Spacehall Sound Machine

Spacehall Sound Machine is the self-titled debut EP from the psychedelic dance band based in San Diego, CA.  Their sound is a combination of explosive rhythms from West Africa & Latin America, dub, driving post-punk bass lines, psychedelic rock, funk breakbeats, and haunting melodies from the Middle East.  Creating hypnotic instrumental grooves, Spacehall Sound Machine is designed to move bodies on the dance floor and take adventurous minds on an interstellar journey.

The ensemble is the brainchild of Matt Bozzone, a drummer who has spent the past 12+ years touring the U.S. with a variety of artists in the global groove scene, including Nigerian afrobeat masters Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.

During the lockdown of 2020, Bozzone taught himself how to play guitar, bass, and keyboards, and began experimenting with recording.  In the beginning of 2022 he shared some rough demos with his friend Dan Rabb, an electronics repairman. Rabb was intrigued by Bozzone’s vision and offered to record the compositions in his newly built studio.  This debut EP is primarily a collaboration of Bozzone and Rabb. They used vintage analog recording equipment that captured sounds inspired by the late great dub pioneers Lee “Scratch” Perry and King Tubby, as well as modern dub master, Ryan Moore aka, “Twilight Circus Dub Sound System” and combined it with hard hitting drums and thumping bass guitar, producing seismic grooves for modern dance floors.

As a lifelong drummer and vinyl collector, Bozzone’s strength as a composer derives from his curious mind, attraction to artists who are pushing boundaries, and exposure to a wide variety of rhythms and sounds from many countries, cultures, and time periods.  The sound of this EP is heavily influenced by West African legends from the 1970s such as T.P. Orchestre Poly-rhythmo and Tony Allen, 80s post-punk outfits Liquid Liquid, 23 Skidoo, & ESG, the 90s dub wizardry of Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, and modern day global groove heavyweights Mauskovic Dance Band, L’eclair, and Sababa 5.

What began as strictly a recording project for fun, eventually evolved into a 6 piece touring band that has performed at festivals throughout California and opened for international artists such as Vieux Farka Toure.  With more festivals and tour dates on the horizon in 2024, Spacehall Sound Machine is excited to present their debut vinyl EP to the world.