Soft Machine

The Soft Machine was a pioneering British psychedelic, progressive rock and jazz band from Canterbury, England, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. It was one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene.

The Soft Machine was a pioneering British psychedelic, progressive rock and jazz band from Canterbury, England, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. It was one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene.

The Soft Machine emerged out of an earlier band called the Wilde Flowers (a reference to Oscar Wilde). The Wilde Flowers included, at various times: Brian Hopper (guitar, saxophone, flute), Hugh Hopper (bass), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (vocals), Richard Sinclair (guitar, vocals), Pye Hastings (guitar, vocals), David Sinclair (keyboards) and Richard Coughlan (drums). These last four formed another successful Canterbury band, Caravan.