Going Through the Motions: The Evolution of Motion City Soundtrack

By Liem Vu

1997, St. Cloud, Minnesota: It's Halloween and Josh Cain, Justin Pierre, and their bandmates take the stage at the Java Joint to perform for the first time as Motion City Soundtrack. The beat of the drum lays the groundwork, Pierre's vocals begin to soar, and Cain's guitar starts to resonate in the air. Motion City Soundtrack's sound is dark and traditionally emo.

2007, Mt. Fuji, Japan: It's July 28th at the Fuji Rock Festival, and Motion City Soundtrack ascend on stage, greeted by the hundreds of Japanese fans. They rock out to songs from I Am The Movie and Commit This To Memory, a brighter sound than what they started with. However, after the applause rings out, silence ensues - pure, unadulterated, awkward silence. Unbeknownst to many, this is not a bad sign. Japanese fans are just more Zen about the concert experience. For in Japan, you see, silence after a performance is a show of respect. "When they mosh, they kind of hold hands and hug after," Cain admits. Pierre takes note of this and tries to imbue this Zen-like approach to North American audiences.

In the decade since its inception, Motion City Soundtrack has succeeded in creating three albums while simultaneously refining their stage and musical performing skills. Cain and Pierre are the only two original founding members of Motion City Soundtrack since their Java Joint gig, now with the additions of Tony Thaxton (drums), Jesse Johnson (Moog, Synth), and Matthew Taylor (Bass). It is irrelevant really, considering each individual sound comes together and reverberates to the delight of thousands of fans around the world just as if they had been doing this since they were born.

After two months in a studio, a handful of webisodes, and numerous online journal updates, September 18, 2007 saw the release of Motion City Soundtrack's third album release, Even If It Kills Me. Going into the record, there were no expectations or goals. Justin and his bandmates merely wanted to get a producer to be involved in the pre-production phase. A producer who was "more song based rather than simply dictated by what was cool."

Honesty in music has always been the best policy for the members of Motion City Soundtrack. Since their first album, Justin Pierre has been candid about his struggles with alcohol and drugs. In fact, the first album dealt with his dependency on drugs in the track, "Modern Chemistry." While this struggle was subsequently addressed in the second album, it was this year that Justin decided to get help. "I don't know the facts but (from) age 13 to 6 months ago Justin was a drug addict on different levels, however, this year he checked himself into a program," Cain reveals.

Released in 2007, it is only appropriate that the new album is titled Even If It Kills Me. "It is like the procrastinator's anthem, but essentially it is about doing something to better yourself even if it kills you," says Cain in reference to the song and most likely to Justin's attempt to recover.

In spite of all these struggles, rest assured these guys are anything but depressing. Although their music contains heavy issues, their sound is inspiring, upbeat, and whimsical, as seen in their latest single, "This is For Real."

While Rock has always maintained an arrogant image of decadence including the notion of sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll, Motion City Soundtrack has never adhered to or even attempted to fulfill that role. "Music is different now, there's a lot of positive influences. While the 60's were all about free love, now it's more about being safe. Because there's so many people in the world, the only way to survive is to help each other," says Cain.

Ten years and 1500 gigs since the band started, Motion City Soundtrack is still pushing strong with its fans. "We like to hang with the kids after the show at the merchandise booth and connect with them on a human element, it's something that other bands back when we were young didn't do for us," Cain voices.

Whether it is through their lyrics, their struggles, or their joys, there is always an intimate connection between Motion City and their fans. Perhaps it is this very quality that has kept this Minnesota band so ingrained in music culture even to this day. It's been a long journey since the Java Joint, but with a fourth album in the works, it doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon.