NATURE OF WIRES + MACHINA X: An ’80s Classic Takes a Dark Turn

SPONSORED POST

Gary Watts (Nature of Wires) and Annie James (Machina X) are releasing a joint cover version of “Hey Little Girl.” But this isn’t their first collaboration. Annie explains how it all began: “There was a great underground synth scene on Twitter where creative people could connect and exchange ideas. Machina X was a duo back then—me and a talented producer from Myanmar. We made music across continents, and circumstances led to me becoming sort of the ‘public face’ of Machina X. After a few releases on Bandcamp, it felt like a good idea to venture into the world of collaborations—something many people were doing on that platform back then. I liked what Gary was doing as Nature of Wires, so I reached out to him about a collaboration that was originally meant to be a one-off. He’s a very busy person in high demand as a musician, so I was thrilled when he agreed, and we wrote “Within” together. The whole thing came together entirely online. Although the Machina X chapter as a duo has come to a close, I’ve continued to work with Gary whenever his schedule allowed. We get along well and have even started meeting in person. In April, we finally played our first gig together in Sheffield.” Gary nods: “Yeah, in early 2021, during COVID, I got an email out of the blue from Annie. I listened to what Machina X had done before, and I liked Annie’s voice enough to want to work with her. We met in person for the first time later that year, somewhere between Sheffield and Barnsley, I think. Five years later, we’re still at it. It took a while before we finally played live, but it went really well, and we hope to play more shows together.”

Listen to “Hey Little Girl” on Bandcamp.

This sponsored post benefits: Nature of Wires + Machina X
This sponsored post was funded by Nature of Wires + Machina X