 :: INTERVIEW :: MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK
Posted byBomber on Sunday, December 02 @ 19:27:50 CST
Contributed by Bomber
Motion City Soundtrack are just one of the many acts planning to invade our shores for the Soundwave Festival in a couple of months time, if you wish to catch them, get a wriggle on as tickets are selling fast. James Green caught up with bassist Matthew Taylor for a quick chat. Read More to check it out.
EIIKM was supposed to come out in
July, what caused the delay with the release?
We just got really, really excited to
get it done and out there as early as possible, we recorded in
January, and it was done by early March, but we got to the artwork
portion and felt a little rushed, and we didn’t want to forget any
thank-you’s and stuff, so we just wanted to take a deep breath and
give everybody time to get it done right, we didn’t want to put out
something we weren’t going to be totally happy with, so we decided
to push the release date back.
What’s the story behind the name
of the album?
There are a lot of rumours around about
that, whether it be about Justin staying sober or it taking us so
long to write the record, but it wasn’t anything to do with those.
Basically, Justin just wrote the song, which ended up being the last
song on the album, and it’s actually a lot more uplifting and
positive than it sounds you know, there’s a glimmer of hope there,
like “I’ll do whatever it takes to get back on track”. So even
though it sounds quite negative, it’s actually quite the opposite,
which just seemed to fit with the record.
What’s the writing process like
for you guys, do you tend to write on tour or more in your down time?
There’s no specific time that we
choose to write, we all write at different times. I write a lot when
we’re on tour, just with a keyboard, but when we go home, Justin
will pick up the acoustic and work on songs and sing a melody over
them and he’ll send them to us. It really depends you know, when we
take time off to write together we’ll just go in a room together
every day and play together.
You guys have been touted as the
“next big thing” for years now; does that add any extra pressure
particularly with writing and recording?
I’d like to say no, that it doesn’t
really pressure us, but in actual fact, subconsciously, there is the
pressure that comes with expectation. You don’t want to fall into
the trap of trying to please everybody, we just try and do our own
thing and if people like it, great, if not, oh well. I think if we
worried too much about that, we wouldn’t be ourselves, and we
wouldn’t have come as far as we have.
Justin is known for his brutally
honest and personal lyrics, do you think becoming better known will
mean they are toned down a little?
I don’t think that’ll ever happen,
that’s who he (Justin) is, he writes what he knows, but he also
writes little stories and loves to mix fiction and fact. Usually he
doesn’t like to tell which is which, which is cool, ‘cause I love
to read books, poems and lyrics and be able to take away my own
interpretation, and he does too, so I think that’s kind of how he
looks at it, lets the reader have their own thoughts, which is quite
healthy.
(Slight pause while he orders a coffee,
from what I overhear I gather it’s a Grande size regular coffee)
(Laughs) Continue, Sorry about that.
In what ways do you think you’ve
grown as a band since CTTM?
Um, we’ve played together for a lot
longer now and we know more about what being in a band really is, and
we all really know each other’s limits and how to push each other’s
buttons, which is a huge bonus. Tony and I have been playing together
for 15 years now so with him it’s like breathing, it has just
become second nature.
Were there many distinct differences
between working with Mark Hoppus on the last record and the handful
of producers you used on Even If It Kills Me?
It’s hard to say, I think Mark was
somewhere between the two sets of producers we had on this record. We
had Rick on one half and Adam and Eli on the other half, and I think
we all agree that Mark was between the two. Rick was really quite
laid back, not too hands on and just let us record songs the way they
were written, and then Adam and Eli were really creative and shooting
out ideas left right and centre. Mark, on the other hand, had a heap
of ideas but the whole time he kept saying “this is your record,
it’s not gonna upset me if you guys don’t like my idea” which
was good.
Have you experienced many negative
impacts from your growing popularity?
I’m sure a lot of people email us now
and call us sell outs because we’re on TV and whatnot, but I don’t
think it’s a bad thing at all. When you start making music, and
start in a band, you want people to hear your music and enjoy it and
sing along, but with a lot of people, they start to resent that when
you get mildly successful. It’s like opening a record store; you
want it to do good business, but not wanting it to become too
successful, it’s kinda silly. I think where the sell out thing
comes in is in how you handle yourself as a band, and I don’t think
we would ever sacrifice our integrity and who we are as a band to
become more successful, we’re just riding the wave and having fun.
What’s your favourite part about
being in a band?
I love playing music. I can’t even
imagine doing anything else when it comes to like, working. You can
have a really shitty day, and that night be able to go up on stage
for an hour and a half and just forget about it and really just go
nuts. It’s also pretty amazing being able to travel every day and
see the world as part of your job.
You guys all live in different
states now, does that make things difficult at all?
Yeah, Josh and Justin live in
Minneapolis, where the band originated, and the rest of us are quite
spread out. No, it doesn’t make things too difficult now. It did in
the early days where we had no money whatsoever, like we literally
were in debt, so it was tough then. Now though we get together and
tour, then we go home and don’t see each other until a week before
our next tour, when we’ll rehearse. With writing now as well, we
can work on our separate ideas and send them to each other over the
internet. It actually works very well now, because we are able to get
away from each other and have a vacation, not in a bad way, but it’s
healthy I think.
What’s the next single off the
album, is there a video in the works?
“It Had To Be You”. The video is
very near, tomorrow actually. We did a contest with MTVU, and got a
whole bunch of college film makers who sent in treatments, and we got
to pick the director, so we’re going to be shooting with her
tomorrow. We’re all really excited about it.
You guys are booked on Soundwave
next February, which bands on the SW line up are you most looking
forward to either seeing or catching up with?
I’m not sure of the full line up, but
I’m really looking forward to meeting up with Sugarcult and the
Starting Line, that’ll be like a homecoming. We’re actually
playing Japan with Cartel around that time too, which will be cool.
What are the plans for after
Soundwave?
We do Hawaii, Japan and Australia
around that time, then we’re coming back to do a small tour of the
US, which isn’t set in concrete just yet, but that’s how it’s
shaping up.
Are there any up and coming bands
fans of MCS should check out?
Um, they’re not really up and coming
but Mute Math, I love their new record. When we’re on tour I tend
to be so out of the loop when it comes to new music and new bands, so
it’s pretty hard to name many.
Are there any questions you wish
interviewers would ask?
Um....wow that’s hard, you put me on
the spot here (Laughs), I guess I like it when people get creative,
and ask about off the wall random stuff.
Well you’ve put me on the spot
now, and made my last question very hard, so any other final words?
(Laughs) We’re just looking forward
to coming back down to Australia, so please come and check us out at
Soundwave.
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