The Flux Machine is a New York City alt-rock act known for delivering gripping live performances of engaging punk-flavoured tunes. Luis Accorsi, an experienced and versatile artist, joined up with new rock producer, Raphael Sepulveda, put together an ensemble of musicians, and released the new album, Louder!, mastered by DC-based producer, Taylor Larson. Louder!, recently reviewed here in the Voice by Samantha Stevens, is bursting with a passionate exuberance. Recently Luis and Raphael took the time to answer Wanda Waterman’s questions about
Which elements in your childhood and early years pointed you toward music?
LUIS: My best friend’s family played in a quintet. The entire family would get together and play Bach, Mozart, etc. Then they would rip into blues and gospel. All while drinking wine, and of course so would I.
How did you end up embracing the classic punk sound?
LUIS: Punk music is, to me, all about the immediacy of the emotion: a concentrated punch of attitude to offset the shitty feeling of alienation.
What was it like working with Taylor Larson?
RAPHAEL: It was great. He was able to push the record’s sound beyond the mixes and add more punch and aggressiveness into them, which was exactly what we were looking for.
LUIS: Enigmatic person, brilliantly intuitive.
What’s your favourite instrument to play and why?
LUIS: I yell and moan and grovel.
RAPHAEL: I sing and play guitar but my favorites right now
are the drums.
What was your most beneficial educational experience?
LUIS: Mine is hands down The Flux Machine. I’ve grown exponentially working with Raphael Sepulveda.
What or who in your training had the most?and best?influence on you, as a musician, a composer, and a human being?
LUIS: The communication we’ve created by playing in bands my entire life is one of my strongest assets, there’s a conductor line running through all the musicians when a band is doing its job and the music is being expressed perfectly.
What was the most mesmerizing musical experience of your life?
LUIS: Has to be somewhere in the last year, while composing or finishing our debut album, Louder! At some point I felt like a spell had been cast and magic had struck us.
Who writes the songs?
LUIS: The songs are true collaborations; some ideas come from the recesses of my mind, but generally we sit and stare at each other for a few minutes, then I’ll light a morning blend and within an hour we have a rough structure of the progression.
Why is there so much relationship rage in the lyrics?
LUIS: Agreed, there’s almost too much of that, It’s simply dealing with the fact that we’re fed this idea that you must relate to someone, find that connection, make amazing love, and so on?all truisms?and forcefed “foie gras.” In this album we exorcize that and find true happiness ripping rock songs to shreds.
Does your band’s name reflect any kind of inner state?
LUIS: It sure does! The only constant is movement; we’re always in a state of flux or transformation. This band, The Flux Machine, has something to say, and it will never be stale because we’ll always acknowledge that we are changing entities in a changing universe.
What conditions do you require in your life in order to go on being creative?
LUIS: A fresh batch of herb!
What do you feed your muse?
LUIS: I’m an artist and have lived surrounded by human expression.
Are there any books, films, or albums that have deeply influenced your development as an artist?
LUIS: Aguirre, the Wrath of God, by Werner Herzog, L’Amour Fou, by Andre Breton, multiple writing by the Gutai artist group in Japan, and countless other sources of unconventional inspirational material.
If you had an artistic mission statement, what would it be?
LUIS: I want to deliver the perfect rock song.
Do you have anything else to add?
LUIS: We love humankind. We believe in harmony and the balance of all interests. We want to let everyone know that there is a way to improve the world: It’s by joining the conversation and speaking just a little bit LOUDER than everyone else.
Much love to all of you who read this!
Wanda also writes the blog The Mindful Bard:The Care and Feeding of the Creative Self.