BIOGRAPHY
If Taylor Swift joined a metal band, you’d get Machine on a Break. Machine on a Break is a thought-provoking pop-metal project, shedding the light on the darkness inside the mind of a neurodivergent gamer girl.
Canberran Pop-Metal artist Machine on a Break creates raw and earnest brand of music that is an artful blend of multiple genres. A delicate bird in a fiery cage, Machine on a Break is equal parts fragile and fierce. She is exploring the catharsis of songwriting throughout the brightest and darkest of times and hopes that her storytelling can help others struggling through the challenges life throws at them. Her music is an anthemic call to people who have been hurt and pushes them through to a better tomorrow.
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Machine on a Break began her musical career at just three years of age, in regional Queensland, when the antique family heirloom piano first graced her home. The somewhat less docile tunes 'composed' by the aspiring musician encouraged her parents to funnel her into classical piano lessons so that the noises she produced might become somewhat more tolerable.
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While her training in classical piano progressed, her love for composing also grew, and after a freak (minor swimming pool) accident ended her dreams of achieving her AMus, she turned her attention to contemporary music. MoaB had been collecting trauma from a young age and was able to channel this torment into her music journal, creating deeply personal stories. This outlet allowed her to survive some very dark days.
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After much encouragement from her university friend Tom, MoaB made her first public performance of original songs at at open mic night in Newtown (Sydney), and despite several hiatuses due to an array of health concerns, she grew her stagecraft over the years to perform at The Sydney Fringe Festival, Sofar Sounds Sydney, and the Northern Beaches Music Festival.
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MoaB's single and EP releases to date have received airplay across Australia and internationally. In 2022 she was named a Grand Finalist in the Listen Up Songwriting Prize for her single 'Magic Pill,' which detailed her intimate identity crisis following a mental health hospital admission. MoaB continues to champion the rights of those living with mental illness and/or neurodivergence to be heard and understood.
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If you like Bring Me the Horizon and Paramore then you’re in for a treat.​
Backseat Mafia
"Machine on a Break’s music is described as being alternative metal and there is, for sure, a resounding metallic timbre to the guitar blitzkrieg. Yet there is also an indie rock subtlety to the delivery in ‘Honestly’ – a song that crashes like waves on the beach with intermittent breaks that give you time to catch your breath."
Steph Hughes - triple j
"Huge mood and ferocity. Love the rolling intensity in the rhythm and production, and love this sound that covers many genres. Tune!"
Tits Upon Tyne
"The instrumentation is a dynamic marriage of Taylor Swift’s pop sensibilities and the raw power of a heavy metal band, creating a sound that is uniquely Machine on a Break’s own. The delicate yet fierce nature of the artist is reflected in the music, with moments of vulnerability juxtaposed against powerful, anthemic sections."