the gift machine is an indie pop band based currently based in North County San Diego and also with a long history in the Pacific Northwest.
Led by the husband/wife team of songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Dave Matthies and Andrea Matthies on drums and vocals the band now features Alanna Cassidy on bass, and Matt Lawson on guitar. The gift machine has charted on the CMJ top 200, been praised by beloved and influential zines and websites, and toured the US several times, plus made some wonderful music.
In addition to the gift machine, Dave Matthies is a recording engineer and musician of much repute, running his Vibe Control Studios at the now-defunct Department of Safety in Anacortes, WA in the early 2000's, colloborating live and in the studio with such notable Pacific Northwest acts as the Microphones/Mount Eerie, Little Wings, the Begulls, Karl Blau, D+, the Graves, Laura Veirs, Thanksgiving, the Murder City Devils and many more. He also ran KNW-YR-OWN records with Bret Lunsford (Beat Happening, D+) and was co-founder of the much ballyhooed What the Heck Festival, also in Anacortes, WA. He also owns and operates a motion graphics/special effects/video production company called Cowboy Mustache.
Andrea Matthies does post-production and professional photography through her company Unscripted Photos.