While Machine Head recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, guitarist and vocalist Robb Flynn has been reflecting on the band’s challenging journey from the streets of Oakland, California. In a recent conversation with Metal Hammer, Flynn offered a candid look back at the band’s formative years in the early 1990s, an era defined by economic hardship and stark social inequalities in the Bay Area.
“It’s still a pretty rough-and-tumble town,” Flynn observed, countering common perceptions of California. He added, “People think like, ‘Oh, it’s California.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, but it’s Oakland.'” During that period, rapid urban growth and economic booms led to widespread gentrification, exacerbating issues like homelessness and creating a tough environment.
Flynn himself grew up in an area where many buildings now stand abandoned. He vividly recalled local landmarks that embodied the city’s gritty history, such as Merchant’s Saloon. Flynn noted: “There’s a bar named Merchant’s Saloon that has been around for over 100 years with ‘No Naz*s’ and ‘F**k Off’ stickers in the window. It’s been here since 1916. It’s a legit dive bar. It’s got a latrine that goes around the bar, so people could pee at the bar and it would drain out into the street. That’s how OG it is.” Such history, Flynn emphasized, “keeps you humble.”
Before rising to international fame, Machine Head honed their craft in various unconventional venues. Their early gigs ranged from backyard keg parties and church halls to community centers. Eventually, they progressed to playing at local thrash nightclubs, but not without enduring numerous low-paying gigs in less-than-ideal areas. During this early period, Flynn also worked for a concert promoter as a caterer, a job in which he admitted, “I dealt dr**s for a while,” on the side, presumably to make ends meet in a struggling economy.
This humble and often difficult history underscores the remarkable rise of Machine Head, transforming them from a local Bay Area act into one of the biggest heavy metal bands to emerge from California.
Today, Machine Head continues to forge ahead, having recently released their eleventh studio album, Unatoned. The album debuted yesterday, April 25th, through Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings. To mark the occasion, the band also unveiled a powerful live music video for the album track “Outsider.”
The full track listing for Unatoned is as follows:
- “Landscape Of Thorns“
- “Atomic Revelations“
- “Unbound“
- “Outsider“
- “Not Long For This World“
- “These Scars Won’t Define Us“
- “Dustmaker“
- “Bonescraper“
- “Addicted To Pain“
- “Bleeding Me Dry“
- “Shards Of Shattered Dreams“
- “Scorn“
