Press
Get Smart:
“When Chris Smart formed the Mechanical Walking Robotboy in 1997, he was so fed up with the unkempt, ear-splitting attack of grunge rock, he decided to go as far in the opposite direction as possible. Along those lines, he and his new bandmates established a set of anti-grunge rules to follow....” Read More
by Gilbert Garcia from the San Antonio Current, 15 February 2006
Of Ebola and Eno:
“Some musicians have a strange paranoid tendency to actively avoid recorded discussion of any subject that they think may make them sound like a megalomaniac on paper. You can get them talking about anything else - the fleeting career of countless no-name yahoosthat once walked the earth, shaking a tambourine once or twice on a rare Elevators bootleg - but good luck getting them to talk freely about themselves, their music, or their careers...” Read More
by Anjali Gupta from the San Antonio Current, 27 March 2003
Now or Nevermind:
The Mechanical Walking Robotboy is not going to Austin for the South By Southwest music, etc., festival with the goal of becoming the next big MTV darlings.
“What?” Asked Robotboy Rod Castro. “We’re not?”
Well, maybe the Mechanical Walking Robotboy is going to Austin for the South By Southwest music etc., festival with the goal of becoming the next MTV darlings. And there are other reasons.
“We need to give the van a good workout,” said Chris Smart.
“You get it up to about 70 MPH for 45 minutes and it cleans out the carburetor,” added Erik Sanden.
“We thought it was a novelty to get asked,” Smart said. “After all of the years we applied to get in, we’ve apparently paid our way in.”
The music portion of South By Southwest kicks off today in Austin. In addition to dozens of panel discussions, hundreds of bands will play at nightly showcases across the city through Sunday.
With the Mechanical Walking Robotboy, the quintet creates what Roadman describes as “moody, futuristic lounge pop.” Robotboy’s debut CD Baby Baby Baby We’re All Doomed was released two years ago on the Compulsive label. A second disc is in the works.
“Everybody wants to get a deal but doesn’t want to admit it” Roadman added with a laugh.
Smart knows better than most musicians the possibilities that come with showcasing at SXSW. He also knows a little something about the music business whirl.
‘Thirteen played at SXSW and had the perfect image of a SXSW showcase,” he said. “After our set we had people from six labels giving us cards and buying us drinks. Thirteen had a single out on IRS, and Geffen followed us for a year and a half. A year later it didn’t matter. But I’ve yet to have anyone write the contract on a napkin. You hear that story every year about some record exec at SXSW writing a contract on a napkin.”
“I’d rather have someone write a contract on a check,” Roadman said.
But wether there’s a contract or a check or nothing at the end of the Robotboy showcase, it’s a safe bet the band and its members will keep making music.
“The business is just sucky,” Smart said. “Everything negative people say about the business is true. But we’re old enough that we just want to keep making our music.”
And the Robotboys will keep making music in various bands.
“We’ve known each other for so many years that balancing bands isn’t a problem,” De La Cruz said.
“And all the bands sound different,” Roadman added.
“Robotboy is a band full of frontmen,” Castro said.
In the end, the band of front men is looking forward to the Austin jaunt.
“We’re not so jaded we don’t care,” Roadman said.
“For one thing, we know we’re going to play in Austin and this time, we know we’re not going to get paid,” Smart said.
“And” Castro added, “we’re all hoping that napkin contract will be there when we’re finished.”
from the San Antonio Express News, 13 March 2002