Last night, bassist Jared MacEachern made his live debut with San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD in Spokane, Washington. Brief fan-filmed footage of the performance can be watched below.
MACHINE HEAD announced yesterday that MacEachern had made the cut and, earlier this year, were in the process of searching for a temporary bassist replacement for this summer’s Rockstar Energy Mayhem Drink Festival in the US earlier this year. MACHINE HEAD conducted an extensive search for candidates, sifting through over 400 videos and evaluated everyone’s performances, including MacEachern, who made the short list without a second thought. After reviewing all of the submissions, the band narrowed down the 400-plus candidates to a short list of seven, each of whom took a trip to Oakland to perform a handful of songs in person and spend the day hanging with the band.
Lead guitarist Phil Demmel comments: “There were dozens of amazing players, and it was interesting to watch each one take on our tunes. One of our biggest criteria for this gig was to be able to sing the high harmonies. That was our litmus test. And Jared passed with flying colors.”
Drummer Dave McClain recalls: “Jared came in to the audition and just killed it! Besides being able to nail the bass and vocal harmonies, he also had the vibe and personality to make it feel like we were a BAND again. It was a great feeling and we all knew he was the guy.”
Flynn remembers: “We had locked in Brandon Sigmund of local boys HOSTILITY to play bass on that tour, but we soon realized we’d need someone to hit the high harmonies. Our A&R guy [at Roadrunner Records], Monte Conner, recommended Jared since he was already on the tour, and that ended up being a great call. Jared flew out a few days before the tour and rehearsed with us and did great. What was most impressive about the whole thing was that he was doing double duty — opening for MACHINE HEAD with his band at the time, SANCTITY, and then later singing with us. He would stay sober until after our set, and often get in the van and drive all night. His seriousness and dedication was awesome to see and it stuck with us.”
Jared comments: “I heard the [METALLICA] song ‘Unforgiven’ and really liked it. The next day my friend gave me [METALLICA’s first album] ‘Kill ‘Em All‘ and it was over. I became completely enamored with all the metal bands of that time; METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and PANTERA, but when it came to bass, it was all about Cliff Burton, he was, and is my dude.”
With a brief stint at the Brevard School for Music Performance, Jared has consistently played bass for the past 22 years, most notably in SANCTITY, where oddly enough, the band needed a guitar player. “That was purely out of necessity. I’d been a bass player, but that gig opened up and I gave it a shot on the six-stringer.”
Jared enthused: “I’m ready to get to work! This tour is going to kick ass and the new tunes are heavy as shit! I’m SO looking forward to making good music with good dudes!”