Motion City Soundtrack

0:00Hey Justin this is Matt Shicker calling. Hi Matt. I'm actually hanging out with Matt Player of this man. Yeah Intro for our record release shows. Oh no we're actually gonna I'm gonna take this interview outside and and we're gonna walk to the coffee shop and get some coffee. Okay cool No, that's fine. No, we're actually just recording different snippets from like movies. Oh Okay, and like an intro Yeah, I think we're using the theme song from six feet under. Oh nice And then we're a ton of morbid, but yeah, well hey, it's all good or all right. Sorry. I'm here. I'm totally here now No, it's all good. That's a good start to the interview. I like it. Okay So you guys are rehearsing this week I heard too. Yeah, yeah, we actually just had our last rehearsal I think tomorrow we're gonna run through stuff. We just got inner ear monitors for everyone except for Jesse

0:49But uh and so we were like we had our friend Sean O'Keefe who actually recorded the Shot the Split that we did with us and shot the he recorded that he's in a band called. This is me smiling He put together this whole inner ear like a monitor package thing and like he's you know, how how he gets out and he's doing our sound for this tour For some of the shows on this tour because his band is opening That's how we sort of did this sweet deal where where his band opens and then he can do our sound and it's awesome because their band is Just fucking incredible And I hope I hope things happen for them. But anyway, what are they called? This is my smile This is me smiling and I don't know how you can get a copy of their record

1:35But try to find it try to do something because they're not on a label yet I think they're shopping around but they're gonna be huge. They're gonna be like I think they're gonna be the next Ben Full Oh Ben Full there So far. Yeah, it's like piano guitar. I mean it doesn't sound like Ben Full but it it they could definitely you know open for him Oh, I mean and they're touring with you guys that little yeah for CD releases and then also I believe There's like a few shows we're doing it after our first leg of Warped Tour cool. You ever had it for Warped Tour? Oh, yeah, although I just did another interview and I I sort of came to Understand that or I I came to realize that I don't actually know who is playing Warped Tour Yeah, I feel kind of stupid because if you want to hang out with them like well follow boy

2:21I know they're playing and so yeah, I'm just I don't know who's playing That's the way follow boys cool. I'll talk to them a couple weeks ago. You talk to them. Yeah, I talked to Patrick actually who worked on your record I love Patrick. I love him. How did you guys hook up with them? Yeah, no, I think the first time we ever met and I don't even know if he was singing in the band, but we played with follow boy and Des Plaine I think and at a movie theater and we just kind of met them and apparently I know Patrick was like a fan of our band So we saw them at like side Bowl in Chicago another time and then we just their band recorded a record with Sean O'Keefe

3:08They're the same guy talking about this is funny and and and Patrick wanted to know if I would sing on the record And I was like, yeah, hell yeah, I love you guys and so I actually you know, that's not true I didn't say I love you guys because I don't think I'd heard their record yet, but I just liked Patrick I liked him a lot. Is that their new record or the record before that? No, that was the first record Yeah, yeah, and so I actually We were playing a show at the end of tour at the Metro and I'd blown out my voice Sean picked me up We drove to the studio and I had I listened to this on for the first time and tried to and then I wrote lyrics and My voice sound is so shitty, but due to the power of Pro Tools Sean Did I don't know what he did, but he made it sound not that it sounds amazing

3:53I'm not saying I'm a voice of names, but he made it sound amazing compared to what it was And that was on Chicago so years ago That was the song on the first record that I sang on and so that's kind of how we started You know and then whatever we would play with them I would sing that song and then Patrick would kind of sing on the future freaks me out and then and then sort of and then when we Recorded the new record as payback to that son of a bitch So we made him sing on everything is alright and I think to his credit He got it in about two takes but we made him do 12 just so that you know we wouldn't feed his ego Well, let's play a tune right now everything is alright you got anything you want to say about it before we play it about that song See I don't know it's a musical masterpiece now

4:42It's a I don't know it's a rock gym said Matt Taylor Yeah, I don't know. I think that was one of the songs that as Josh said on the last record We wrote the future freaks me out which became a single I guess somewhat On the last record like right before we went into the studio and this is that song that we did On this record like right before we went into record that song just happened and so it's kind of funny because that's become I guess This the single for this record. Yeah, so that's all I can really say about it a lot of neuroses and Certain things that I tend to fixate about yeah To produce the record well if you want to call it produced what exactly do you do?

8:53Nice the chilled blanks, you know, I mean we had to do most of the work ourselves, but that's not anything new I mean we're used to that yeah now exactly What is what does he do as a producer for you guys or you guys you guys come into the studio with all the songs And he just says hey, maybe you should change this arrangement up a bit Or is he actually sitting behind the board mixing it stuff like that? Know what actually happened was it was so cool that he was a fan of the music fan of the lyrics he's a fan of Matt Taylor's delicious bass playing and What he did was we came to LA for like a month and we We were practicing in like a practice space down there and he would come every day and just kind of listen what we were doing and It was it was really weird because he didn't write anything for us He just sort of listened and he'd say like hey, why don't you let this part breathe a little more and like what what do you mean?

9:43He's like well just like you know don't don't be forcing all these parts together Let's see what you can do here or you would you kind of make these like weird suggestions that were a little more vague then you know specific and And and if anything he just kind of he was sort of amused in a way where he would like give us Kind of make us think about it and then we would come up with something new and really oh what about this? He's like yeah, yeah, I like that, you know, so he sort of Have used this term before but he's facilitated the tanning process And Yeah, and then but the thing that blew our minds or blew my mind because I didn't even think about it You know, I always thought of him as his goofy fucker from TV who ran around naked. Yeah Before I actually met him and I met him and he was you know pretty normal for a for a weirdo and and and when we were in the studio

10:32He'd be like well, I'm like a house that we're staying and then the studio was behind the house It was like a garage that was renovated. I think In the studio and and so in in the main house we had like another little studio set up for for doing overdubs and I think backup singing and stuff like that and so we could kind of do more at once and he'd be going back up between the house and the and the studio and And if you come in and I'd be playing guitar and you'd be like, what's going on here? That's totally out of tune and neither the engineer myself or anybody would be able to hear it But mark is like sonic hearing. I don't know could pick the stuff up. But that's something that I never really associated I mean Horrible, but I never really associated him with like being a genius

11:19Yeah, I thought he would like wrote pop songs and he was goofy, you know, but he actually he actually is a just a brilliant man And he knows his stuff. So so yeah, it was just it was serious serious pleasure to work with him He was so positive, you know that was nice to work with instead of you know Working with this sort of nihilist who would lock us in the basement beat us in chains on our first record Oh, yeah, yeah Plano the tune your choice attractive today or time-turn fragile Well one of them is a minute and a half and another one of them is like five minutes So that's why I chose it. How much you want to what you do I mean, I say play them both but well, let's blame both of them. All right, do it cool Yeah

17:44Back in the day Beatific Virginia via Chicago, but you know, I don't know I can't run how did that actually turn out? I think now called up me was like yo, I'm really into your shit. You want to play a show? And we're like I don't know if it's our crowd exactly he's like no man. No, man. It'll be cool. It'll be cool So that's kind of how I don't know we we played the show and I think it went okay But it was just really strange because the crowd was definitely Split and I think it was about like a 90 10 split his favorite but But but it went okay, and I don't think anybody So they heckled us that loud so yeah, but yeah, and I thought it was one kid that was dancing

18:29I couldn't tell if he was making fun of us or not, but he seemed to be into it But then he would kind of laugh and point so But it was cool and actually like I wasn't too familiar with this music But I sat and watched a bit when he shared it he showed up in sort of a what his vehicle pulled up and like eight dudes came out And they're all just huge I don't know it was intimidating, but he had this one up I'm sorry. There's this guy carrying a dog and the dogs about as big as him on the street. I'm sorry This is just a surreal to real day Yeah, sorry, I got sidetracked. It's all good, but yeah, no, it was it was fun. It was weird. It was cool I'd like to do more stuff like that You know just like mixing up the genres so to speak Well, we're sure kind of starting that with atmosphere playing that kind of stuff. Well, that was awesome

19:17Like I watched atmosphere a lot. Oh, yeah on that last year. Yeah, cool. You played any of the new tunes live yet Um, yeah, we've said a couple of them actually time for fragile was one We've tried to track to today But we're just now in like the practices that we've been having in the last couple days That one sounds a lot better than the first couple times we played alive Better open the door we've been playing and everything's all right. Yeah, that's pretty much it or The song go we actually hey man was one of the first ones you wrote and we played that They don't want a while ago and actually we played it on the follow boy When we were touring with Rufio and follow boy and which reminds me I gotta give them shit because I think it's still something from There's one part of one of their songs. It sounds exactly like one of our songs I don't know who stole from who but but it's pretty funny cool

20:04Playing other tune resolution or feel like rain Um Resolution is pretty harsh I mean they're both pretty harsh The first one resolution is a pretty honest and horrible thing And then at least you know, it's embarrassing, but I was told I think it was uh I was talking well, I won't keep going. But anyway, yeah that one uh, I don't know okay. Well, I was talking to Brendan Brendan Klein who works works for Atticus and I was talking to him about that song he really liked that song I was like yeah, it's just it's just a little like A little too close to home. I'm a little too brutally honest on that song And he was just saying that there was a song that blinked it and I don't remember what's funny was that that the mark was kind of worried about the same thing Um, you know, but it turned out to be

20:51You know be so much more because You know, he actually put himself out there and I guess that's kind of what I'm doing I don't know if the song's great or not by any means, but um, I definitely put myself out there on that one a lot Um, whereas I think feel like rain is a little more I think most people can figure out what these songs are about without that one that was a little more disguised, but Which was kind of I don't know whatever it was it's kind of amazing because I talked to some kid some guy who Uh had a similar experience because I don't know I don't want to go too much into it But I think I kind of figured out what to feel like rams about but uh, but um, I talked to a guy who had a similar experience And he just said that that was um, he was one of the few people that uh downloaded our record illegally And it was just like that that song, you know, it did something for him and it was cool because you know, not a lot of guys do that sort of thing

21:41So yeah, whatever. Well, it's cool. Well, but yeah, okay. All right I like the universe She messes with my words I'm not talking It's a galaxy's and the distance just makes it worse I know what you're thinking this probably sounds worse A lot of music. So if I find something I like I usually go out and buy the record

29:22There's one What really upsets me is where People and there's certain people in our band or certain person or a band too But like who get upset about the fact that people are downloading our music, but yet they go out and download other people's music That to me is Wrong, you know, like if you're gonna get upset about it, then you shouldn't be downloading music at all You know, so like I'm not upset about it I think the only people that it really hurts are the people who need to sell millions of records in order to survive It definitely hurts the record companies because you know, they need to make money to survive too Um, but I think as far as getting your music out there, it's definitely good for that So it's kind of like I think it's good and bad Um, I just kind of try to urge people that if they're gonna download it earlier or whatever You know, if the thing is always leak That if they really like it, they should buy the record and and you know, and I try to practice what I preach

30:12Because I definitely know that when the limbic record comes out I'm gonna buy at least five to ten copies just so I can like give them to people too because it's so good They need to be seen and actually also I waited until May 24th for the new alkaline trio record I did not want to hear it till it came out. That's just a personal thing, you know, it's like I could have heard it because I heard that other people had copies of it But I want I don't know it's just like I wanted to wait I don't know. Maybe it's like maybe it's like waiting to have sex until you get married or something Even though I didn't do that but you know, but it's kind of like the same thing It's like it means more when you kind of you know, I don't know whatever but people you know, I'm not gonna I hope I'm not sounding preachy. I'm just kind of like there's a few different ways you can go about it. I just think that um You know, I guess it's a moral thing who knows. Yeah, I know what I'm talking about anymore

31:01Just waiting up and down the street. People are looking at me weird Do you think it's gonna kill record companies eventually and everyone just be on indies and you know releasing songs through the internet just to go to high-pods Hopefully No, uh, I think that I think that hopefully if anything it will make it will make you know make your labels have to Change what they're doing and why they're doing it Um, I don't know if that's gonna happen soon and I don't even know what it is exactly that they're gonna have to change, but I don't know I hope it has some sort of positive Effect as opposed to you know a negative effect But I just think it's great for getting music like especially for small advance. It's great for getting them out there Definitely, you know, because they need all the help they can get Cool. Let's play another song

31:48All right, make out kids are better open the door Um make out kids because I don't think that one gets Heard a lot But usually when i'm listening to the record that's not one that I listen to

35:09You know and I listen to the record a lot, but only because I need to remember the word Yeah, I'll fair enough hard to remember the words on stage for me. Yeah, because my dunce but I think um I don't know what it is. It's like I can't remember I can remember uh other people's words, but I just can't remember my own Yeah, fair enough. I bet the fans like it too when you when you fumble them and I mean they're like, oh, yeah, look at that Yeah, they they point and they laugh there were these two girls In uh, london when we were recently over there and they were laughing at me because I forgot the words to hold me down It was the first time we'd ever played that song live And uh, so yeah, that's embarrassing, but it happens like I want every show I forget something Cool. Is that a real letter hold me down? Is that something you actually found or did you just write it? I don't know Okay, uh, well, I did find a letter. I did find a letter while I was cleaning my couch

35:57And so that was sort of what's born to the idea and all the stuff in that letter um are things that happen to be in need of figuratively or literally and so I guess so that's kind of how I mean I tend to try to make you know truth and fiction Together in a tasteful way and mostly just because certain words don't rhyme well, but uh, you know, so that's That's what I'll say cool. I thought it was a really cool idea. I like it We do that was me trying I was me also trying to do more of like a Benfold five thing or Benfold thing We're like trying to or like Tom weights getting outside of yourself and trying to write it from somebody else's perspective Um, and I only did that on two songs

36:43Like on purpose was home made out of and time turned fragile even though time turned fragile is about me But it's supposed to be from the point of view of my dad. Oh cool Yeah, all right. We do this thing on a show called five questions every week just five quick questions one more to answer Okay, uh first one iPod or CD iPod Lenin or McCartney. Oh, loner McCartney. Uh, lennie. Alcohol or marijuana. I have to go to alcohol Song you've written that you're most proud of That that changes some time. Let me think everything. I gotta come up with one. Don't I? Um Attracted today cool and uh one word motion city soundtrack Awesome. Hey cool. Thanks so much. Sorry. Appreciate it. I've been Yeah, thank you. Take it easy. Okay. Bye Stop