The Secret Machines isn't your typical band. Comprised of three members — guitarist Ben Curtis, keyboardist/vocalist Brandon Curtis (Ben's brother) and drummer Josh Ganza — TSM doesn't have a bassist, and all three had a five-year plan before the band was solidified.
"Once we decided to be a band, we already had a studio for a session," Ben Curtis said by phone from Detroit, Mich. "We knew we were going to make music and wanted to be sure we did it right. Failure wasn't an option."
The band, formed near the Oklahoma panhandle, was inspired by a lot of Texas bands, including Gibby Haynes (both solo and with the Butthole Surfers), and the Flaming Lips.
"My dad also had a bunch of '60s folk albums like the Kingston Trio," said Curtis. "They were my very earliest childhood memories. But as I got older, I paid particular attention to the Flaming Lips, because they were the local guys that were happening."
After releasing an extended-play CD, The Secret Machines constantly played gigs and wooed Reprise Records, until the band was signed in 2003. "We were lucky to be on the Reprise label and part of the Warner Bros. family," said Curtis. "They have given us total artistic control. Before we signed, we did hear horror stories about major labels, but they understood that we were making music that made them come to us. So we are very happy to be where we are."
Late last year, The Secret Machines released the album "Now Here and Nowhere." "The songs were all written in a year's time," said Curtis. "But we even had a couple of songs that were written literally two days before we recorded it. We knew how the songs were going to sound, but we also gave ourselves some room to follow a song, no matter where it took us."
Curtis and the others' career is going well right now, he said. "I could complain and say that we're on the road too long or play too many shows," he said with a laugh. "But I'd be lying. We are the happiest band on earth, and the cosmos had opened up its faucets, because we've written so much. We have the next record written and ready to record."
That's in the near future, but The Secret Machines are already thinking about the distant future. Remember that five-year plan? "We are talking with some visual artists to collaborate with," said Curtis. "Our music is visual, and we would like to do an audio/visual project to show in some places in the world.
"We don't want the visuals to overtake the music like in some of the Pink Floyd shows, but we have our own ideas of what we can do."
If you go
What: The Secret Machines
Where: Lo-Fi Cafe
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
How much: $10
Phone: 467-8499 or 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com