Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn is widely recognized today as one of metal’s most commanding vocalists, possessing a range that spans from guttural aggression to soaring melody. However, during a recent appearance on the Scream Dudes’ “The Story Behind The Scream” podcast, Flynn admitted that his transition from guitarist to lead singer was fraught with insecurity.
Before fronting Machine Head, Flynn cut his teeth in the Bay Area thrash scene as a guitarist for Forbidden and Vio-Lence, where his vocal contributions were limited to “hardcore gang vocals.” Despite a childhood love for singing in school productions, stepping into the spotlight as a frontman required a leap of faith.
“I was, like, ‘You know what? I can do this s**t. And I’m just gonna start my own band and I’m gonna be the singer and then sing harsh,'” Flynn recalled.
However, the confidence to execute that vision didn’t come immediately. Reflecting on Machine Head‘s seminal 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes, Flynn critiqued his early performance, noting that the pressure to fit into the extreme metal landscape of the time dictated his style.
“Looking back now, when I listen to my first album… I didn’t have a lot of confidence as a singer,” Flynn confessed. “I did some clean singing, but it was all very low. It was mostly heavy vocals. And at the time I was playing with death metal bands and hardcore bands. And so singing wasn’t like it was — it was there, but it was cooler to be heavy. And so I just kind of focused on that.”
Over time, Flynn expanded his range, realizing he could incorporate high clean vocals alongside the death metal intensity. But the physical demands of touring initially caught him off guard. Flynn credited Billy Graziadei of Biohazard for providing him with a crucial tool for survival: a cassette tape of vocal warmups.
“He gave me the cassette tape of his warmup… And he’s, like, ‘Dude, just do this 20 minutes before the show, and this will help you a lot,'” Flynn said.
Despite the advice, Flynn admitted he let his ego get the better of him during his first major tour supporting Napalm Death and Obituary. Believing that warmups were unnecessary for a “death metal tour,” he abandoned the routine—with disastrous results.
“I’m, like, ‘I don’t need to warm up. That’s for pus**es. I’m on death metal tour. I’m not gonna do that s**t,'” Flynn remembered thinking. “But what happened is I lost my heavy voice, and alls I had was my singing voice. And I was, like, ‘Oh, this ain’t gonna work.'”
The reality check came during a show in Corona, California, where Flynn found himself “barely croaking out vocals” in front of a hostile crowd.
“Looking back, it was kind of stupid that I even stopped doing the vocal warmup. Like, why? Who cares?” he said. “About a week into the tour, I got back into the vocal warmup… And from that point on, I swear by it.”
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