Zee Machine is learning to let his guard down. āEveryone else is writing songs about their broken hearts. I guess I can too once in a while,ā the singer, also known as Joe Bissell, explains to Ladygunn.
While heās proud of his debut EP, Brainchemistry (it debuted at No. 25 on the iTunes pop charts, after all), Bissell recognized that there was room to be more vulnerable with his next release. On āStealing Candy,ā the sweet-as-sugar first taste of his upcoming follow-up, Bissell embraces uncomfortable details with lyrics like, āwould you still think Iām perfect if I told you Iāve been waiting by your door?ā
āIām not the only one who has accidentally on purpose walked down the street their ex lives and lingered by their door without really knowing why, but hoped it wonāt result in a restraining order,ā Bissell laughs. āRight?ā
But itās not just his candor that makes his new work special; Bissell is also embracing his inner rock god. Inspired by greats like Jeff Buckley and Prince, he promises to infuse his guitar shredding skills into his signature arena-ready pop sound.
With āStealing Candyā out today, we decided to help Bissell let his guard down by inviting him to share his best dating advice for those hoping to avoid playing the fool.
DATING ADVICE
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Text first.Ā
Why is everyone trying to be so indifferent and removed these days? I mean, donāt get crazy with it, but being assertive and being the first one to reach out can be… kinda hot. If you always try to seem disinterested playing the cool girl, you start to seem like the mean girl. The more you make the first move, the more they might feel compelled to start doing the same. And if they donāt, then at least youāve learned you donāt have to waste your time on them.
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Sleep with them sooner rather than later.Ā
I think weāve reached a point in time where society needs to move past this shameful puritanical idea that itās wrong be having sex with someone youāve only just met. Even if this sounds like some kind of fuckboy advice, physical intimacy can be such a vital part of a lasting relationship and I guess Iād rather sound like a fuckboy for three seconds in a dating advice article than realize after three months that thereās absolutely no chemistry.Ā
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Proximity is important.Ā
Avoid long distances ā whether itās coast to coast or West Hollywood to Downtown Los Angeles (trust me, Iāve tried both and thereās not much of a difference.) If it takes you more than 45 minutes to get their home in LA traffic, itās a no from me, dawg. I donāt have enough podcasts to last through those kind of commutes.
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Forget about astrology.Ā
I know itās trendy, but you canāt dictate someoneās nuanced personality based on their birthday. Get to know them by getting to know them. Stars are just burning balls of gas in the sky. I can think of another place youāll find balls of gas that would be equally as clairvoyant. So donāt do the whole āI canāt date a Scorpioā thing. And why is Scorpio a āwater signā anyway? Do scorpions live in the water? No, they live under rocks. In the desert. I canāt place the fate of my romantic compatibility on a belief system so ecologically inept. The fact is: assholes are born all year round. My friend also told me to mention Iām an Aries here. I resent that. Which Iām sure is a very Aries of me.
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Donāt take my advice. Seriously.
Donāt take anyoneās. Lord knows I donāt follow these half of (ok, ok, not even most of) the time. And thereās at least a handful of exes that would be incredibly amused that Iām offering dating advice on Ladygunn dot com. So the one piece of advice of mine that you should actually follow? Trust your gut. You know you best. As long as you are honest about your needs and donāt hurt anyone in the process, youāre golden. To paraphrase our problematic fav, RuPaul: if you canāt trust yourself, how the hell are you gonna trust anyone else? Now stream my new track, pretty please?
We sat down with Joe to get to know him and his tricks a little bit better…
This is the first taste of your upcoming EP. Is there a new direction in your sound?
I think the music this time around feels much more joyful and fun. Andā¦ cooler? Is that a direction? Thatās kinda my gut reaction to them. I really tried to lean into my guitar playing on a lot of these new songs because I can actually shred like a mofo when I want to and I love incorporating aggressive elements of rock into pop music.
How have you grown since your last releases?
Iām way more adventurous than before. But most of all Iāve stopped trying to take myself so goddamn seriously. Iāve always made an effort to have an intentional point of view with something to say in each song, but I feel a lot less tightly wound about it than I was before. With āStealing Candyā specifically I just said to myself, āfor christās sake, let your guard down and just try to be a little bit relatable for once, it wonāt kill ya.ā Everyone else is writing songs about their broken hearts. I guess I can too once in a while.
Is āstealing candy from the living roomā an innuendo for something?
Nope. Itās very literal. A memory of someone who knows this is about him. If you want, you can just fill that line in with your own memory of someone you wish you didnāt miss. I knew it would be a confusing lyric. But I bet youāll remember it!
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work on the EP?
Well itās definitely delayed the recording process a bit. The lockdowns and social distancing have made it difficult to get together with my co-writer and producer, so Iāve just accepted that my initial timeline Iād had in mind for everything is sort of up to fate at this point. But itās actually done wonders for helping jumpstart writing and creativity and actually given me the time to sit back and create freely. I do love writing but when youāre stuck in a rut with it it can be hard to motivate yourself. Gonna try to harness this creativity from here on out so it wonāt take a global pandemic to light a fire under my ass.
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photos / Patrick Crowley
story / LADYGUNN