Words by Hannah Powell. Images Provided.

Speaking to them before their first return to the stage since November, Macho Macho has an exciting future in the works. Having just released a double single Blue Peopl and Silly on February 7, it won’t be long until the Wellington band releases their first album.
“The ball started rolling for the first album when we talked to our good friend Hunter Jackson,” Logan said. With a few recording sessions up at Victoria University in late August last year, the boys described their time there as “really nice rooms to be in, [Hunter was] really good to work with”. Playing shows near the end of September to November, the album went on the backburner. It wasn’t until December that they started further recording in their own house. “Our friend Matt [Matthew Pogson] mastered it,” they said. “It’s like everything you’ve experienced in our live set,” bassist Connor describes, “but you can hear every part.” With the band describing it as both raw and slick, guitarist Lachlan adds “it’s definitely raw – it feels like Macho Macho, and it was recorded nicely, but we sound recorded some parts ourselves”. “It’s visceral,” says Connor. Logan explains, “it’s medium-rare.”

Blue Peopl, their latest single released with Silly, was the first song they wrote for the band. “We’re stoked to chuck it out there,” they say. “It’s exactly what we’ve wanted it to sound like, that’s the key with our album – just doing what we really want to do”. With Macho Macho having formed on May 11, 2018, in Logan’s dorm room at Massey, all agree that they had gone to uni to join a band. With common influences and friendship off the bat, it wasn’t long until they started making music together. With Logan McAllister and Lachlan Burne on vocals and guitar, Dane Robinson on drums and Connor Lyttle on bass and vocals, they’ve certainly successfully entered the Wellington music scene and established a loyal following there.

When asked about the Wellington sound, Macho Macho said “the Wellington sound is more of a way of thinking and doing things. We’re people in Wellington, so it sounds like Wellington – it feels like Wellington to us.” They agree that Wellington bands Yukon Era, Cold Ceiling and Same Name Confusion are ones they look up to on the scene. “Cold Ceiling are smart musicians; we want to get smart.”
“Every piece of Wellington music has its own place in the puzzle that is Wellington sound,” they say.For their album, every song on the record is what they’ve played at gigs. “First-generation Macho Macho in a little package,” says Lachlan. Originally, they wrote songs to play live; back then, an album wasn’t even planned. Now that the album is done, it’s time to write new material. “I think [our music] is gonna free up a lot – we want to create an intensive listening experience,” they explain. “Experiment with different things, write higher calibre music that is pushing the envelope.” “Instead of thinking that it’s what other people want to hear, we’re doing what we want to do,” Logan says. “But it actually turns out it’s what people want to hear.”

Catch them next at the Newtown Festival, Wellington. March 8 on the Wilson St Stage