Ping Machines are a rock band, founded in 2009. Coming from central Switzerland, Ping Machines combine elements of stoner rock, blues and a pinch of punk to their signature "dirt rock" sound. The five musicians are: Pat Dollinger (dr), Marc Monnin (git), Fabian Mettler (git), Alex Schrutt (b) and Ryps (voc). Published works are: Left (EP), Right (EP), Ping Machines (album), Baby (album).
-Interview- (12/15/23)
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Ping Machines" and is there any meaning behind it?
The band started off as a cover Band. But we all had different expectations and desired a lot more from being in a band. So we started little Jam-Sessions, where someone just started playing a riff or an idea and the others had to play something to it. That way, we discovered that our different musical personalities kind of clicked together. We were already beginning to write and perform a couple of songs live. The crowd seemed to love it so we decided to throw all those boring, old covers out of the setlist and start all over as a new, original Band. That's where Ping Machines were born. The name comes from a goofy little monthy python sketch. Not a lot of meaning behind it. We just thought it sounded cool and suited our vibe. So our sound developed completely by itself. We didn't come together and said : We want to make stoner rock! It just kind of hapened. Because everybody was, and still is, allowed to completely play whatever he wants. Complete artistic freedom has always been very important to all of us.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
That's simple: We want our listeners to have a good time. That's all. No deep meaning, no hidden messages. We just want our people to get the groove, vibe with it and forget the word for a couple of minutes or an evening. That's all. If we have fun playing it, then people will like it aswell. At least that's what we want to achieve.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
We think "Dirt Rock" is the best description we came up with. Dirty ass, groovy Rock. Sometimes spacey, always headbangable.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Foo Fighters, that way we make sure to finally play those stadiums. King Gizzard and the lizzard wizard: we think every band can learn a hell of a lot from these geniuses. The Hives: These guys got the right spirit.
5. How has Covid affected what you do?
Honestly, it was kind of convenient for us... Obviously, we weren't able to gig for two years. So we had to figure out, how we could get something positive out of this wierd situation. So we did what we do best: Write some groovy tunes. In fact we wrote and recorded the entirety of our newest album "Baby" during the lockdown. It took us some extra time to finally release it to the public, but now we are all about giging, gigging, gigging! We hope to get back to fully normal. And to forget, all this covid stuff has ever happened. Althoug we think that, without covid, "Baby" would have turned out a lot different.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Stoner Rock?
We think stoner rock is still one of the most interesting and versatile genres out there. We think peak stoner isn't reached yet. Although the genre has brought us some kickass Bands in the past and the present. But there sure as hell is a lot of great stuff on the way from this genre for all our ears.
7. What's the current music scene like there in Swizterland?
We think the swiss scene is very underrated. Allthough we don't have big names. So the entirety of the swiss scene is based around the underground artists. Which is not a bad thing, we think. If you dig just a little bit, you will find tons and tons of great bands in every genre. The fact that we have four national languages and like 200 regional dialects (not exaggerating) definetely contributes to the immense diversety we have here. Of course a lot of the scene is dominated by radio-friendly pop stuff. But we'd say the number of high quality rock, and especially hard and heavy stuff, is relatively huge here in switzerland.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
One word: catastrophe. It's exactely like everywhere else: the big an successful become more successfull and the small artists get progressively less and less. We have already lost our hope that we will ever see a single penny from spotify. But hey, don't think too much about that stuff. Streaming servicese are more like a showcase for us. We don't expect anything more than that.
9. What's next for Ping Machines?
Well, we are already writing new material . In fact, we never really stopped. Also organizing as much gigs as humanly possible. The usual Band stuff.
10. Any shoutouts?
Be kind to others, and listen to good music!
