Minneapolis' Motion City Soundtrack have been playing their brand of moog-encrusted punk rock throughout the Summer on this year's Vans Warped tour. Fresh from the tour drummer Tony Thaxton tells of working with Blink 182's Mark Hoppus on new album, Commit this to Memory.
BIANCA ROSE: Have you got any good gossip for me from Warped?
TONY THAXTON: I don't know about any gossip but it's just been a good time. I've got to see some cool bands that I didn't know about before.
BR: Like who?
TT: There's this band called Valiant Thor that I have been enjoying throughly. You will be entertained if you see them, that's all I can say. They're very tounge-in-cheek, very classic rock, metal. They're very very very entertaining.
BR: MCS have a new album, Commit This To Memory, Mark from Blink helped produce the album and I heard he hadn't ever produced a band before you. Were you nervous going into the studio with him?
TT: There was definitely a bit of a concern. It's a little strange giving that much power to someone who's never actually done it before but, we thought he had a pretty musical track record going on. In talking with him when we toured together we just realised that he had a lot of the same ideas. He said that he had just bought all this recording gear and he wanted to get into producing someday. At the time we were trying to figure out who to get to produce our record. We just threw up the idea 'what if we get him to do it?' We brought it up to him a few days later and he immediately said yes. It was a little scary knowing he hadn't done it before. We just tried to stay confident and hope for the best. We couldn't be happier with the result.
BR: Was he a nazi in the studio?
TT: No. The Mark that you see on t.v is still there. He's a lot of fun to be around and knows how to have a good time. At the same time he knew when we had to be serious and work. He has a really good ear. We might work on something for a while and he may not have been in the room and then he comes back and he'd be like 'something is out of tune'. It'd slip pass us and the engineer and then he'd hear it and we'd have to go back and fix it. It was kind of annoying 'cause we had to go back and fix it but at the same time you don't want it to sound bad in the end (laughs)
BR: There seems to be a lot more harmonies of this album...
TT: Yeah some of that came from Mark. A lot of it also came from when we first record I Am The Movie, the initial session of I Am The Movie, Matt who was is our bass player now who wasn't actually in the band yet, in time going back to the studio when we were doing I Am The Movie, Matt actually ended up playing on that record and did a little bit of vocals here and there. This time it was the five of us from the get go on this record. Matt is into a lot of harmonies and does it very well. We definitely tried to use a lot of that this time.
BR: Did you learn anything about yourself while making the album?
TT: I think I already knew I was impatient but I became even more impatient during the process (laughs) It can be a long process sometimes. I like to get in there and record my drum tracks and knock 'em out quick and do it in one or two takes then I'm done but, this time I get in there have to play for a while and we're trying to get drum sounds and it took like a couple of hours to get the right drum sound, we finally get it and they're like 'oh that's a good drum sound but your heads are dead' so we had to change all of that. By the time it's time for me to record I'm sick of playing drums by then (laughs) I got to learn to be a little more patient some times (laughs)
BR: What would be the best song on the new album to have sex to?
TT: (laughs) hmmmmm.... although the lyrics don't fit well at all for this I'm going to say Hold Me Down
BR: Oh really?!
TT: (laughs) If you read all the lyrics it's kind of strange and it could be taken the wrong way for that question's answer (laughs) It's just got a good feel for it I think. Maybe you could just ignore the lyrics.
BR: How do your live shows compare to your recordings? Do you think it translates well?
TT: I'd like to think so. A lot of our fans say they like our CD's but like our live show even more. We try to convey that a little more this time round. We tried to make sure the record still had a lot of energy 'cause our live shows are pretty energetic. We try to give it everything that we can. It depends on who you ask really. To me personally sometimes I hear our record and then I'll hear a live recording and I'll be like 'wow that's a sloppy mess'. Where as all these other people will be like your great I like you a lot more live than on the record. It's hard to say. Live is so much more of an in the moment thing, you got to have fun with it. Recording you just want to make it as perfect as you can.
BR: What's the stupidest thing you've ever seen at one of your shows?
TT: Awwww man there's been some interesting things happen (laughs) There was actually this moment I could stop laughing at recently. We were playing a show in Lawrence, Kansas this was a couple of weeks ago we have ear monitors and with ear monitors you don't really hear the audience too well, so we actually put a mic at the front of the stage, an audience mic so we could hear the crowd, and there was no barrier between the stage and barrier that night. There was a kid front a center and we were playing our song Everything's Alright and the kid decided to grab that microphone and start singing into that mic. The crowd couldn't hear it at all but it's really really loud in our ears (laughs) It was so loud that it was overpowering the music. Here was this kid screaming into the mic and Josh actually went over and grabbed the mic out of the kids hand because it was killing our ears. As the song kept going on I could not stop laughing and then it came time for me to start singing some backup vocals and I could hardly sing because I was laughing so hard. It was just one of those things that no one will know how ridiculous it sounded except for us in the band that actually heard what was happening.
BR: Most people have obsessions, is there something you're obsessed with at the moment?
TT: I have a lot of really dumb obsessions. I've had my musical obsess for a long time, I love love love Ben Folds. That's up there. I'm also just a big nerd and I'll always be five years old at heart. I have weak spots for things like Star Wars, The Muppets and things like that. A lot of things like that are my obsessions and it's kind of ridiculous for someone my age.
BR: Do you collect anything?
TT: (laughs) Yes I do. It goes with that same thing. I have lots of toys.
BR: Me too!
TT: There you go (laughs) we should talk sometime.
BR: I collect a lot of Pez and stuff like that.
TT: I have some but but usually only the Star Wars related ones (laughs) I have lots of Star Wars and Muppet toys. Anything that was a huge thing in my childhood I haven't really let go of.
BR: So you're also any eighties child?
TT: I did. I'm an old man!
BR: That would make me an old woman then! I grew up in the eighties too! I've got all the Fraggle Rock toys and Masters Of The Universe.
TT: Oh yeah! I'm excited because they're putting season one of Fraggle Rock on DVD over here. It actually comes out on my birthday! I'm not complaining because we're going to Australia but I think I'll be spending sixteen hours of my birthday on a plane back from Australia.
BR: When you get home though you can by Fraggle Rock!
TT: I sure can!!! (laughs)
By BIANCA ROSE
www.motioncitysoundtrack.com
BIANCA ROSE: Have you got any good gossip for me from Warped?
TONY THAXTON: I don't know about any gossip but it's just been a good time. I've got to see some cool bands that I didn't know about before.
BR: Like who?
TT: There's this band called Valiant Thor that I have been enjoying throughly. You will be entertained if you see them, that's all I can say. They're very tounge-in-cheek, very classic rock, metal. They're very very very entertaining.
BR: MCS have a new album, Commit This To Memory, Mark from Blink helped produce the album and I heard he hadn't ever produced a band before you. Were you nervous going into the studio with him?
TT: There was definitely a bit of a concern. It's a little strange giving that much power to someone who's never actually done it before but, we thought he had a pretty musical track record going on. In talking with him when we toured together we just realised that he had a lot of the same ideas. He said that he had just bought all this recording gear and he wanted to get into producing someday. At the time we were trying to figure out who to get to produce our record. We just threw up the idea 'what if we get him to do it?' We brought it up to him a few days later and he immediately said yes. It was a little scary knowing he hadn't done it before. We just tried to stay confident and hope for the best. We couldn't be happier with the result.
BR: Was he a nazi in the studio?
TT: No. The Mark that you see on t.v is still there. He's a lot of fun to be around and knows how to have a good time. At the same time he knew when we had to be serious and work. He has a really good ear. We might work on something for a while and he may not have been in the room and then he comes back and he'd be like 'something is out of tune'. It'd slip pass us and the engineer and then he'd hear it and we'd have to go back and fix it. It was kind of annoying 'cause we had to go back and fix it but at the same time you don't want it to sound bad in the end (laughs)
BR: There seems to be a lot more harmonies of this album...
TT: Yeah some of that came from Mark. A lot of it also came from when we first record I Am The Movie, the initial session of I Am The Movie, Matt who was is our bass player now who wasn't actually in the band yet, in time going back to the studio when we were doing I Am The Movie, Matt actually ended up playing on that record and did a little bit of vocals here and there. This time it was the five of us from the get go on this record. Matt is into a lot of harmonies and does it very well. We definitely tried to use a lot of that this time.
BR: Did you learn anything about yourself while making the album?
TT: I think I already knew I was impatient but I became even more impatient during the process (laughs) It can be a long process sometimes. I like to get in there and record my drum tracks and knock 'em out quick and do it in one or two takes then I'm done but, this time I get in there have to play for a while and we're trying to get drum sounds and it took like a couple of hours to get the right drum sound, we finally get it and they're like 'oh that's a good drum sound but your heads are dead' so we had to change all of that. By the time it's time for me to record I'm sick of playing drums by then (laughs) I got to learn to be a little more patient some times (laughs)
BR: What would be the best song on the new album to have sex to?
TT: (laughs) hmmmmm.... although the lyrics don't fit well at all for this I'm going to say Hold Me Down
BR: Oh really?!
TT: (laughs) If you read all the lyrics it's kind of strange and it could be taken the wrong way for that question's answer (laughs) It's just got a good feel for it I think. Maybe you could just ignore the lyrics.
BR: How do your live shows compare to your recordings? Do you think it translates well?
TT: I'd like to think so. A lot of our fans say they like our CD's but like our live show even more. We try to convey that a little more this time round. We tried to make sure the record still had a lot of energy 'cause our live shows are pretty energetic. We try to give it everything that we can. It depends on who you ask really. To me personally sometimes I hear our record and then I'll hear a live recording and I'll be like 'wow that's a sloppy mess'. Where as all these other people will be like your great I like you a lot more live than on the record. It's hard to say. Live is so much more of an in the moment thing, you got to have fun with it. Recording you just want to make it as perfect as you can.
BR: What's the stupidest thing you've ever seen at one of your shows?
TT: Awwww man there's been some interesting things happen (laughs) There was actually this moment I could stop laughing at recently. We were playing a show in Lawrence, Kansas this was a couple of weeks ago we have ear monitors and with ear monitors you don't really hear the audience too well, so we actually put a mic at the front of the stage, an audience mic so we could hear the crowd, and there was no barrier between the stage and barrier that night. There was a kid front a center and we were playing our song Everything's Alright and the kid decided to grab that microphone and start singing into that mic. The crowd couldn't hear it at all but it's really really loud in our ears (laughs) It was so loud that it was overpowering the music. Here was this kid screaming into the mic and Josh actually went over and grabbed the mic out of the kids hand because it was killing our ears. As the song kept going on I could not stop laughing and then it came time for me to start singing some backup vocals and I could hardly sing because I was laughing so hard. It was just one of those things that no one will know how ridiculous it sounded except for us in the band that actually heard what was happening.
BR: Most people have obsessions, is there something you're obsessed with at the moment?
TT: I have a lot of really dumb obsessions. I've had my musical obsess for a long time, I love love love Ben Folds. That's up there. I'm also just a big nerd and I'll always be five years old at heart. I have weak spots for things like Star Wars, The Muppets and things like that. A lot of things like that are my obsessions and it's kind of ridiculous for someone my age.
BR: Do you collect anything?
TT: (laughs) Yes I do. It goes with that same thing. I have lots of toys.
BR: Me too!
TT: There you go (laughs) we should talk sometime.
BR: I collect a lot of Pez and stuff like that.
TT: I have some but but usually only the Star Wars related ones (laughs) I have lots of Star Wars and Muppet toys. Anything that was a huge thing in my childhood I haven't really let go of.
BR: So you're also any eighties child?
TT: I did. I'm an old man!
BR: That would make me an old woman then! I grew up in the eighties too! I've got all the Fraggle Rock toys and Masters Of The Universe.
TT: Oh yeah! I'm excited because they're putting season one of Fraggle Rock on DVD over here. It actually comes out on my birthday! I'm not complaining because we're going to Australia but I think I'll be spending sixteen hours of my birthday on a plane back from Australia.
BR: When you get home though you can by Fraggle Rock!
TT: I sure can!!! (laughs)
By BIANCA ROSE
www.motioncitysoundtrack.com
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
murderbydavid:
its always exciting to hear a favourite band of yours shares a common intrest with you, in this case i im excited he loves the muppets
starbuck42:
I really hate what Mark Hoppus did to that album. He has all sorts of generic pop/punk appeal but I loved the unique, if somewhat rough sound they had on their earlier stuff. I'll always love them though even if I do want to punch Mark Hoppus in the face.