Zee Machine Gearz Up for a New Era

Zee Machine, the LA-based pop/rock/electronic singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is back on the charts with their newest EP Can I Be Honest…?

Having released music first as part of a band and then as a solo act, Zee has been making music for over a decade. His first EP Brainchemistry in 2018 established him definitively as an artist to watch and his ascent in popularity and up the charts has been steadily on the rise since then. With songs featuring outstanding vocals, resonating lyrics and a unique modernized retro sound, he has won over fans all across the world as evidenced by his recent international sold-out Tears & Gearz Tour which he embarked on earlier this year with fellow queer pop dynamo Bentley Robles.

Can I Be Honest…?, Zee Machine’s latest EP, was released on July 10 to rave reviews from critics and fans alike. It shot up the iTunes pop charts landing at number 7 and charted top 40 overall during it’s a debut week.

We sit down with the talented musician and perennial bear community favorite to discuss the new EP, life on the road, dating, sobriety, and of course, his love and appreciation for bears.

**All photos by Trevor Paul

John Hernandez: For those unfamiliar with your music, how would you describe your sound on Can I Be Honest…?

Zee Machine: That’s always such a hard question to ask an artist because they always want to overcomplicate it! It’s definitely pop. I think you will hear elements of the classic rock I grew up on, you’ll hear elements of 80’s sound. A lot of what I do is modernized 80s. It’s what people think 80s music sounds like but really doesn’t. (Laughs) There’s a lot of layered vocal elements on it because I love using that like its own instrument. There is a lot of guitar on it because my first love of playing music came from being a guitar player in a band and there’s a lot of electronic elements on it.

John: How does this new EP differ from your previous releases and tell us a bit about how it came together?

Zee Machine: This EP is the most fleshed out, cohesive thing I’ve done so far. It’s essentially a breakup album and when I began writing songs for it, I knew I wanted it to be a collection of songs rather than interspersed singles. I had so much to say that couldn’t be encapsulated in one song, so I was like, let me just put out everything I need to say or everything I’m feeling about this at once.

John: Tell me about the creation of some of the songs.

Zee Machine: Well, “Worse” I started writing early last year but that song had a very long period of coming together. I initially wanted to drop it last year, but it just wasn’t ready. It was feeling rushed. I decided I was gonna save it for the right moment and I’m glad I did because it fits perfectly on the EP.

“Good Boy”, I started around November of last year and it was the first thing I knew I wanted on the album. I was very inspired by this British singer, Laura Mvula. She has a song called “Got Me” that I just love. I really wanted something like that and that’s where “Good Boy” came from. I was also tired of making songs that were like, “ohh woe is me, I’m such a bad person, my life is hard and love is sad” blah blah blah (laughs)… and I was pretty fresh out of the relationship and kind of just fucking everything that moved. I was having a really good time doing that and that’s what the song is essentially about that, because that’s one phase of any breakup.

I definitely got more introspective and contemplative as I went on though. “Heartbreakery” for instance is very much “I’m healing and it’s hard, but stay the fuck away because there’s no more room for anyone else right now.”

John: And what is your general process like when writing a song?

Zee Machine: I’ll get a hook in my head, or I’ll hear a song that doesn’t exist yet playing in my head, almost as if it’s like in a dream, from a distance. Sometimes I’ll sing it into my phone, I’ll do my best to try to capture the essence, just singing it out. I’m always afraid I won’t remember it by the time I get home to start recording and writing it.

Other times I will just sit down and be like, alright, what kind of groove am I feeling today? What emotion, what song do I wish I had in my catalog? What haven’t I done yet? Or what do I want to expand on?  I would say I’m usually pretty melody driven though with “Killshot” I was actually a little bit lyric driven. I was angry. The music and the lyrics are unflinchingly honest. That one took a long time to write because, well, it’s a little nasty.

The healing process, it’s not linear, I would heal and then I would unheal, and I would get pissed off and I would put those emotions into the music, putting that vulnerability out there because it’s raw.

John: Your music has always been very vulnerable. How are you able to do that?

Zee Machine: I don’t know if this makes me sound annoying, but it’s not that hard. It’s actually really easy. I actually find it very hard to write about things that I don’t feel because then I doubt it. Like if I’m writing something that I feel is someone else’s experience or it’s an unauthentic experience, it feels a little corny for me personally. People seem to relate more to things I went through and then write about. It’s the authenticity factor.

John: That makes sense. Can I Be Honest..? is a breakup album as you said and it shares your reticence about getting too attached to someone. In your mind, is there a perfect scenario in which you think you could comfortably recommit to somebody?

Zee Machine: It’s so funny you asked me that because I hear the message of the opening track “I’m in Love (With Everyone)”. I feel very emotionally slutty in a lot of ways and there are times where I really like intimacy, but I’m a little afraid of commitment. That’s actually a pattern across my life. I don’t like the idea of forever, or rather, it’s very daunting to me. That’s why I love a bathhouse because I could just suck a dick for two minutes and then be gone. I love renting, if I don’t like it, I can leave.

I’m not necessarily in a place where I think I can commit to somebody, but I have found that across the touring process, there have been a few people here and there where I get butterfly in the stomach feelings. But my problem is that I love that beginning part, once it gets real, I’m just like, I don’t know, girl… Maybe that’s how it is and that’s who I am. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think different people are wired for different relationships.

Honestly, I feel very fulfilled right now. I have a lot of love in my life. If I were to get involved with somebody, I would probably I would definitely need it to be open. Maybe I’m a little bit poly. I would love to be with somebody who is not a jealous type. But for now, I’m just taking it as it comes. I’m letting myself heal from over a decade of relationships that I was not compatible with. I’m grateful for them, but they taught me what I was not built for.