In his own words, Marco Machera is “a translator by day, a musician by night — or viceversa”. He divides his time between fiction and video game translation and music production.
An accomplished bass player and singer-songwriter, also a multi-instrumentalist, Marco writes atmospheric, introspective pop songs. His session work includes collaborations, recordings and live shows with a number of acclaimed international artists, including Italian composer Teho Teardo, heavy rock guitarist Paul Gilbert, the chamber prog-rock ensemble TROOT, Chrysta Bell (Texan chanteuse and femme fatale, long time collaborator of film director David Lynch), English songwriter Steven Wilson – just to name a few. Throughout the years, Marco has opened shows for Marillion, Stick Men, Adrian Belew, O.R.k. and more.
His debut album One Time, Somewhere features the talents of Francesco Zampi, Pat Mastelotto, Rob Fetters, and iconic artist Mark Kostabi on most tracks. The result is an extremely fresh and diverse effort. Critically acclaimed drummer Pat Mastelotto says: “I had a lot of fun working on Marco’s record. One of the first tracks he sent me sounded like The Beatles with Tom Waits! What a band that would have been,” and also added: “We have stayed in touch throughout the year as Marco overdubbed and mixed, so I can tell he has a keen ear for details without loosing the big picture. It’s pop packed with nice surprises.”
Steve Hackett (Genesis) has also praised One Time, Somewhere, noting: “It is really good and well crafted and I very much enjoyed it. Beautiful voice and interesting atmospheres and contrasting moods. Days of Summertime has some fascinating sounds.”
Dime Novels (2014) further expands Machera’s sound palette, with the help of guest musicians Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, Markus Reuter, Andrea Faccioli, Jennifer Maidman, among others. Nick DeRiso from Something Else Reviews writes: “Along the way, Dime Novels finds Marco furiously pushing at the walls of musical convention. There are moments when the album sounds like prog, others when it sounds like an ambient fever dream, others still when it sounds like something that couldn’t be farther away from either construct. Dime Novels is as challenging as it is entertaining — and a huge leap forward for Machera.”
His latest solo effort, Small Music From Broken Windows, was released in the fall of 2017. An intimate, personal and reflective album, based on “The Outsider”, a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. It was voted one of the ten best releases of 2017 by Classic Rock magazine in Italy.
In 2014, Marco co-founded the band EchoTest with American bassist Julie Slick (Adrian Belew Power Trio, The Crimson ProjeKCt, Springs). In the ever-evolving and experimental worlds of modern progressive rock and avant garde pop, their free-flowing improvisations and strongly melodic songwriting have combined to help them shape an unique identity and garner a growing reputation for their intriguing and surprising albums and their rare and captivating live shows alike.
Marco Machera 