Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: Mixed Plate

Media Credit: Courtesy of www.myspace.com/motioncitysoundtrack Motion City Soundtrack will be performing at Pipeline Café this Wednesday.

Media Credit: Courtesy of Dan Monick (Left to right) Tony Thaxton, Jesse Johnson, Matt Taylor, Justin Pierre, Josh Cain.

Motion City Soundtrack, a Minneapolis-based rock band, will grace the stage at Pipeline Café this week.

In a recent phone interview, bassist Matt Taylor, talked about the history, success, and future of Motion City Soundtrack.

When asked to define what type of band they are, Taylor said, "we're just a rock band influenced by '90's rock bands with good pop/punk/rock aggression."

Starting back in 1999 in the twin city of Minneapolis, Josh Cain noticed Justin Pierre's voice and convinced him that they should start a band. Together, Pierre (lead vocals) and Cain (lead guitar) formed Motion City Soundtrack.

[Originally, the band started out with members Sidney Burgdorf (Drums), Joel Habedank (Drums), Jose "Susan" Lopez (Lead Guitar, tuba), and Ben Pant (Violinist).]

Playing a show in Pennsylvania, the two met Taylor (bass) and Tony Thaxton (drums), who were then part of the Virgina-based band named Submerge. Soon, Motion City was searching for a bassist and offered the part to Taylor. After losing a drummer, they extended an offer to Thaxton as well. Both accepted.

Rounding out the group was Jesse Johnson (Moog Synthesizer) who used to work with Cain at a pizza place. Johnson was asked to join the group to relieve Pierre from his synthesizer duties.

Nearly 10 years later, Motion City is still on the rise with two albums behind them and their latest, "Even if it kills me," which debuted on the Billboard charts at number 16 in September 2007. "It feels good to have people go out and buy [our album]," said Taylor. "We have such a good fan base."

This album is the band's most successful so far. "[We] try to not have expectations; if anything it surpassed [our] expectations. We just want to continue our momentum," he said.

After touring the UK with their new release, the band took a month-long break and is currently preparing for the 2008 Honda Civic tour and other international shows - but not before coming out to Hawai‘i this Wednesday, Feb. 13. Supporting Panic at the Disco, the tour also includes The Hush Sound and Phantom Planet.

The tour kicks off in San Francisco on March 10. For a complete list of tour dates, visit http://civictour.honda.com/. For tickets and more information on Motion City Soundtrack's concert this Wednesday, check out www.pipelinecafe.net/ or www.ticketmaster.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools