Jen catches up with Matt from Motion City Soundtrack and he had a lot to say!
Photo Credit Shervin Lainez
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK will be hitting our shores this August celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their critically acclaimed and fan favourite sophomore album ‘Commit This To Memory’.
Released in June 2005, ‘Commit This To Memory’ went on to become an instant classic of the genre, a sublime concoction of energetic melodies, catchy hooks, thumping drums and bursting keys. A riveting album that infects your senses, grabs your heart and reminds you all over again – why you love music.
I had the chance to talk to Matt about the tour and their new album, Panic Stations.
Hi Matt,
You guys are going to be here real soon! How stocked are to come back to Australia?
We are very excited it has been a few years now. We are very excited to come back, to do our club tour rather than an outdoor hot festival! Not that we don’t enjoy that but it’s nice to get back in the clubs. We are very very excited about it. Looking forward to it.
How many times have you been here?
I don’t even know, I’ve lost count. Which means a lot!
I can’t believe that it is ten years since ‘Commit This To Memory’ was released. I had another listen to this while researching and remember it well. Are you guys feeling old?
(laughing)
The good thing about being in a band is you can kinda get away with being an idiot and acting like a child, so no in that respect, when I remember that we were touring Memory 10 years ago, yes that does make me feel old. I don’t feel like an old man. (Laughing)
I have interviewed a band that was celebrating their 50th anniversary! So you are not that old!
(Matt laughing) I guess so!
Was this anniversary tour always planned?
No, you don’t really plan them ahead. except the year before because we can’t really claim to go on an anniversary tour because you don’t really know where we will be at that point. Typically approaching the year before, and everything is on target and we are good we can do it. I think it is always fun if the band is still around to celebrate the album so I think we should go out and have some fun with it. I as a fan loves going to see anniversary tours where bands play the album in full as I love it and know it. I think it’s really fun.
We are the last leg in this tour aren’t we?
Yes you are. We did two rounds in the US and a little bit in the UK and then you guys will be the final run.
So your set list, you are be playing all of the songs off Commit This To Memory’ and some your new album?
Will be playing all the songs from Commit This To Memory in order. Then come back and play some other songs from other albums and then a new song and some other surprises.
Are you going to throw in a nirvana cover in your set? I don’t know, that is a real fun one. I would love to. So we will see how we are feeling when we get there. Don’t want to spoil all the surprises. (Laughing)
How have you personally and professionally grown since you released Memory?
This is a really tough question! I think on that record we a lot at one time. That was a very huge moment of growth for that the band even just recording with Mark from blink 182 and we learn a lot from him and being a musician on the road and things like that. I think every record you learn a tonne, with each experience and now we have done six albums we have learnt so much. We have learned not to freeze up when we get on mic and every little thing like that. I think we are more comfortable being band now and having a schedule, a timeline and a deadline and a budget we have learned a lot. I think we are all comfortable dealing with all that stuff now. Now we can write music together as a band like we always have in a room and we can also write music for our home computers and send each other ideas so that has caused huge growth in our professional lives. To be able to create even when not on the road, it means that we can continue even when we were on a break.
Technology is great.
Yes it is!
So your new album you started to write while on tour in 2013 just for fun but it ended up being a collection of new songs. Is it true that you had no vision or theme? That is rather unique way of doing an album!
Yes typically we never have a pre-conceived idea for an album as far as the theme of the sound are anything basically we just get together and compile all of our ideas, and then we just pick all of our favorite songs and then we work on those. It is kind of like a bracket in sports you just narrow it down and when you pick is the winner. you put that one on the winners list and the other one stays on the ideas list and then we can pull from the someday on the road. I typically like to move forward I’m not very good at remembering ideas but Josh is really good at saying hey we have this awesome idea from six years ago let’s let’s listen to that. I tend to just say let’s make something new and move on. Is not that I don’t like the list is just the way my brain works I like playing new stuff constantly. So we have a good mix of songs moving forward and Josh is aware of things that were thought of in the past that is worth remembering.
You make a great team.
Yes exactly.
I do like that you play the album live as it gives it such a raw sound. Was that because your fans prefer you playing live rather than in the studio?
No this was actually due to the producer John Agnello. We had a conference call with him and we basically interviewed him to make sure that he was a cool guy so that we could work together. It was on our second call to him after we decided that we wanted to work with him he said okay here is what I’m thinking two weeks in studio and we will track live and at that moment I think all of us stopped breathing as that terrified us as we have never done that before and we had never worked that quickly. Now I think we have more confidence than we did in the past, it forced us to be really prepared when we went into the studio on arriving side and preproduction side so we could all play the songs together as a very tight band without pressure. I was very worried that we were get in there and screw up and then everybody would have to start over. Where as if I was tracking by myself I could just keep doing takes over and over. It ended up being really good for us and I think in the long run when it comes to playing it live we have already done it in the studio. Anyway to cut a long story short I think it’s going to be good for us, this new process.
Would you say that ‘Panic Stations’ is going back to your roots more so than ‘Go’?
Yes, definitely more so than ‘Go’ for sure. Go was a little bit of an experiment, it was a strange time for us I think. It was a dark cold winter and it was definitely a departure for our band I will agree with that.
So the name Panic Stations comes from the Tsunami warning system in the sea is that correct?
I believe so. I just play the bass so…….. (laughing)
You have a really cool album design. the concept of the man working at his desk in the sea with the city upside is awesome, who came up with that idea?
I’m glad. Jessie has some of the original art direction ideas and our friend Brad designed the art and he is actually the same guy that did ‘Go’ . We were really happy with it as it turned out really beautiful.
I was checking out your facebook page and noticed that after Australia you have a tour with The Wonder Years, STATE CHAMPS, and You Blew It! That will be Epic! Quite a big tour by the looks of it. Do you have any bands that you tour with a lot as you are good mates? Yes we have a bunch of those bands. All American Rejects are some of our best friends. When we first started out we played in bars in the Great West to like three people. And they had this agreement that if we ever blew up or they did then we would take each other on tour. They blew up immediately after that and they took us on tour. We have done the UK and all over the US with those guys and will see them every once in awhile at a festival and it is just like seeing old college buddies. It is great to cross paths with them. It is great that we got to spend our early moments together and watch each other grow and become more successful, that is a cool thing that we shared.
I think I like and can connect to ‘Over It Now’ the best off your new album.
I can relate to that from a previous relationship.
Oh Cool!
Do you have one you connect to the most?
I really like I Can Feel You, there is just something about that song, just all the different parts together like the verse is kind of quirky, the chorus is in odd time, there is something that feels weird about it in a good way. We just kind of ride out at the end and play the same cords just over and over with that ‘I Can Feel You’ line There is just something about it. That is definitely my jam right now.
Can you predict which song off the album will be your biggest hit?
I can’t I am really not good at that stuff. But you know what I’m hoping I Can Feel You!
Let’s go with that one! (laughing)
OK sounds good!
Thanks so much for your time today I will see you in Melbourne!
Thank you! Come and say Hi,
I sure will! Thanks Matt.
Tour Dates
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26th – THE STUDIO, AUCKLAND 18+
Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.co.nz
FRIDAY AUGUST 28th – MANNING BAR, SYDNEY 18+
Tickets available at www.oztix.com.au | www.ticketek.com.au
SATURDAY AUGUST 29th – MAX WATT’S (THE HI FI), BRISBANE 18+
Tickets available at www.oztix.com.au | www.maxwatts.com.au
SUNDAY AUGUST 30th –170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE – 18+
Tickets available www.170russell.com | www.oztix.com.au
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2nd –THE GOV, ADELAIDE – 18+
Tickets available at www.oztix.com.au |www.moshtix.com.au
THURSDAY SEPTMEBER 3rd –THE ROSEMOUNT, PERTH 18+
Tickets available at www.oztix.com.au
PRESENTED BY TAPERJEAN TOURING, SELECT TOURING, METROPOLIS TOURING AND BOMBSHELLZINE
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