 "Photo: Courtesy of Look Machine")
In the past few years, the Internet has been the promotional outlet of choice for up-and-coming bands.
The Look Machine, a genre-transcending quintet featuring university alumni Jason Latshaw and Collin Palkovitz and sophomore Ian Palkovitz, is by no means an exception.
Yet its Internet grassroots approach has garnered a strong but unique fan base - including Mary Wheeler, editor of "The Vine," an online Christian magazine for teenage girls based in Oregon.
In November, the band - rounded out by the Palkovitzs' 17-year-old brother and drummer Shane and Latshaw's brother-in-law Drew Copeland on bass - was electronically accosted by Wheeler, who was so inspired by the Look Machine's song "Simpler Than it Seems," she created a music video for it.
"It's a funny story," Latshaw says. "She really liked the song. We were getting 100 to 200 unique visits a day because of the video, probably all from teenage girls."
As a band with ages ranging from 17 to 30, the Look Machine's influences are reflective of the band's age gap, yet there are certain bands all five members can agree upon as blueprints for its unique folk-meets-hard rock sound. The band says it credits Muse, U2 and Newark's own Boysetsfire as influences.
And the connection between Equal Vision Records' Boysetsfire and the Look Machine is not strictly geographical.
"My brother's in Boysetsfire," Latshaw says. "When we first started doing demos, he liked what he heard. They produced our first album and helped shape our sound."
Copeland also says Boysetsfire is an optimistic reminder a band can be from anywhere, including Newark, and become successful.
"It's a big inspiration to see a band from Newark make it big," he says.
With do-it-yourself ethics, the Look Machine says it has happily, if not humorously, "paid its dues" as a local band - even at the university.
"We played UD's 'Relay for Life' last year at 3:30 a.m.," Latshaw says. "Unfortunately, we didn't know there was a sizeable amount of people that just wanted to sleep. We thought they wanted us to keep them awake, so we played a big electric set. We got shut down in seven minutes."
Although the band can jokingly discuss its past shows, its members agree the local scene hasn't been the most welcoming.
"Its been hard for us," Latshaw says. "We're not a bar band and we're not a cover band. People want to hear songs they're familiar with, but now that we have an album, hopefully we can change that."
Along with its newly recorded album, titled "Until the Dawn," the Look Machine continues to use the Internet as its main outlet for not only its music but its thoughts and ideals, which has ultimately helped gain more fans and listeners.
Band members log on to the Web site and use it as an online journal, or weblog, to post photographs and personal rhetoric. The topics range from sports to the environment to politics. The Web site's expansive subjects have led to many Web surfers, 800 to 1000 unique visitors a day, according to Latshaw, who stumble upon the Look Machine via Google - even by mistake.
"I posted about Terry Schiavo one day," Copeland says. "But I spelled it wrong. And for the record, Schiavo is not spelled 'Chivo.' "
Alongside those interested in high-profile euthanasia cases, Latshaw says the Look Machine has gained many listeners from an unlikely location - Thailand.
"We have a fair number of fans from Thailand," he says. "It's all because of search engines. We'd love to go to Thailand. It's actually one of our goals. And that's not a joke."
While it's clear the band members have a sense of humor, they say the main focus is creating meaningful music. With a Boysetsfire-produced CD and fans across the country and world, the timing appears right for the Look Machine to take it to the next level. But Palkovitz says the band is not necessarily looking to rush into anything.
"We're not in a huge hurry," he says. "We can wait. We have something to offer."
Lead singer Latshaw agrees with Palkovitz's sentiment and says the band is just looking for an opportunity to make new fans.
"We want to be signed but we're happy doing what we're doing now," he says. "More than the money, it's letting more people hear us. We truly love these songs."
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