by the UK’s own Drill ’n’ Bass pioneers. The resulting hybrid caused a stir in the Electronic music scene, and swung a spotlight on the young virtuosic producer, in which he’s remained to this day. His debut album, Now You Know, is a riot of sound splicing and energising beat evolutions, anchored by a gift for soothing textures and melody. It’s the blueprint of what would become the Machinedrum sound – original, daring, cannibalistic, fresh, yet rich in a humour the early material liked to play with.

“That was an important component in the early Machinedrum work,” says Stewart. “I was having a lot of fun with it. My other project at the time, Syndrone, was on a very serious and academic tip. Machinedrum was my chance to get a bit less serious with my work and get some humour into it as well.”

Hello My Future takes its hook from the internet dating profile of a geeky teenage boy, while album opener – the pun-derfully titled

Big Beauty Hose – uses spasmodic acapella chopping to try and convince the listener their CD player is skipping. “It was all about experimenting,” says Stewart. “…with the light-hearted stuff, and especially the drum programming.”

A graduate of steel drum bands, Jazz troupes, and African percussion ensembles in his native North Carolina, he also took these exotic grooves into his production. “I was really interested in polyrhythms at the time,” he says. “The bands I was in would rely heavily on that, so I tried to incorporate that into my music at the time, and mix it with the Electronic and Hip-Hop acts I was into.”

Now You Know shows its influences yet, crucially, also manages to find its own unique voice. It’s ground zero for Machinedrum, and it was the vehicle with which Travis Stewart would steer the rest of his life. “I was still at school, working two jobs before that,” he says. “This album ended up setting up my career. I’ll never forget it.’