FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT HALLS OF THE MACHINE:

Members of the post-industrial rock band, Course of Empire, guitarist Mike Graff and Drummer Michael Jerome have collaborated with Van Eric Martin on an ambient instrumental recording called Atmospheres for Lovers and Sleepers under the band name Halls of the Machine. Seductive and hypnotic, this music has a difficult reception in the typical music venue. To hear a live performance of this nature in an intimate art gallery setting elevates the listener’s experience.

“I was intrigued by the idea of making a record designed to be listened to between wakeful and dream states,” says front man Mike Graff. “Industrial music had sort of run it’s course and all of the loud, heavy groups seemed to be splitting up, so we wanted to go in the complete opposite direction of where we had been.”

The Halls of the Machine project reflects Graff’s earliest influences as a composer. As a film student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he began writing and performing music to score ambient videos he made. His music took off faster than the ambient video art form, and with Course of Empire, “each record had a track that was atmospheric, as opposed to the heavy industrial sort of stuff,” says Graff. “I was always surprised by how many people at Course of Empire shows said they liked the ‘new age’ track the best. And these were the heaviest of heavy metal fans at our shows! So we decided to create an entire album of that kind of music.”

Graff and Jerome sketched out the basic tracks in one day during the summer of 1999. With recordings in hand, they approached producer and composer Van Eric Martin, one of Jerome’s long-time friends and former collaborators. At the time, Martin was composing music for Contemporary Dance/Ft Worth in the same keys, and with similar melodic movements to Graff’s. “When they came over and let me hear it, I was immediately able to jump on the piano and start playing with their stuff. It was bizarre for them, because it was the first time I’d heard their stuff, and the first time I’d met Graff.”

During the next two years, the three worked during breaks in Jerome’s touring schedule with singer-songwriter Richard Thompson. During this time, Jerome also recorded with artist James Hall and the soulful gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama. Meanwhile, Martin and Graff remixed tracks for German industrial group Weissglut.

Nevertheless, their shared artistic vision was clear. Cinematic drama shaped Graff’s melodic heart, while space and movement influenced Martin’s atmospheric accents. Jerome interpreted techno-style rhythms through acoustic instruments with influences ranging from Radiohead, to Japan’s Kodo Drummers. Standout tracks such as “Satie II” and “Tension” reflect Graff’s love of works by composer Erik Satie, while opening cut “Shadows on the Moon” recalls the spacey guitar stylings of early Police.

“This is something that I escape with,” says Jerome of Halls of the Machine. “I turn everything off and enter a world of pure instrumentation.”