After the somewhat abrupt departure of Adam Duce earlier this year, Machine Head have just announced that their new bassist is a chap called Jared MacEachern.
Robb Flynn: “We really wanted a guy that was hungry for this, someone who could live and breathe this with us. Dave would joke around that we didn’t want to get someone too green that’d be like ‘oh my god, is this a dressing room?!’, but we also didn’t want someone who was too jaded by the whole thing and ‘been there, done that’. We thought the perfect guy would be someone who’d paid some dues, who had done 9 or 10 crummy van tours, and wasn’t broken by that, but inspired to keep going and play music, and in many ways that was Jared. I mean hell, the guy’s only rode in a bus for two nights, one of which was with us! It brings a really cool level of appreciation to the table, and it shows where his heart’s at.”
Jared was in a band called Sanctity who opened for Machine Head in 2008 as part of a US tour. When Duce was unable to play for a short period due to injury, MacEachern filled the breach and impressed.
Phil Demmel: “There were dozens of amazing players, and it was interesting to watch each one take on our tunes. One of our biggest criteria for this gig was to be able to sing the high harmonies. That was our litmus test. And Jared ed with flying colors.”
Regardless, when the band called for audition videos on YouTube, he had to go through the same process as everyone else and made it through the 400+ entries to the last seven. This earned him an in-person audition with the band where his knowledge of existing tracks and ability to hit high harmonies with Robb Flynn got the position. That and the fact that his personality just clicked.
Dave McClain: “Jared came in to the audition and just killed it! Besides being able to nail the bass and vocal harmonies, he also had the vibe and personality to make it feel like we were a BAND again. It was a great feeling and we all knew he was the guy.”
So, welcome to the Machine Head family Jared! The band are touring the US again imminently, and here’s hoping that Europe’s not far behind!
