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The magic of a Moog in motion

By Reyan Ali

The most telling moment of the performance played by Motion City Soundtrack at the Cincinnati stop of the Vans Warped Tour '08 did not come from their typically precise delivery, the particularly thorough setlist, or their small army of an audience, but instead from their opening comments. After a day full of other frontmen sternly demanding crowds to "move around," "get up," or "form the biggest circle pit you can" even as the exhausting afternoon heat began to set in, MCS singer/guitarist Justin Pierre seemed intent on rehashing these stale orders with a (paraphrased) command of "Alright, now I want to see you mosh so hard." Then, an instant later, he smiled artfully and let out a comforting "Nah, just kidding!" and the band launched into a dose of sharp pop. This jump-off point exemplifies the way Motion City Soundtrack does business: With a tongue-in-cheek sensibility, their Moog-infused pop punk/power pop with upper-downer lyrics slices through idle cliché with a honesty and wit that stands in contrast to most of their contemporaries. (If you're curious, a Moog is a brand of synthesizer that produces an unusually "springing" sound that resembles a more able brand of New Wave.) The Minneapolis-based five piece is currently on tour with Chiodos, Hit the Lights, and Person L, and will be appearing at the Newport on Tuesday, Sept. 23 in support of 2007's "Even If It Kills Me" (Epitaph Records). UWeekly spoke with Pierre about band origins, personal favorites, bizarrely similar monikers, and his hair (quite possibly the finest mane in music today).

UW: Tell me about how the band came together. I've read that when MCS was just starting out, you pulled triple duty on the mic, guitar, and keyboards all at once. How did you end up with the line-up of MCS that stands today?

Josh [Cain, guitarist] and I started playing together in 1997. We'd known each other since 1993. I think it was [when] The Rentals' second record ["Seven More Minutes"] came out that prompted us to introduce the Moog into our music. I guess I got lucky with having to pull triple duty. Josh and I actually sang somewhat evenly back in the day. We went through a slew of members. Eventually, we met Matt [Taylor, bassist] and Tony [Thaxton, drummer] while on tour in Milton, Pennsylvania. They were in a band called Submerge. Eventually, their band broke up and we conned them into spending their winters in a snowy state. Jesse [Johnson, keyboardist and Moog player] worked with Josh, and had never so much as touched a keyboard in his life. We figured [that] it wouldn't be that hard to teach him. He had a lot of passion for playing music. That's pretty much it as I remember it.

UW: The MCS sound is truly unlike any other contemporary band. What kind of musical influences do you come from or aim to incorporate?

I know Josh and I have our staples of Jawbox, Superchunk and The Pixies. As for the Moog, that is straight up Rentals all the way. In the earlier days Josh introduced me to Jimmy Eat World, The Promise Ring and The Get Up Kids. I had never heard music like that before. I'd say we were trying to mesh angular guitar playing with poptastic melodies and failing miserably. A band that we had the chance to open for had a huge effect on the use of the head voice (falsetto). They were called Ultimate Fakebook. After playing with them, we looked at our 7-minute long songs and decided to cut them down a bit. Later on, the influences started coming from everywhere. We're all big fans of Ben Folds (Five) and Death Cab for Cutie. I know [that] Matt and Jesse are big Radiohead fans and Tony, like most drummers, learned a lot about drumming from listening to Braid. I'm a fan of the wordsmiths: Tom Waits, Ben Folds, John K Samson [of The Weakerthans], Will Sheff [of Okkervil River], Bob Nanna [of Hey Mercedes and Braid], etc. Oftentimes, influences come from books or movies for me. In fact, I'm trying to write something from the point of view of the character Edward [Cullen] in the book "Twilight" [by Stephenie Meyer] right now.

UW: Early in the band's career, did you guys play any particularly peculiar shows or events to fulfill a gig? Any weddings, bar mitzvahs, monster truck rallies?

We once played a ballet studio in California only for the other bands on the bill and Jesse's father and our future label owner/head Mr. Brett [Gurewitz] and his lovely wife. Somehow, Mr. Brett knew that one day we'd play for more than eight people.

UW: MCS have appeared on the soundtracks to the film "John Tucker Must Die" and the video game "MLB '06: The Show," and are played over the PA at hockey games in Minnesota. What else are the most interesting places you guys have had your music appear or heard yourselves played? Any surreal experiences?

I think so far the height of movies for me was the remake of "Bad News Bears." That's probably the closest I'll get to working with [director] Richard Linklater in any capacity. The hockey games are pretty cool. My parents always go and tell me about it.

UW: I'm certain this issue has come up before, but there was also a band out there named Desert City Soundtrack (who appear to be currently defunct) for a while. How did you two happen to have such similar names? Have you ever spoken to them about the odd trait that the bands share?

I believe we've met them before. I have a terrible memory. I think we thought it was a weird coincidence. I'm pretty sure that we thought the word "desert" was stupid and I assume that they thought the word "motion" was stupid. Either way, both names are stupid. [Laughs] Most names are stupid and make no sense when you really think about them. Sonic Youth? Death Cab For Cutie? The Flaming Lips? But you don't think twice about those names, because they just make sense. I feel like I am digging myself into a hole, so I will stop.

UW: MCS frequently end up playing shows with many bands that are closer to the emo/screamo/metalcore side of the sound spectrum rather than the pop punk/power pop/alternative rock camp (comparatively closer to the MCS sound). How do you feel about the scene that falls into or associates itself with that bracket? Do you feel any kind of kinship with bands that play more an emo sound, or is it just happenstance that you share marquees so often?

I haven't really noticed what you are referring to. Perhaps that's one positive thing for being out of the loop and not understanding what differentiates emo from screamo or pop punk. As far as playing shows with different sounding bands on the bill, I'm all for it. In my opinion, it is always better to have diversity than total utter sameness. I really don't concern myself with the labels. Let's have fun.

UW: I also read that "The Future Freaks Me Out" was a spontaneous creation that you came up with in only a few hours. Do you still have a few songs that follow this impromptu framework, or is material now more the product of trial and error?

On "Commit This To Memory," the basic guitar parts, words and structure to both "Attractive Today" and "L.G. Fuad" were created on the same day in my bedroom in less than a few hours. On this last record, "Last Night" was created in the practice space in its entirety in a few hours, words and all. These are usually our favorite songs, the ones that just come together.

UW: What's next on the slate for MCS in terms of new material? Any gestating plans for another LP release or a new music video?

We just shot a music video for an acoustic version of "Fell in Love Without You" in Long Island on a beach. After this tour we write and record a new album. That's all I know as of yet.

UW: What do you put into your hair to make it so luscious?

Nair. Just kidding. Don't do that. Volumizing spray? Right now it is too long to do anything with, so I'm just going to see how long I can grow it before the next record comes out.

UW: Do you ever get sick of questions asked about your hair?

No. Just because I have answered the same question over several hundred times doesn't mean that everyone knows the answer to it.

Originally Published: September 17, 2008

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