Motion City Soundtrack
Encyclopedia
Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota
, formed in 1997. The band consists of founding members Justin Pierre
(lead vocals and guitar) and Joshua Cain
(lead guitar and backing vocals), along with keyboardist and moog synthesist Jesse Johnson, bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Taylor, and drummer, percussionist and backing vocalist Tony Thaxton. Motion City Soundtrack has released four studio albums and sold almost 600,000 records throughout their career, including over half a million in the United States alone.
Motion City Soundtrack's first release was a 7" single
, "Promenade/Carolina", in 1999. The following year they released their debut EP
, Kids for America
, and then a second, Back to the Beat. They released their debut album I Am the Movie
twice, in 2002. Their first five releases were all self-released with the aid of a small record label. Backed up by their constant touring it fashioned them a fast growing fan base, and a signing with Epitaph Records
. After spending their first five years finding the right lineup, the Epitaph re-issue of I Am the Movie in 2003 was the band's big break. First major single "The Future Freaks Me Out
" arrived with live and television success, but failed in radio airplay and the charts. 2003 and 2004 brought three Split EPs
alongside Schatzi, Limbeck
and Matchbook Romance
. The second album, Commit This to Memory
, has been their most successful album to date, selling 285,000+ records and peaking at number two on the Independent Albums
chart. It featured the single, "Everything Is Alright", which also found success on the likes of MTV, but also fell short in radio airplay and the charts.
The band released their third full-length album Even if It Kills Me
in 2007. The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200
and number one on the Independent Albums
chart. It produced singles "Broken Heart
", "This Is for Real" and "It Had to Be You", which all received television airplay. Motion City Soundtrack released a fourth album entitled My Dinosaur Life
in January 2010, which debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200
. It is their first album released on Columbia
, a major record label.
of Saddest Girl Story recruited Justin Pierre
from Slide Coaster, instigating the formation of Motion City Soundtrack in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, in 1997. The band's first lineup included only two of the current members, guitarist Cain and vocalist Pierre. It also contained guitarist Joe Skinner who didn't last until the end of the year, and later, drummer Andrew Whitney. According to Cain, they soon realized that there "wasn't really anywhere to play [shows] in Minneapolis", and that they would have to "tour all the time" to get the name out there. The name Motion City Soundtrack was thought up by Josh Cain's brother, Brian, who Josh says "made up a name for something he was goofing around with, just as an idea, and I asked if we could use it", and they did.
In January 1998 Motion City Soundtrack played their first live show, and throughout 1998 they played local shows and had numerous lineup changes. Andrew Gruhn joined the band briefly on the moog synthesizer
, Whitney departed, and Austin Lindstrom took over the bass position, with Joel Habedank, formerly of Sadie Foster and the Fuck Yeahs, on drums. Later in 1998, Gruhn departed, leaving Cain and Pierre to share the moog duties and the band as a four piece, to record with Randy Duerr at Wigged Out. These recordings would later turn out to be their 7" vinyl release, "Promenade / Carolina", marking the official formation of the band in 1999.
In the early 2000s the band did more chopping and changing of their lineup, with the inclusion and then departure of short-lived bassist, Matthew Potocnik, it also saw the exclusions of drummer Joel Habedank as well as bassist Lindstrom, after his second stint. In mid-2000, Motion City Soundtrack released their first CD EP
, entitled Kids for America
. It was self-produced, recorded by Sound in Motion and co-released with Modern Radio Records, coinciding with their tour alongside local band, AMP 176. The first EP was closely followed by Back to the Beat, which also self-produced and later notably reviewed by music website Punk News in April 2001, one of the band's first official reviews.
2002 saw the formation of Motion City Soundtrack's lineup as it is today. The departures of drummer Sidney Burgdorf and Austin Lindstrom prompted the additions of two former members of Richmond, Virginia
-based band Submerge, drummer Tony Thaxton, and months later bassist Matt Taylor. Thaxton initially took about a year to convince to join the band. Jesse Johnson, who worked with Cain at a Pizza shop in Minneapolis was the last current day member to join the band. He joined just three weeks before the recording of their first album and in this time, learned to play the moog synthesizer
without any prior experience. A role which quickly became a vital component to the flow of each song.
. It would later become the basis for their first full-length studio album
, of the same name. The album was originally produced by Ed Rose
, who had previously worked with The Get Up Kids
, Emery
, Ultimate Fakebook and The Anniversary
. It was recorded at Red House Studios in Walnut Creek, California
, with Punk News describing the production as "nothing short of stellar".
I Am the Movie was unusually released originally without a traditional cd-case, instead using the shell of a five and a half inch floppy disc and its sleeve as packaging. These were assembled by hand by the band members themselves.
Motion City Soundtrack released the album a third time through Epitaph Records in June 2003. It was partially re-recorded, with the bass guitar parts being redone by new bassist Matt Taylor, for legal reasons.
Backed by the success of their first album, Motion City Soundtrack toured for quite some time and in 2003 released the third track on I Am the Movie, "The Future Freaks Me Out
", as their first single, which became a modest hit. According to the band's official website, the song's success was surprising, as the band "wrote the song in mere hours and it almost didn't even make it onto their debut." A second single was released later that year, "My Favorite Accident
".
2004, and was produced by Mark Hoppus
of Blink-182
fame. The song "Hangman" also featured Mark's vocals.
The title, Commit This to Memory, was chosen early in the album's production, and is taken from a lyric in one of the album's songs, "Hangman". Production work on Commit This to Memory was finished in early 2005, and the album's winter theme (with two songs reflecting on New Year's Day
) contrasted heavily with its expected June release.
The album was leaked to file sharing
websites within a day of the final mastering
and months before its official release, whilst the band took part in the first ever Epitaph Tour in February and March 2005. Epitaph placed computer arresting software on the official release of Commit This to Memory to resist any further damages due to piracy
.
On June 20, 2006, the band released a special Deluxe Edition of the album, it included an extra track "Invisible Monsters", a DVD with three hours of footage containing a Documentary "Hooray for the Madness" directed by Shane Nelson, a live show and five of their music videos, including a video for the song "L.G. Fuad", which was made especially for the re-issue. The live concert was shot at the 7th Street Entry show in their hometown of Minneapolis.
The album's first single, "Everything Is Alright" featuring Patrick Stump
of Fall Out Boy
, Mark Hoppus
and members of Limbeck
, found significant radio play and appeared on several compilations. The song's video has appeared on MTV and Fuse channel, and has also appeared on the Saint's Row soundtrack. The song was also featured in the trailer for the 2006 comedy
movie Accepted
. "Everything Is Alright" also appeared in the soundtracks for The Bad News Bears
and the video game "MLB 06: The Show
". The band's second video was "Hold Me Down".
, in the Most Anticipated Albums of 2007 edition.
The band recorded their third studio album
with two different sets of record producers at separate times. Adam Schlesinger
(of Fountains of Wayne
) and Eli Janney
(of Girls Against Boys
) were responsible for seven of the final tracks on the record, and former frontman of The Cars
, Ric Ocasek
, for the other five. The two separate recording sessions created a concern over whether the album would hold a consistent vibe, drummer Tony Thaxton stating "[It's] something we definitely worried about. Our solution that we set was that it had to be all mixed by one guy", the band hired one "big name" audio engineer
, Tom Lord-Alge
, to mix eleven of the tracks, the exception being "The Conversation", as it was only piano and vocals.
In anticipation of the upcoming album, the band released a series of 'webisodes' (video blogs) in early 2007. A collaboration between vocalist Pierre and bassist Taylor was captured on camera and consequently, viewers saw the birth of the song "The Conversation", track seven on the album. The webisodes were released through a specially made website for the album, titled EvenIfItKillsMe.tv, with the videos being created by the brother of Joshua Cain
, Jesse. The six videos also included clips of songs from the then upcoming album.
After the disastrous circumstances surrounding the leak of their previous album, the band took precautions prior to the release of their third album in 2007. Advanced copies were handed out to marketers and reviewers with a warning, or as Joshua Cain
described it, "a threatening letter". Alternatively, Motion City Soundtrack invited the relevant parties to a Nike ID Studio to listen to the third album.
The album proved to be the band's most successful both commercially and critically. It received positive reviews from numerous sources, with British magazine Kerrang and music website Rock Louder both giving it four out of five stars, as well as Absolute Punk awarding it a commendable 83%. Even if It Kills Me topped the Independent Albums
charts at number one, as well as reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200
, selling around 33,000 albums in its first week.
Eight months after the initial release of their third album, MCS released a five track Acoustic EP featuring acoustic versions of songs from Even if It Kills Me
. The songs were released exclusively on May 6, 2008, through the iTunes Music Store, as part of a bonus bundle package of Even if It Kills Me.
Towards the end of 2008, the band released a music video for the acoustic version of "Fell in Love Without You" (from the Even if It Kills Me Acoustic EP), after it had been heard on an episode of Gossip Girl
. The song "This Is For Real" was used in the trailer for the movie 17 Again
and "It Had To Be You" in the trailer for Hotel For Dogs
.
with Alternative Press
that they would be moving from Epitaph
to Columbia Records
, a subsidiary to major label Sony BMG. This was confirmed whilst the band was on Warped Tour
in August 2008, with Cain also saying that they would be writing a new album from October to December, before recording.
Motion City Soundtrack's major label debut with Columbia was produced by Blink-182
member Mark Hoppus
. Hoppus worked with the band on their second album, Commit This to Memory
, of which Hoppus said, "I think that 'Memory' is a really great record... For me, it encapsulates what Motion City Soundtrack is and can do. Now they want to make a record that's along those lines but pushes it even further." He said the album incorporates a heavier, more experimental side of the group. "There's an edge on this record that I'm really excited about getting into," he said. "But it still has all the catchiness of everything that I personally love about Motion City Soundtrack. As a fan, it's really exciting to get to work with them again and help them flesh out this new vision of themselves." Motion City Soundtrack played the first two shows of the blink-182 tour in Las Vegas on July 23 and 24.
The band completed the recording of their upcoming fourth studio album on June 28, 2009. Whilst on tour with Blink-182
, Motion City Soundtrack did an interview for MTV with Mark Hoppus
, in which it was revealed that the band's fourth album will be titled My Dinosaur Life
.
In October 2009, the band released the first song from their upcoming album, "Disappear", as a free download on their website; the music video for "Disappear" was released November 19, 2009. The band played a special show in Minneapolis on October 30, then toured briefly with Weezer in early December. The band played a three-night engagement at Lincoln Hall in Chicago from December 18–20, playing one of their three albums beginning-to-end each night. My Dinosaur Life was released worldwide January 19, 2010 to even stronger reviews than their previous album.
Motion City Soundtrack played at Reading and Leeds festivals in 2010 on the Main Stage. The band travelled to Brazil for the first time ever in 2011.
On March 21, 2011, Matt Taylor of Motion City announced on Twitter that they began recording their fifth album.
On April 22, 2011, Tony Thaxton of Motion City Soundtrack announced that their fifth album has finished recording on Doug Benson's podcast, "Doug Loves Movies". He also announced that they are searching for a label to release the album.
In late August 2011, the band embarked on the 4 Albums, 2 Nights, 7 Cities tour, with two nights at each stop, performing their first four studio albums in their entirety over the two nights. The tour began in Hollywood and will end in Detroit, with stops in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland. During the first show of the tour, at House of Blues in Hollywood, Justin Pierre announced in the middle of the set that their fifth album is "in the bag."
On November 11, 2011, the band teamed up with fellow Minnesotans Trampled by Turtles
to release a split EP, in which the bands covered each other's songs, one apiece. Motion City Soundtrack covered "Wait So Long" and Trampled by Turtles covered "Disappear."
and Joshua Cain
formed the band with shared inspiration from Sunny Day Real Estate
, Jawbox
, The Flaming Lips
, and Superchunk
. They have since been noted as being influenced by Braid
and The Rentals
, "early 90s rock", Elvis Costello
, Pixies
, 80s music, dance music and Ben Folds
.
The band's musical style is widely recognizable by its unique blend of pop punk
with the moog synthesizer
. They have been widely attributed to a number of different genres, including pop rock
, indie rock
, punk revival and the usual reference of pop punk
. They have been said to display "more pop than any other genre" which mix in "alternative-based, acoustic songs" to "switch up the successful flavor that gained them notoriety." The band has been described as being "too diverse to fit into just one particular genre," with Pierre replying by suggesting the band could fit into "Scrabble rock. Not Fraggle rock. You know the game Scrabble
, where you’ve got to come up with the big words and you get the most points," he was referring to the lyrical content of the songs, where he admits he must sometimes use a dictionary
to "fact-check".
Their debut album, I Am the Movie
has been described as having a "distinctly unified and identifiable style." An article by The News Record's Jeff Miller in 2004 said, "inspirations for the band's style range from Elvis Costello
to Huey Lewis
, but it is more appropriately described as a fusion of Jimmy Eat World
and The Get Up Kids
, enough high-energy to classify under punk, contrasted with enough emo
lyrics to fill up a LiveJournal
." Motion City Soundtrack's "synth-pop-punk" style has been brought upon by "lyrics and guitar lines that are purposefully designed to get stuck in your head, all perpetuated by the catchiness of Johnson's keyboards."
The band's third studio album, Even if It Kills Me
, came with more of a pop sound than the previous two. Jesse Johnson has said the band had the opportunity to add "elements such as strings onto the latest record." The Daily Cardinal
said that the "album is true to the band’s fast-paced punk roots while remaining firmly anchored in catchy bubblegum pop
melodies," demonstrating the band's "maturing style" while "the pop-punchers play it safe and stick to what they know best."
Metro Station
credits Motion City Soundtrack as an influence, following Cain and Pierre's production of two songs for their debut self-titled album
.
and Tom Waits
and people who I believe tell stories". In particular, the song "Antonia" from the band's third album, was written about a number of real people Pierre knows, including his sister and the band's drummer Tony Thaxton. He said "It is 100 percent true but not necessarily about one person. But the idea itself is a love story, liking all of those idiosyncrasies and quirks and weird things that are maybe confusing to some people but they all make up this unique individual and you love that person." Pierre illustrated his Ben Folds influence in the 2007 song, "The Conversation", saying it was "kind of a Ben Folds-type thing. I was a little nervous that it was a little too Ben Folds, but I was told that it wasn't, so we just went with it," commenting "I just think [he's influenced me] as a lyricist, and he's got such a great voice. It just kind of melts. Everything he does is pretty much golden as far as I'm concerned."
and The All-American Rejects
before they all found their commercial success, with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz opening some small punk club shows for them. Since then Motion City Soundtrack has said that their level of success was due to the constant touring they have always done; it has gained them recognition as one of the hardest working bands in the genre of pop punk
. Backed by the success of their first album and their signing to Epitaph, Motion City Soundtrack toured for quite some time, having venues in the UK upgraded to accommodate a larger audience for shows alongside The All-American Rejects and Limbeck
. In 2004 they played around 320 shows. They were invited to tour with Blink 182 through Europe and Japan, with Blink 182 bassist Mark Hoppus
taking a liking to them and later producing their second album, Commit This to Memory
.
Gradually working their way up, the band have been on multiple worldwide tours, notably through Japan, the UK and Australia where they've built a name for themselves with their enthusiasm and energetic live shows. In 2005, the band's heavy touring saw them on their first Australian tour alongside punk rockers MxPx
, the Nintendo Fusion tour with Fall Out Boy
, The Starting Line
and Boys Night Out
, as well as playing their third straight Warped Tour
. They also performed at Houston
's Buzzfest
in October that same year.
In late 2007 they embarked on a US Fall
Tour with Anberlin
, Metro Station
and Mae
. Continued support for their third album saw them supporting headliners Panic at the Disco alongside The Hush Sound
on the 2008 Honda Civic Tour
. Motion City Soundtrack now holds a reputation as a headline act and main stage performer at large concerts and music festivals. Headlining dates on America’s Warped Tour
in 2008 and playing main stage around Australia’s Soundwave festival in 2008, alongside massive acts The Offspring
, Killswitch Engage
and Incubus
.
Motion City Soundtrack embarked on a co-headlining US tour alongside Chiodos
, Hit the Lights and Person L
, from September 22 up until October 2, 2008.
The went on tour tour in supporting their newest record, My Dinosaur Life
entitled "The Dino Initiative Tour" with openers Set Your Goals (band)
, The Swellers
and This Providence
.
They are scheduled to play Soundwave 2010 in Australia, the band's second time appearing on this festival.
They made an appearance on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour
in the line-up from June 24 to July 18.
They played at the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2010, sharing the Main Stage with bands such as Blink-182 and All Time Low.
They are also confirmed to be co-headlining with indie-rock band Say Anything
on tour this fall between October and November. Along side openers including Saves the Day
, Valencia
and A Great Big Pile of Leaves .
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, formed in 1997. The band consists of founding members Justin Pierre
Justin Pierre
Justin Courtney Pierre is a singer, songwriter and guitarist originally from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, United States. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, and is known for his interests and pursuits in film making and production of music.-Early...
(lead vocals and guitar) and Joshua Cain
Joshua Cain
Joshua Allen Cain is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack...
(lead guitar and backing vocals), along with keyboardist and moog synthesist Jesse Johnson, bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Taylor, and drummer, percussionist and backing vocalist Tony Thaxton. Motion City Soundtrack has released four studio albums and sold almost 600,000 records throughout their career, including over half a million in the United States alone.
Motion City Soundtrack's first release was a 7" single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Promenade/Carolina", in 1999. The following year they released their debut EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Kids for America
Kids for America
Kids for America is the first EP released by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack in 2000. The tracks "Cambridge" and "1000 Paper Cranes" were redone and released on I Am the Movie. This release was hand made and according to their official discography, it was limited to 100 copies...
, and then a second, Back to the Beat. They released their debut album I Am the Movie
I Am the Movie
I Am the Movie is the first full-length album of American power pop band Motion City Soundtrack. It was released independently in 2002, and was remastered and re-released with four new tracks by Epitaph Records in June 2003.-Unsigned release:...
twice, in 2002. Their first five releases were all self-released with the aid of a small record label. Backed up by their constant touring it fashioned them a fast growing fan base, and a signing with Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
. After spending their first five years finding the right lineup, the Epitaph re-issue of I Am the Movie in 2003 was the band's big break. First major single "The Future Freaks Me Out
The Future Freaks Me Out
"The Future Freaks Me Out" is a song by the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack. It features on their debut album, I Am the Movie and was released as their first single in Europe....
" arrived with live and television success, but failed in radio airplay and the charts. 2003 and 2004 brought three Split EPs
Split album
A split album is a music album which includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There have been singles and EPs released in the same nature, which can be referred to as split singles and split EPs respectively...
alongside Schatzi, Limbeck
Limbeck
Limbeck was an alternative country band, with pop-punk roots, hailing from Orange County, California.-Background:Originating in Laguna Niguel, California, Limbeck featured Robb MacLean on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Carrie guitar and backing vocals, Justin Entsminger on bass, and Jon Phillip,...
and Matchbook Romance
Matchbook Romance
Matchbook Romance was an American rock band from Poughkeepsie, New York and was formed in 1997.were signed to Epitaph Records. They released two full length albums and one EP...
. The second album, Commit This to Memory
Commit This to Memory
-Re-issue:The band released a deluxe edition of the album in mid-2006. The new version featured a bonus track originally featured on the Japanese edition and a bonus DVD featuring previously unreleased material, including a Documentary directed by and a live performance from the 7th Street Entry...
, has been their most successful album to date, selling 285,000+ records and peaking at number two on the Independent Albums
Independent Albums
The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...
chart. It featured the single, "Everything Is Alright", which also found success on the likes of MTV, but also fell short in radio airplay and the charts.
The band released their third full-length album Even if It Kills Me
Even If It Kills Me
Even if It Kills Me is the third studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released on September 18, 2007. The album was a follow up to their 2005 album, Commit This to Memory and was co-produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys,...
in 2007. The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and number one on the Independent Albums
Independent Albums
The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...
chart. It produced singles "Broken Heart
Broken Heart (Motion City Soundtrack song)
"Broken Heart" is the first single from Motion City Soundtrack's 2007 album Even If It Kills Me. It was released on June 26, 2007 through most digital outlets. It was also released physically and exclusively in Japan on July 18, 2007...
", "This Is for Real" and "It Had to Be You", which all received television airplay. Motion City Soundtrack released a fourth album entitled My Dinosaur Life
My Dinosaur Life
My Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released through Columbia Records on January 19, 2010. It is the band's first album on a major label, after they moved from Epitaph Records in June 2008...
in January 2010, which debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. It is their first album released on Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, a major record label.
Formation and early history
The formation of Motion City Soundtrack was made possible after the separation of two local bands. Joshua CainJoshua Cain
Joshua Allen Cain is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack...
of Saddest Girl Story recruited Justin Pierre
Justin Pierre
Justin Courtney Pierre is a singer, songwriter and guitarist originally from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, United States. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, and is known for his interests and pursuits in film making and production of music.-Early...
from Slide Coaster, instigating the formation of Motion City Soundtrack in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, in 1997. The band's first lineup included only two of the current members, guitarist Cain and vocalist Pierre. It also contained guitarist Joe Skinner who didn't last until the end of the year, and later, drummer Andrew Whitney. According to Cain, they soon realized that there "wasn't really anywhere to play [shows] in Minneapolis", and that they would have to "tour all the time" to get the name out there. The name Motion City Soundtrack was thought up by Josh Cain's brother, Brian, who Josh says "made up a name for something he was goofing around with, just as an idea, and I asked if we could use it", and they did.
In January 1998 Motion City Soundtrack played their first live show, and throughout 1998 they played local shows and had numerous lineup changes. Andrew Gruhn joined the band briefly on the moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
, Whitney departed, and Austin Lindstrom took over the bass position, with Joel Habedank, formerly of Sadie Foster and the Fuck Yeahs, on drums. Later in 1998, Gruhn departed, leaving Cain and Pierre to share the moog duties and the band as a four piece, to record with Randy Duerr at Wigged Out. These recordings would later turn out to be their 7" vinyl release, "Promenade / Carolina", marking the official formation of the band in 1999.
In the early 2000s the band did more chopping and changing of their lineup, with the inclusion and then departure of short-lived bassist, Matthew Potocnik, it also saw the exclusions of drummer Joel Habedank as well as bassist Lindstrom, after his second stint. In mid-2000, Motion City Soundtrack released their first CD EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, entitled Kids for America
Kids for America
Kids for America is the first EP released by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack in 2000. The tracks "Cambridge" and "1000 Paper Cranes" were redone and released on I Am the Movie. This release was hand made and according to their official discography, it was limited to 100 copies...
. It was self-produced, recorded by Sound in Motion and co-released with Modern Radio Records, coinciding with their tour alongside local band, AMP 176. The first EP was closely followed by Back to the Beat, which also self-produced and later notably reviewed by music website Punk News in April 2001, one of the band's first official reviews.
2002 saw the formation of Motion City Soundtrack's lineup as it is today. The departures of drummer Sidney Burgdorf and Austin Lindstrom prompted the additions of two former members of Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
-based band Submerge, drummer Tony Thaxton, and months later bassist Matt Taylor. Thaxton initially took about a year to convince to join the band. Jesse Johnson, who worked with Cain at a Pizza shop in Minneapolis was the last current day member to join the band. He joined just three weeks before the recording of their first album and in this time, learned to play the moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
without any prior experience. A role which quickly became a vital component to the flow of each song.
I Am the Movie
In mid-2002 Motion City Soundtrack twice self-released their debut album, I Am the MovieI Am the Movie
I Am the Movie is the first full-length album of American power pop band Motion City Soundtrack. It was released independently in 2002, and was remastered and re-released with four new tracks by Epitaph Records in June 2003.-Unsigned release:...
. It would later become the basis for their first full-length studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, of the same name. The album was originally produced by Ed Rose
Ed Rose
Ed Rose is an American sound engineer and record producer. He has worked extensively with groups in the modern emo and pop punk scenes. He also co-owns Black Lodge Recording with Rob Pope and his brother Ryan Pope.-History:...
, who had previously worked with The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids are an American alternative rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-90's emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music...
, Emery
Emery (band)
Emery is an American four-piece post-hardcore band from Rock Hill, South Carolina currently signed to both Tooth & Nail Records and Solid State Records and based in Seattle, Washington. Emery was founded in Rock Hill, South Carolina with the original lineup consisting of Toby Morrell, Devin...
, Ultimate Fakebook and The Anniversary
The Anniversary
The Anniversary was an American band formed in Lawrence, Kansas in 1997 by Josh Berwanger, James David, Christian Jankowski, Adrianne Verhoeven and Justin Roelofs. The Anniversary was the solidification of a line-up that had been in flux for a year...
. It was recorded at Red House Studios in Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
, with Punk News describing the production as "nothing short of stellar".
I Am the Movie was unusually released originally without a traditional cd-case, instead using the shell of a five and a half inch floppy disc and its sleeve as packaging. These were assembled by hand by the band members themselves.
Motion City Soundtrack released the album a third time through Epitaph Records in June 2003. It was partially re-recorded, with the bass guitar parts being redone by new bassist Matt Taylor, for legal reasons.
Backed by the success of their first album, Motion City Soundtrack toured for quite some time and in 2003 released the third track on I Am the Movie, "The Future Freaks Me Out
The Future Freaks Me Out
"The Future Freaks Me Out" is a song by the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack. It features on their debut album, I Am the Movie and was released as their first single in Europe....
", as their first single, which became a modest hit. According to the band's official website, the song's success was surprising, as the band "wrote the song in mere hours and it almost didn't even make it onto their debut." A second single was released later that year, "My Favorite Accident
My Favorite Accident
"My Favorite Accident" is a song by the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack. It features on their debut album, I Am the Movie and was released as their second single in Europe...
".
Commit This to Memory
Motion City Soundtrack's second album was recorded in Los Angeles in fallAutumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
2004, and was produced by Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
of Blink-182
Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American rock band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide since forming in Poway, California in 1992...
fame. The song "Hangman" also featured Mark's vocals.
The title, Commit This to Memory, was chosen early in the album's production, and is taken from a lyric in one of the album's songs, "Hangman". Production work on Commit This to Memory was finished in early 2005, and the album's winter theme (with two songs reflecting on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
) contrasted heavily with its expected June release.
The album was leaked to file sharing
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
websites within a day of the final mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
and months before its official release, whilst the band took part in the first ever Epitaph Tour in February and March 2005. Epitaph placed computer arresting software on the official release of Commit This to Memory to resist any further damages due to piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
.
On June 20, 2006, the band released a special Deluxe Edition of the album, it included an extra track "Invisible Monsters", a DVD with three hours of footage containing a Documentary "Hooray for the Madness" directed by Shane Nelson, a live show and five of their music videos, including a video for the song "L.G. Fuad", which was made especially for the re-issue. The live concert was shot at the 7th Street Entry show in their hometown of Minneapolis.
The album's first single, "Everything Is Alright" featuring Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump
Patrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...
of Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist, guitarist and composer Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five studio albums from 2003–2008...
, Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
and members of Limbeck
Limbeck
Limbeck was an alternative country band, with pop-punk roots, hailing from Orange County, California.-Background:Originating in Laguna Niguel, California, Limbeck featured Robb MacLean on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Carrie guitar and backing vocals, Justin Entsminger on bass, and Jon Phillip,...
, found significant radio play and appeared on several compilations. The song's video has appeared on MTV and Fuse channel, and has also appeared on the Saint's Row soundtrack. The song was also featured in the trailer for the 2006 comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
movie Accepted
Accepted
Accepted is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink and written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, and Mark Perez. The main plot centers around a group of would-be college freshmen who, after being rejected from all the colleges and universities to which they had applied, proceed to create...
. "Everything Is Alright" also appeared in the soundtracks for The Bad News Bears
Bad News Bears (2005 film)
Bad News Bears is the 2005 remake of the 1976 comedy film The Bad News Bears, produced by Paramount Pictures. It is directed by Richard Linklater and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, and Sammi Kane Kraft...
and the video game "MLB 06: The Show
MLB 06: The Show
MLB '06: The Show is a baseball video game for PlayStation 2 and PSP. The game was produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, primarily by SCE's San Diego Studio, which was formerly known as 989 Sports. It was the only first-party MLB-licensed video game for the 2006 season drawing attention to the...
". The band's second video was "Hold Me Down".
Even if It Kills Me
In January 2007, MCS was announced as having one of the most anticipated upcoming albums of 2007; they were featured on the issue #222 front cover of music magazine Alternative PressAlternative Press (music magazine)
Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
, in the Most Anticipated Albums of 2007 edition.
The band recorded their third studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
with two different sets of record producers at separate times. Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger is an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He has been nominated for Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy , and Golden Globe Awards. He is also a winner of the ASCAP Pop Music Award....
(of Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne is an American power pop band that formed in New York City in 1996. The band consists of members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter and Brian Young.-Early years:...
) and Eli Janney
Eli Janney
Eli Janney is an American record producer and engineer born in Washington, D.C.. Janney also plays bass and keyboards, as well as singing backing vocals in indie rock/post-hardcore band Girls Against Boys.-Biography:...
(of Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.-Career:...
) were responsible for seven of the final tracks on the record, and former frontman of The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
, for the other five. The two separate recording sessions created a concern over whether the album would hold a consistent vibe, drummer Tony Thaxton stating "[It's] something we definitely worried about. Our solution that we set was that it had to be all mixed by one guy", the band hired one "big name" audio engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge is a four-time Grammy Award–winning record producer and mixer. He is the youngest of Vivian Lord's five children, Mark Lord-Alge, Lisa Lord-Alge, Chris Lord-Alge, Jeff Lord-Alge and Tom Lord-Alge...
, to mix eleven of the tracks, the exception being "The Conversation", as it was only piano and vocals.
In anticipation of the upcoming album, the band released a series of 'webisodes' (video blogs) in early 2007. A collaboration between vocalist Pierre and bassist Taylor was captured on camera and consequently, viewers saw the birth of the song "The Conversation", track seven on the album. The webisodes were released through a specially made website for the album, titled EvenIfItKillsMe.tv, with the videos being created by the brother of Joshua Cain
Joshua Cain
Joshua Allen Cain is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack...
, Jesse. The six videos also included clips of songs from the then upcoming album.
After the disastrous circumstances surrounding the leak of their previous album, the band took precautions prior to the release of their third album in 2007. Advanced copies were handed out to marketers and reviewers with a warning, or as Joshua Cain
Joshua Cain
Joshua Allen Cain is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack...
described it, "a threatening letter". Alternatively, Motion City Soundtrack invited the relevant parties to a Nike ID Studio to listen to the third album.
The album proved to be the band's most successful both commercially and critically. It received positive reviews from numerous sources, with British magazine Kerrang and music website Rock Louder both giving it four out of five stars, as well as Absolute Punk awarding it a commendable 83%. Even if It Kills Me topped the Independent Albums
Independent Albums
The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...
charts at number one, as well as reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling around 33,000 albums in its first week.
Eight months after the initial release of their third album, MCS released a five track Acoustic EP featuring acoustic versions of songs from Even if It Kills Me
Even If It Kills Me
Even if It Kills Me is the third studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released on September 18, 2007. The album was a follow up to their 2005 album, Commit This to Memory and was co-produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys,...
. The songs were released exclusively on May 6, 2008, through the iTunes Music Store, as part of a bonus bundle package of Even if It Kills Me.
Towards the end of 2008, the band released a music video for the acoustic version of "Fell in Love Without You" (from the Even if It Kills Me Acoustic EP), after it had been heard on an episode of Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
. The song "This Is For Real" was used in the trailer for the movie 17 Again
17 Again (film)
17 Again: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on April 21, 2009 by New Line Records.-Track listing:# "On My Own" by Vincent and The Villains# "Can't Say No" by The Helio Sequence# "L.E.S...
and "It Had To Be You" in the trailer for Hotel For Dogs
Hotel for Dogs
Hotel for Dogs is a novel by Lois Duncan. It was adapted into a film of the same name by Nickelodeon Movies for DreamWorks Pictures, released on January 16, 2009. When the book was originally released in 1971, Andi's name was Liz, and Friday's name was Sadie. The book was re-released December 1,...
.
My Dinosaur Life
In June 2008, Joshua Cain and Justin Pierre announced several times throughout a podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
with Alternative Press
Alternative Press (music magazine)
Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
that they would be moving from Epitaph
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, a subsidiary to major label Sony BMG. This was confirmed whilst the band was on Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
in August 2008, with Cain also saying that they would be writing a new album from October to December, before recording.
Motion City Soundtrack's major label debut with Columbia was produced by Blink-182
Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American rock band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide since forming in Poway, California in 1992...
member Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
. Hoppus worked with the band on their second album, Commit This to Memory
Commit This to Memory
-Re-issue:The band released a deluxe edition of the album in mid-2006. The new version featured a bonus track originally featured on the Japanese edition and a bonus DVD featuring previously unreleased material, including a Documentary directed by and a live performance from the 7th Street Entry...
, of which Hoppus said, "I think that 'Memory' is a really great record... For me, it encapsulates what Motion City Soundtrack is and can do. Now they want to make a record that's along those lines but pushes it even further." He said the album incorporates a heavier, more experimental side of the group. "There's an edge on this record that I'm really excited about getting into," he said. "But it still has all the catchiness of everything that I personally love about Motion City Soundtrack. As a fan, it's really exciting to get to work with them again and help them flesh out this new vision of themselves." Motion City Soundtrack played the first two shows of the blink-182 tour in Las Vegas on July 23 and 24.
The band completed the recording of their upcoming fourth studio album on June 28, 2009. Whilst on tour with Blink-182
Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American rock band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide since forming in Poway, California in 1992...
, Motion City Soundtrack did an interview for MTV with Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
, in which it was revealed that the band's fourth album will be titled My Dinosaur Life
My Dinosaur Life
My Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released through Columbia Records on January 19, 2010. It is the band's first album on a major label, after they moved from Epitaph Records in June 2008...
.
In October 2009, the band released the first song from their upcoming album, "Disappear", as a free download on their website; the music video for "Disappear" was released November 19, 2009. The band played a special show in Minneapolis on October 30, then toured briefly with Weezer in early December. The band played a three-night engagement at Lincoln Hall in Chicago from December 18–20, playing one of their three albums beginning-to-end each night. My Dinosaur Life was released worldwide January 19, 2010 to even stronger reviews than their previous album.
Motion City Soundtrack played at Reading and Leeds festivals in 2010 on the Main Stage. The band travelled to Brazil for the first time ever in 2011.
Fifth studio album and Recent News
On October 14, 2011, Motion City Soundtrack announced on Twitter that mixing of their fifth album would begin Monday, October 17th.On March 21, 2011, Matt Taylor of Motion City announced on Twitter that they began recording their fifth album.
On April 22, 2011, Tony Thaxton of Motion City Soundtrack announced that their fifth album has finished recording on Doug Benson's podcast, "Doug Loves Movies". He also announced that they are searching for a label to release the album.
In late August 2011, the band embarked on the 4 Albums, 2 Nights, 7 Cities tour, with two nights at each stop, performing their first four studio albums in their entirety over the two nights. The tour began in Hollywood and will end in Detroit, with stops in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland. During the first show of the tour, at House of Blues in Hollywood, Justin Pierre announced in the middle of the set that their fifth album is "in the bag."
On November 11, 2011, the band teamed up with fellow Minnesotans Trampled by Turtles
Trampled By Turtles
Trampled By Turtles is a progressive bluegrass band from Duluth, Minnesota. The group is most famous for its high-tempo, fast-paced songs but also features lead vocalist Dave Simonett's lyric writing abilities in slower ballads. Their high-energy concerts have attracted an ever-growing,...
to release a split EP, in which the bands covered each other's songs, one apiece. Motion City Soundtrack covered "Wait So Long" and Trampled by Turtles covered "Disappear."
Musical style and influences
Justin PierreJustin Pierre
Justin Courtney Pierre is a singer, songwriter and guitarist originally from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, United States. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, and is known for his interests and pursuits in film making and production of music.-Early...
and Joshua Cain
Joshua Cain
Joshua Allen Cain is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack...
formed the band with shared inspiration from Sunny Day Real Estate
Sunny Day Real Estate
Sunny Day Real Estate is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. In the 1990s, the group expanded upon the grunge style that was popular in the local scene to make a more melodic sound. While not the first band to be classified as emo, they were instrumental in establishing the genre. In...
, Jawbox
Jawbox
Jawbox was an alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., U.S.. Its original members were J. Robbins , Kim Coletta and Adam Wade...
, The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
, and Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
. They have since been noted as being influenced by Braid
Braid (band)
Braid is an influential emo/post-hardcore band from Illinois that formed in 1993. After forming, the band went through several line-up changes but eventually settled on: Bob Nanna on guitar/vocals, Todd Bell on bass, Chris Broach on guitar/vocals and, Roy Ewing on drums. Roy was replaced in 1997 by...
and The Rentals
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp, best known as the former bass player for rock group Weezer. The band is best known for their mid-1990s hit single, "Friends of P.". The group has released two albums, Return of the Rentals and Seven More Minutes on Maverick...
, "early 90s rock", Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Pixies
Pixies (band)
The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986. The group consists of Black Francis , Joey Santiago , Kim Deal , and David Lovering . While the Pixies found only modest success in their home country, they were significantly more successful in the United...
, 80s music, dance music and Ben Folds
Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...
.
The band's musical style is widely recognizable by its unique blend of pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
with the moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
. They have been widely attributed to a number of different genres, including pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, punk revival and the usual reference of pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
. They have been said to display "more pop than any other genre" which mix in "alternative-based, acoustic songs" to "switch up the successful flavor that gained them notoriety." The band has been described as being "too diverse to fit into just one particular genre," with Pierre replying by suggesting the band could fit into "Scrabble rock. Not Fraggle rock. You know the game Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
, where you’ve got to come up with the big words and you get the most points," he was referring to the lyrical content of the songs, where he admits he must sometimes use a dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
to "fact-check".
Their debut album, I Am the Movie
I Am the Movie
I Am the Movie is the first full-length album of American power pop band Motion City Soundtrack. It was released independently in 2002, and was remastered and re-released with four new tracks by Epitaph Records in June 2003.-Unsigned release:...
has been described as having a "distinctly unified and identifiable style." An article by The News Record's Jeff Miller in 2004 said, "inspirations for the band's style range from Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
to Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
, but it is more appropriately described as a fusion of Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
and The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids are an American alternative rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-90's emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music...
, enough high-energy to classify under punk, contrasted with enough emo
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
lyrics to fill up a LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
." Motion City Soundtrack's "synth-pop-punk" style has been brought upon by "lyrics and guitar lines that are purposefully designed to get stuck in your head, all perpetuated by the catchiness of Johnson's keyboards."
The band's third studio album, Even if It Kills Me
Even If It Kills Me
Even if It Kills Me is the third studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released on September 18, 2007. The album was a follow up to their 2005 album, Commit This to Memory and was co-produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys,...
, came with more of a pop sound than the previous two. Jesse Johnson has said the band had the opportunity to add "elements such as strings onto the latest record." The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. The sixth oldest daily student newspaper in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892...
said that the "album is true to the band’s fast-paced punk roots while remaining firmly anchored in catchy bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
melodies," demonstrating the band's "maturing style" while "the pop-punchers play it safe and stick to what they know best."
Metro Station
Metro Station (band)
Metro Station is an American pop rock band that formed in Los Angeles by Mason Musso and Trace Cyrus. In late 2006, the band signed a recording contract with Columbia/Red Ink. They are best known for their Top 10 Billboard hit single "Shake It" from their self-titled debut album...
credits Motion City Soundtrack as an influence, following Cain and Pierre's production of two songs for their debut self-titled album
Metro Station (album)
Metro Station is the self-titled, first and only full length album by scene pop band Metro Station. The album was released on September 18, 2007, via Columbia/Red Ink. It is highly regarded as one of the key albums in the scene pop genre. Four singles were released; "Shake It" and "Seventeen...
.
Lyrical themes
A large portion of Motion City Soundtrack's lyrical content is written by lead vocalist, Justin Pierre. Over the years this material has been largely affected by his personal life and past experiences. In 2007, the band's third album was Pierre's first "written completely sober, after battling drugs and alcohol for years". Referencing his accomplishment in the song "Even if It Kills Me", "I can say that I want to try / To get better and overcome each moment / In my own way." Pierre says he draws inspiration for lyrics from artists like "Ben FoldsBen Folds
Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...
and Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
and people who I believe tell stories". In particular, the song "Antonia" from the band's third album, was written about a number of real people Pierre knows, including his sister and the band's drummer Tony Thaxton. He said "It is 100 percent true but not necessarily about one person. But the idea itself is a love story, liking all of those idiosyncrasies and quirks and weird things that are maybe confusing to some people but they all make up this unique individual and you love that person." Pierre illustrated his Ben Folds influence in the 2007 song, "The Conversation", saying it was "kind of a Ben Folds-type thing. I was a little nervous that it was a little too Ben Folds, but I was told that it wasn't, so we just went with it," commenting "I just think [he's influenced me] as a lyricist, and he's got such a great voice. It just kind of melts. Everything he does is pretty much golden as far as I'm concerned."
Touring
Motion City Soundtrack has embarked on tours frequently from the start. Being a small-time band from Minneapolis, they featured in tours alongside other local acts such as AMP 176. As they grew a larger fan base they began playing shows with other bands in a similar progression towards success. They played basement shows with Fall Out BoyFall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist, guitarist and composer Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five studio albums from 2003–2008...
and The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist, Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist, Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor....
before they all found their commercial success, with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz opening some small punk club shows for them. Since then Motion City Soundtrack has said that their level of success was due to the constant touring they have always done; it has gained them recognition as one of the hardest working bands in the genre of pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
. Backed by the success of their first album and their signing to Epitaph, Motion City Soundtrack toured for quite some time, having venues in the UK upgraded to accommodate a larger audience for shows alongside The All-American Rejects and Limbeck
Limbeck
Limbeck was an alternative country band, with pop-punk roots, hailing from Orange County, California.-Background:Originating in Laguna Niguel, California, Limbeck featured Robb MacLean on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Carrie guitar and backing vocals, Justin Entsminger on bass, and Jon Phillip,...
. In 2004 they played around 320 shows. They were invited to tour with Blink 182 through Europe and Japan, with Blink 182 bassist Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
taking a liking to them and later producing their second album, Commit This to Memory
Commit This to Memory
-Re-issue:The band released a deluxe edition of the album in mid-2006. The new version featured a bonus track originally featured on the Japanese edition and a bonus DVD featuring previously unreleased material, including a Documentary directed by and a live performance from the 7th Street Entry...
.
Gradually working their way up, the band have been on multiple worldwide tours, notably through Japan, the UK and Australia where they've built a name for themselves with their enthusiasm and energetic live shows. In 2005, the band's heavy touring saw them on their first Australian tour alongside punk rockers MxPx
MxPx
MxPx is a pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington with connections to the Christian punk scene. The band has recorded eight studio albums, four EPs, four compilation albums, a live album, a VHS tape, a DVD and released 20 singles....
, the Nintendo Fusion tour with Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist, guitarist and composer Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five studio albums from 2003–2008...
, The Starting Line
The Starting Line
The Starting Line is an American pop punk band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that formed in 1999.- Formation and history :In 1999, the band that would become The Starting Line was initiated in Churchville, Pennsylvania via an e-mail from guitarist Matt Watts to vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli...
and Boys Night Out
Boys Night Out
Boys Night Out may refer to:* Boys Night Out , a Canadian emo/post-hardcore band** Boys Night Out , their self-titled album* Boys' Night Out , a 1962 comedy...
, as well as playing their third straight Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
. They also performed at Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
's Buzzfest
Buzzfest
Buzzfest is the name of two unrelated music festivals held in Houston and Nashville. The Buzzfest in Houston is a bi-annual show hosted by the radio station 94.5 The Buzz while the Buzzfest in Nashville is an annual show hosted by the radio station 102.9 The Buzz.-Past events:*Buzzfest 2010...
in October that same year.
In late 2007 they embarked on a US Fall
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
Tour with Anberlin
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band has consisted of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young.Members of Anberlin originally formed...
, Metro Station
Metro Station (band)
Metro Station is an American pop rock band that formed in Los Angeles by Mason Musso and Trace Cyrus. In late 2006, the band signed a recording contract with Columbia/Red Ink. They are best known for their Top 10 Billboard hit single "Shake It" from their self-titled debut album...
and Mae
Mae
Mae was an American alternative/indie band that formed in Norfolk, Virginia in 2001. The band's name is an acronym for "Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience," based on a course taken by drummer Jacob Marshall while a student at Old Dominion University....
. Continued support for their third album saw them supporting headliners Panic at the Disco alongside The Hush Sound
The Hush Sound
The Hush Sound was an indie quartet originating in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Initially named "The Hush," the band later changed their name to "The Hush Sound" due to the discovery of a rapper with the same name...
on the 2008 Honda Civic Tour
Honda Civic Tour
The Honda Civic Tour is an annual concert tour, sponsored by Honda Motor Company which began in 2001. Each year, the headlining band or bands customize a Honda Civic for concert patrons to win in a raffle.-First Half:*Headliner: blink-182...
. Motion City Soundtrack now holds a reputation as a headline act and main stage performer at large concerts and music festivals. Headlining dates on America’s Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
in 2008 and playing main stage around Australia’s Soundwave festival in 2008, alongside massive acts The Offspring
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984. Known as Manic Subsidal until 1986, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada...
, Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbandment of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Howard Jones, bassist Mike D'Antonio, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, and drummer...
and Incubus
Incubus (band)
Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...
.
Motion City Soundtrack embarked on a co-headlining US tour alongside Chiodos
Chiodos
Chiodos is an American post hardcore band from Davison, Michigan. Formed in 2001, the group was originally known as "The Chiodos Bros," the band's name was a tribute to filmmakers Stephen, Charles, and Edward Chiodo, responsible for the film Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Chiodos released their...
, Hit the Lights and Person L
Person L
Person L is an American rock band fronted by Kenny Vasoli, of the pop punk band The Starting Line. Vasoli is the band's lead singer and guitarist and formed Person L in winter 2006 as an outlet to explore other musical styles...
, from September 22 up until October 2, 2008.
The went on tour tour in supporting their newest record, My Dinosaur Life
My Dinosaur Life
My Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released through Columbia Records on January 19, 2010. It is the band's first album on a major label, after they moved from Epitaph Records in June 2008...
entitled "The Dino Initiative Tour" with openers Set Your Goals (band)
Set Your Goals (band)
Set Your Goals is an American Pop-Punk band from Walnut Creek, CA , formed in 2004. Their musical style typically employs a combination of pop punk and melodic hardcore...
, The Swellers
The Swellers
The Swellers are an American punk rock band from Flint, Michigan. Their music draws influence from melodic punk rock bands as well as alternative and indie rock from the 90s.-Band history:...
and This Providence
This Providence
This Providence is a four-piece Alternative Rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Dan Young , David Blaise , Gavin Phillips , and Andy Horst .-Formation and early history:...
.
They are scheduled to play Soundwave 2010 in Australia, the band's second time appearing on this festival.
They made an appearance on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
in the line-up from June 24 to July 18.
They played at the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2010, sharing the Main Stage with bands such as Blink-182 and All Time Low.
They are also confirmed to be co-headlining with indie-rock band Say Anything
Say Anything (band)
Say Anything is an American indie-punk band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Max Bemis. The band was formed in 2000 with Bemis and four of his friends. Within two years, they self-released two EPs, Junior Varsity and In Your Dreams, and the full-length Baseball: An Album by Sayanything.In...
on tour this fall between October and November. Along side openers including Saves the Day
Saves the Day
Saves the Day is an American rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, formed in 1994. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Conley, guitarist Arun Bali, bassist Rodrigo Palma, and drummer Claudio Rivera....
, Valencia
Valencia (band)
Valencia is an alternative rock/punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are currently on hiatus.-History:Valencia met by playing local shows together around the tri-state area in separate bands. George Ciukurescu and JD Perry grew up together; attending elementary school, high school, and...
and A Great Big Pile of Leaves .
Current
- Justin PierreJustin PierreJustin Courtney Pierre is a singer, songwriter and guitarist originally from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, United States. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, and is known for his interests and pursuits in film making and production of music.-Early...
– lead vocals, guitar (1997–present) - Joshua CainJoshua CainJoshua Allen Cain is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead guitarist of American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack...
– guitar, backing vocals (1997–present) - Jesse Johnson – moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
, keyboard (2002–present) - Matthew Taylor – bass guitar, piano, backing vocals (2002–present)
- Tony Thaxton – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002–present)
Former
- Joe Skinner – guitar (1997)
- Andrew Gruhn – moog synthesizer (1998)
- Kevin Sheeler - lead harmonica (1999–2003)
- Jose Lopez - Lead Guitar, Tuba, Electric Triangle (2000-2001)
- Evelyn Dellorfano - Drums, Bells, Percussion (2000-2001)
- Austin Lindstrom – bass (1998–2000, 2001–2002)
- Jose Sanchez - rhythm guitar (1997–2003)
- Andrew Whitney – drums, percussion (1997–1998)
- E.B. Johnson - piano, keyboard (1999)
- Joel Habedank – drums, percussion (1998–2000)
- Matthew Potocnik – bass (2000–2001)
- Sidney Burgdorf – drums, percussion (2001)
- Eric Dalen - bass guitar (1998)
- Jamie Brown - moog synthesizer (1997)
- Carl Reidholt - electric harmonica (1999)
- Bart Dickle - electric bassoon (2000)
- Anna Zimmer - electric keyboard (2002)
Studio albums
- 2003: I Am the MovieI Am the MovieI Am the Movie is the first full-length album of American power pop band Motion City Soundtrack. It was released independently in 2002, and was remastered and re-released with four new tracks by Epitaph Records in June 2003.-Unsigned release:...
- 2005: Commit This to MemoryCommit This to Memory-Re-issue:The band released a deluxe edition of the album in mid-2006. The new version featured a bonus track originally featured on the Japanese edition and a bonus DVD featuring previously unreleased material, including a Documentary directed by and a live performance from the 7th Street Entry...
- 2007: Even if It Kills MeEven If It Kills MeEven if It Kills Me is the third studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released on September 18, 2007. The album was a follow up to their 2005 album, Commit This to Memory and was co-produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys,...
- 2010: My Dinosaur LifeMy Dinosaur LifeMy Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released through Columbia Records on January 19, 2010. It is the band's first album on a major label, after they moved from Epitaph Records in June 2008...
External links
- MotionCitySoundtrack.com Official website
- Billboard's Complete
- [http://twitter.com/#!/tonythaxton Tony Thaxton on Twitter] Discography for Motion City Soundtrack
- Motion City Soundtrack Interview - Reading Festival 2010 - HitTheFloor.co.uk