The God Machine

The God Machine was an alternative rock band, active in the first half of the 1990s. Its members were all from San Diego, California, but they all lived and performed mainly in the United Kingdom and across Europe.

The band consisted of three members, Robin Proper-Sheppard (guitar/vocals), Jimmy Fernandez (bass) and Ronald Austin aka Austin Lynn Austin (drums), and they first performed officially under the name The God Machine in 1991. They released an EP, Purity with the Eve record label, and were later given a recording contract with Fiction Records. They released two albums in their career, both with their trademark dark and industrial-sounding alternative rock, before Fernandez suddenly died from brain hemorrhage. Their single release of "Home", peaked at No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1993. Proper-Sheppard went on to form The Flower Shop Recordings label, and bands Sophia and The May Queens. In 2020, after nearly 3 decades, Austin formed and launched his own music project, Mercylane.

Their second album, One Last Laugh in a Place of Dying, was recognized by Alternative Press as one of the "90 greatest albums of the 90s" (#88) in their December 1998 issue.Their earlier San Diego incarnation was called Society Line, and also featured guitarist Albert Amman, who left the band before its move to London.