Arts

Interview: Pseudo Echo – Bringing their Machine Tour to Adelaide

1980s legendary band Pseudo Echo are set to play at The Gov this week

Pseudo Echo exploded onto the charts over forty years ago. Best known for their international number one smash hit Funky TownPseudo Echo revolutionised the 1980’s music landscape with their avant-garde style and a huge list of hits, including Listening, A Beat For You, Don’t Go, Living In A Dream and Love An Adventure.

This week, Pseudo Echo will bring their 2024 Machine Tour to Adelaide, playing at The Gov Friday 31st May.

Brian Canham, who was one of the founding members of the band, spoke to Glam Adelaide about the tour, the band’s successes, and some background on how the band first came to be in the early 1980s.

“It all started at high school with a school band that I had with former member Pierre Gigliotti. He and I were friends all the way through school. I asked him if he was keen to form a band and it all started from there. As these bands grew and evolved, the name changed. I also started to tap into the new wave scene as it was becoming popular in the early 1980s. When Tony Lugton, our original keyboard player, came along, there were just the three of us – we didn’t even have a drummer! I’d been hearing all these new bands and I could hear this electronic sound, it made me think, ‘We need more keyboards, not guitars!’ You had to really be quite nerdy to know how to use a lot of the technology associated with synthesizers back then – they didn’t have the recall memory function where you could just push a button and the sound would come up. You had to make the sounds every time by shifting dials and slides. So some of these synthesizers came with a manual that would show you some example sounds and how to hook up that sound. One rehearsal Tony was looking through his manual and he came upon a sound that was called ‘Pseudo Echo Machine’. We all agreed that if we dropped the machine, Pseudo Echo would be a great name…and it stuck!”

From tours, chart topping hits, best selling albums — Pseudo Echo has left an influential mark not only on the Australian music scene, but the world.

We asked Brian if there were any defining moments over the last forty years that have stuck with him.

“We’ve had so many wonderful moments. When we had a huge international success with Funkytown, that was a massive defining moment for the band. But also when we took out a couple of awards at Countdown for best male performer and best band, as well as the first time we heard ourselves on radio, and being presented gold records – these were all incredible moments. Back then, we were just young lads from the northern suburbs of Melbourne, and we still cannot believe what we’ve achieved all these years later.

“If I could go back in time, one thing I would probably tell myself and the rest of the band is to start reading and understand psychology and understand how people think – that would be the winning advice. When we are younger, we often don’t understand the variation between person to person. That is something we grapple with most of our lives. Human interaction and connections are so important, especially in the music industry.”

Their 2024 Machine Tour promises to be a night to remember for any Pseudo Echo fans.

“Audiences are going to be treated to a great night of energy, passion and nostalgic content. We run big visuals that sync up to the songs as well. The set list is full of the hits we love to perform as well as what our fans love to hear – all the hits that were popular in the eighties and some extra surprises too.”

Pseudo Echo will be playing at The Gov, Friday 31st May. Further details and tickets can be found at: https://www.pseudoecho.net/tour-dates

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