Motion City Soundtrack

 
L-R : Josh, Justin, Suzi 

On Saturday the 15th of November I got the chance to interview one of the bands who is rocking my CD player a whole lot at the moment, so I was pretty hyped. After the tape recorder failed to work for the first half of the interview we went back to the beginning and started from the top, so don't worry too much if some bits sound kinda weird, I'll just add in stuff that was said first time round as I go. So here is my interview with Motion City Soundtracks lead singer, Justin and guitarist Josh, enjoy! 

Justin: is it working? 

Yes 

Justin: good! 

Ok, so you're touring with the All American Rejects and Limbeck at the moment, how's it going? 

Josh: its going awesome, amazing, delicious 
Justin: it kicks ass, and it kicks it majorly so therefore it kicks major ass! 

You've been touring in the UK before, what do you think of the UK? 

Justin: its nice, I don't tend to go out and see stuff much, I tend to just kinda stay in. but the other day in London I found out where they make my style of glasses, because they come from London, but I got mine in Minneapolis, so I worked out the route on the underground and went to the store and spent three hours in that store, sorry this question has just turned into me telling josh about my day.
Josh: yeah sorry. I'm pretty much the same I stay in and stuff. 

Are the British any nicer than the Americans? 

Justin: are you as a people any nicer? 

Yeah 

Justin: yeah, oh this is the part where...
Josh: yeah the biggest difference here is that like people here tend to ask for a lot of stuff
Justin: have I have this can I have that can I have your picks can I have your guitar can I have your cords can I have your pedals and I have you! And then we're like no and then you're like [in British accent] "fuck off tosser" [Justin had been working on his British accent just before the interview, it's getting good!] Josh: other than that no it's all the same, kids have fun
Justin: they're more Erm what's the words, Erm in your face Erm yeah never mind 

Is there anything you miss from the states? 

Justin: yeah my dark room
Josh: and my bed, he misses my bed
Justin: my dark places 

When you first arrived in the UK this time you said that you were staying in a hostel in London, do you tend to stay in hotels and stuff like that or is it more camping in the back of a van? 

Justin: ah yeah that was really cool!
Josh: normally we stay in hotels yes and then we stayed at this hostel once, which was a lot of fun
Justin: yeah and err
Josh: we had this bar and there was like karaoke night and stuff and it was fun to watch all these different people from all different countries coming to stay there and get drunk outta their minds they were hilarious
Justin: oh yeah and there was a rumour about athletes foot going around but I took a shower and I do not have athletes foot so there you go it was all vicious lies! Lies! 

You were touring with Sugarcult last time we saw you who's you favourite band to tour with? 

Justin: is it still working? 

Yes 

Justin: awesome, Erm we like a lot, I mean this tour was like on of our dream tours that all three bands have talked about cus we've all been friends for a long time and you know I don't think we are big enough in the states where we could support the All American Rejects, so, here Erm well yeah, what's up with that? [turns to josh]
Josh: what?
Justin: why can't we do this tour in the states
Josh: we could
Justin: we could? Lets do it! 
Josh: Make it happen!
Justin: Erm yeah All American Rejects are just so amazing live and Limbeck too they just blow my mind and I wanna make sweet love, [interrupted by Josh]
Josh: it's nice to be the meat between the sandwich
Justin: yes! That's a good analogy Cain! Erm and another one that just blew my mind were the Weaker Lands like just bring able to play with them it was a weird bill you know for us to be playing with them but I'm still glad that somebody had that great idea, yeah though these guys are nice just they are amazing, sorry, if I start to ramble on just say [again in British accent] "shut up" 

Ok, If you had 24 hours left to live what would you do? 

Justin: spend my time trying to figure out what I would do
Josh: and die miserable
Justin: die miserable, unhappy, [Interrupted by Josh]
Josh: which is really what he wants
Justin: ooooh, die miserable, unfulfilled and alone [counts them off on his fingers] which is what I wanna do, just not be alone 

What is on your CD players at the moment? 

Justin: Erm I've been listening to... *crack * I keep braking this [he has a bag on and keeps jumping up and down and braking the bag strap] I've been like a lot of old stuff, but like but mostly like I've just been freaking out over like the Carpenters, and Ben Folds Five, they just have the male and female voice that Erm are the greatest, like Karen Carpenter is the greatest female singer ever and Ben Folds is the greatest male singer ever, that's my opinion though
Josh: I've been listening to a lot of err, the Fire Theft and the new Moneen record which is amazing. I think they're coming over here with Brand New
Justin: awesome 

Who are your inspirations when writing music? 

Justin: oh this question [first time through he couldn't answer properly] Erm, I don't really do much, I do spend a good portion of my time like in a room, alone, and so I read a lot of books I watch a lot of movies and Erm I listen to music and so I defiantly think since I tend to overly romanticise things I take a lot from that and then it somehow filters into me, I think everybody does it to a degree I just tend to... I dunno... compulsive obsessive...what ever
Josh: obsessive compulsive
Justin: I'm a little bit obsessively compulsive.a.tory, Erm yeah and then it kinda filters back you know cus I write a lot, cus I write a lot of stories and I write a lot of music yeah and so it goes back and forth and back n forth back n forth for ever and ever, the end! 

Ok, onto new questions now! 

Justin: new questions! Is it still working? 

Yes 

Justin: yesss! 

If you could do a headlining tour anywhere in the world, where would it be and who would support you? 

Josh: the entire world... 
Justin: I'd really like to go to Iceland, just cus I've never been there.
Josh: yeah I'd like to do a lot of the Europe that we haven't done too
Justin: I wanna see [in French accent] France
Josh: and Japan, and I'd like to do all those and bring people with us I mean obviously Limbeck would be an awesome band to have on tour with us and then err any of our friends that we can, there's a band called Cardinal Sin from Minneapolis who are just starting out and they're really good
Justin: its so weird cus like, if we could pick bands who are bigger than us then that'd be cool I mean there's so many bands that yeah I dunno if a lot of people have heard of so yeah we'd like to take those band which people haven't heard of with us and in an ideal world but a lot of times Erm your not allowed to for certain reasons, and once I figure what those reasons are I'm gonna get to the bottom of it and then I'll let you know 

And then we'll try and make sure it doesn't happen so that, 

Justin: yeah so that everyone is happy for ever and ever, the end I've said that twice now , I'm sorry, I'm gonna have some more awesome spray [they have a really nasty spray stuff which is meant to clear their throats so they can sing well] 

One from a fan, to Justin: what hair products do you use? 

Justin: [in kind of a Lloyd Grossman kinda voice] well first I start with some parmasol. Erm yeah. I try not to wash it I mean I do shower, but I just don't wash it and every two weeks of so I'll wash it , actually after the last tour I didn't wash it for a month and instead of washing my hair which would have taken a few hours I went n got a hair cut and let them do it which took them an hour to comb it out, [turns to Josh] Johnny had to comb it out
Josh: was aaaaaaaaaws he pissed?
Justin: no no he wasn't really, although his new band I gotta go pick up, he's got a CD for me Erm so I gotta remember that, anyway sorry yeah a lot of products, everything from err there's this stuff called Lab, and I think it is Paul Mitchell it looks like a glue bottle, its got a orange you know like Erm I dunno anyway, the point is like a lot of shit, I just put tons of stuff in it and then like after about a day or so it kinda gets to where it is and then I just mess it up with my hands, long fucking winded that was! 

If you could be a super hero what would your name be and what super powers would you have? 

Justin: I wouldn't have like a fantastic name, my name would be Steve, and what super powers would I have? I would have the err actually if I could be anyone I want to be the sandman that would kick ass I never really got into comics or but I just started reading this, but anyway, yeah my name would be Steve and id have the power to err
Josh: to remember things
Justin: to kick you in the nuts and...make you...cry.
Josh: you could be the memory man and remember things 
Justin: yeah like remember my name and the lyrics to the songs [he did forget in the show as well] 
Josh: I'm not gonna answer that question I'm done with it 
Justin: Josh doesn't answer questions
Josh: I just stand here n look cool, I'm just kidding
Justin: no you just stand there [Josh pinches Justin on the arm]
Justin: oh snap! 
Josh: is that wet? [talking about his jacket]
Justin: no it's just cold
Josh: shit you've had that a month and it looks like it's a decade old, do you wash it in like burning hot water? 
Justin: I think it's just the lighting, oh yeah is it still working? 

Yes 

Justin: you're gonna put all this in the interview right? "is it still working" every single word, word for word, word for word 

Yeah plus anything I can remember from before 

Justin: of right so your just gonna make it all up 

Yeah it'll probably sounds really weird 

Justin: so it'll say who are your inspirations, "Dog food!" oh I don't remember saying that!
Josh: what? 

If you could meet any deceased person who would it be and why? 

Justin: I'd wanna meet my grandfather, cus he died before I was born and I heard he was one crazy mother fucker and like I dunno like Erm I'll tell you stories, he used to do terrible things to animals and also like err scare the crap outta his family like he had a boat and he would like go as fast as the boat would go and whip it around n it would go *wchoo * you know and just always drive crazy and do crazy stuff. And it would just be really cool to hang out with him and be crazy, but I guess he'd be pretty old though and prolly wouldn't be as crazy as he used to be but he's dead so I can't anyway.
Josh: I don't have a good answer for that so I'm not gonna answer it 

What advice would you give to bands who are just starting out? 

Josh: keep playing and get good
Justin: I don't know cus like I think well all for different reasons but we all just played our instruments all the time but [Josh starts pointing at Justin's collar] what?
Josh: you're collar, I just think it's funny
Justin: they cant see the collar
Josh: no I know but I thought it was funny
Justin: oh ok, but yeah we all have different reasons for you know why, I just played guitar cus I didn't really do much of anything else and so I could kinda of focus on that when I was younger and I just played in my room all the time and I just wanted to play music and I learnt to sing by imitating my favourite singers
Josh: I think the only way to do it is just to keep doing it constantly and never stop Random fan yelling from across the road: have a good night, play really well, 
Justin: thank you
Random fan again: see you next time
Josh: I'm sorry
Random fan: and you played good on Monday and I'll email Andy the photos, you know the photos
Justin: oh yeah 
Random fan: that you didn't like
Justin: I liked em! 
Random fan: all right then, bye!
Justin: bye! 
Josh: sorry
Justin: where were we? Insert English people speaking there! 
Josh: will you put in the different accents? 

I'll try to put in [in British accent] 

Justin: or "[in a central north American accent]" 

Yeah 

Justin: err I forgot what we were talking about
Josh: just play and keep playing, annoy everybody, be bad
Justin: and then as soon as you get money, tour, tour, tour, tour, tour, and never stop and then when you run out of money get another job, cus you'll probably have got fired from your last job or quit the last one to go on tour and when you've saved up enough money record your own stuff and record it well, and then shop it out to people
Josh: shop it out? 
Justin: I guess that's what you would do right?
Josh: pro man!
Justin: pro man? 
Josh: I just used some slang there 
Justin: isn't it ... industry jargon 
Josh: send some shwag out
Justin: shwag [laughs]
Josh: oh, I hate that word
Justin: so do I whats up with the word shwag it's like the worst word ever invented and put that in! shwag and like gig 
Josh: or sitting in at a gig
Justin: gig is a bad word and people use it all the time here I just don't like it, knickers
Josh: yeah
Justin: [in British accent] " sign my knickers" ... I just don't like the way it sounds 

What would you say instead of gig? 

Josh and Justin: shows 

Ok, next question. 

Justin: oh I'm sorry, is it still working? 

Yes 

Justin: [in very weird high pitched voice] huuraaay! 

If you were a Muppet which one would you be and why? 

Josh: oh those big guys who are like "blah baaah" I don't know if you know what I'm talking about at all if you ever watch the Muppets they're like these giant big guys with big mouths from the Muppet show... you dunno, do you know what I'm talking about 

I think so. 

Josh: they're just the giant guys, I have no idea what they're called but that's what I would be and they're just like "blehhhh" and they pick people up and have big mouths. That or fuzzy... fozzie... 
Justin: I feel like gonzo 
Josh: gonzo?
Justin: cus he's ugly and stupid and no one knows where he's from
Josh: I'd be the French guy... "argh" 
Justin: huh? oh oh yeah yeah yeah I was getting confused with the guy who's the chef
Josh: or the new Muppets, the last Muppet movie I'd be the king prawn the shrimp dude "ehhhhh... I am not a shrimp I am a king prawn!"
Justin: [yelling across the road] hey Justin! That's my name too! 
Justin from Limbeck: yeah
Justin: do you want to talk to another Justin? 
Josh: This is Justin from Limbeck
Justin: how much more of the interview is there? 

One more question 

Justin: [talking to Limbeck Justin] we're gonna do one more question and then we're gonna ask you questions 

What are you planning to do after this tour? 

Justin: well originally, let me just, this is gonna take a while
Josh: [makes exasperated kinda sound]
Justin: well right after this tour we have like a small little break 
Josh: and thanks giving holiday
Justin: no we have another tour
Josh: oh yeah I'm sorry 
Justin: and then we're going out, we're having a headlining tour with like 80 million bands that are coming out and...
Josh: 80 million?
Justin: yeah there's like one bands playing one show here and another bands playing two shows here so it's kinda weird but err and then after that we were supposed to have a month and a half off where we were gonna write like most of the next record but it looks like we may be doing some shows perhaps in like December having a couple
Josh: with the Starting Line
Justin: and then we may be but we still don't know we may be doing something in January for two weeks in January but we don't know if that's gonna happen yet so I can't say Justin from Limbeck: but where are you next coming to the UK that's what these people wanna know
Josh: oh! Erm tomorrow
Justin: tomorrow, yeah we'll be here all week 
Josh: yeah we'll be here all week
Josh, Justin and other Justin: ohhhayyyyyyyyy! [They're here all week!] 

[Pointing tape recorder at Limbeck's Justin] Do you want to add anything to the end of the interview? 

Justin: oh wait, what kinda of Muppet would you be? [to Limbeck's Justin]
Josh: yeah what Muppet would you be?
Limbeck's Justin: animal!
Justin: animal? Yeah!!!!!
Josh: yeah! Animal!!!
[Josh's phone starts to ring and he holds it up to the tape recorder] 

Well that was the end of the interview, thanks to Justin and Josh for taking the time to answer my questions, and to Limbeck's Justin for his addition to our interview. To find out more about Motion City Soundtrack, and to listen to their album, "I am the movie" go to www.motioncitysoundtrack.comN.B. to listen to the album you need to take off any pop up blockers and click on the "hello there" pop up. 

Originally conducted for www.justwannarock.com