Ghost of the Machine
Ghost Of The Machine are a melodic progressive rock band from Yorkshire, England. They formed in January 2021 when five former members of This Winter Machine — Graham Garbett (guitars), Mark Hagan (keyboards and piano), Stuart McAuley (bass, Moog pedals and Mellotron), Andy Milner (drums) and Scott Owens (guitars) — joined forces with Charlie Bramald (vocals, flute).
There's no doubting the pedigree of Ghost Of The Machine. The ex-This Winter Machine contingent achieved critical acclaim with their contributions to The Man Who Never Was (2017) and A Tower Of Clocks (2019). A curious footnote to add is that the exact Ghost Of The Machine line-up appeared as This Winter Machine at The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton on 7 December 2019, with Charlie stepping in on vocals for one night only. This paved the way for his invitation to join Ghost Of The Machine just over a year later. Charlie is now one of the most active vocalists on the UK prog circuit having sung with Age Of Distraction, ZIO, Drifting Sun, Haze and more, as well as appearing on flute for four albums with Nova Cascade. Mark and Graham also produce original music as new-wave inspired rock duo Sand, while McCauley explores darker synth soundscapes under the alias Mr Verloc's Hat. Outside Ghost Of The Machine, Charlie and Scott have released a crossover prog rock EP with Shadows On Mercury.
The band was confident that Scissorgames would find favour with fans old and new, which proved to be the case with the album's incredibly positive critical reception, netting multiple awards at the end of 2022.
Taking the best elements from their previous endeavours and key influences such as Rush, Marillion, Dream Theater and Genesis, while pushing forward in a heavier, adventurous and exciting direction, Ghost Of The Machine spent its first year writing and recording the debut album Scissorgames. With the album complete, Ghost of the Machine supported the album with live performances throughout 2022, appearing at the inaugural Soundle Weekend and Danfest 11, and sharing stages with bands such as Franck Carducci And The Fantastic Squad, IT, Haze, The Dame and The Far Meadow along the way.
Ghost Of The Machine was named Prog Magazine's #2 unsigned band of 2022 by its readers, an impressive honour for a band in its debut year. The band continued to build on their momentum with a barnstorming appearance at Winter's End 2023 being of particular note, with Jerry Ewing describing it as "the finest showing of a band making their Winter/Summer's End debut that Prog can recall" (Prog Magazine Issue 140). The Power Of Three Tour, Fusion 5 and the rejuvenated Soundle Weekend at Peterborough's incredible Key Theatre were highlights of the first half of 2024 as the band introduced new songs to the live set, including the epic “After The War”.
The band is now preparing to release the follow-up to Scissorgames, titled Empires Must Fall on 7 March 2025.
