Essential Machine

Essential Machine is an indie rock trio from Pittsburgh composed of RJ Dietrich(lead vocals/guitar), Karen Dietrich (drums), and their son Robert Dietrich (keys/bass synth/vocals). 

An unexpected perk of being a nuclear family band is that when the world shuts down, you can shelter in place together and write a new album. This is how Essential Machine’s latest EP Exponential Crisis came to be. After tracking drums with Jake Hanner at his studio, RJ and Robert tracked, mixed, and mastered Exponential Crisis. The seven tracks, released May 20, 2022, find the band reflecting on isolation, ambition, and the darker side of what it means to be human.