Machine Head have started auditions for new members

By Scott Munro
( Metal Hammer )
published

Following the departures of Phil Demmel and Dave McClain last year, Robb Flynn is planning the band’s future

Machine Head's Robb Flynn (Image credit: Steve Brown)

Machine Head have begun auditioning for a new guitarist and drummer.

Both Phil Demmel and Dave McClain quit the band following the conclusion of the Freaks & Zeroes tour (opens in new tab) in November last year.

And with Machine Head leader Robb Flynn back in the studio working on “some new heaviness,” (opens in new tab) the search in on for a new duo to join him and bassist Jared MacEachern.

Flynn revealed that auditions had been taking place at Sharkbite Studios in California during an Instagram (opens in new tab) live stream.

According to Blabbermouth (opens in new tab), Flynn said: “You might not know some of these guys, some of you may.”

He added: “It’s been awesome, really good – in fact, really confusing. I don't know where we are going. We've got some thinking to do.”

The musicians in question have been put through their paces by playing tracks including Locust, From This Day, Halo, Aesthetics Of Hate and This Is The End.

Since leaving Machine Head, Demmel has played with Slayer (opens in new tab) and resurrected Vio-lence, while McClain recently rejoined Sacred Reich. 

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.