Drummer
Tony Thaxton of Motion City Soundtrack has a cool name. It’s
sorta like something you might hear on Star Trek: “Captain
Thaxton to the bridge, immediately!” He also likes to talk.
A lot. Which he apologizes for, even though it’s a godsend
considering how many interviews I’ve conducted with verbally
incontinent artists.
He and the band are on their way to Duluth, Minnesota, when we connect,
and the barren abyss that is the state’s highway system offers
only intermittent reception. He cuts out a few times, so we have
to start and restart the conversation. None of this seems to bother
him, though. Even the fact that today is the first day back on the
road has left him unfazed. “It’s not even like we think
about touring anymore,” he says. “It’s just what
we do. It’s mostly what we’ve known these last couple
of years and there’s no sign of it letting up.”
Often labeled as punk-pop because of their label Epitaph’s
roster (Bad Religion, Millencolin, Pennywise) and, oh yeah, the
fact that they’re Warped Tour celebs, Motion City Soundtrack
is about to debut their second album, Commit This To Memory.
“What we’ve been doing, I guess that aspect of it is,
to an extent, a punk band because for the longest time we were doing
it ourselves,” explains Thaxton. “For the majority of
the last three years, we’ve been touring in a van and playing
as many shows as possible. That aspect of it is punk, but I certainly
don’t think of us as sounding like a punk band.” That’s
good, because they don’t. It’s a more mature sound this
time out, more alt-pop than skater-punk—think Jimmy Eats World,
but consistently good. You know, rather than only being good enough
to turn out one great song per album.
Much of this has to do with the influence of a new producer, whom
you might have heard of. Mark Hoppus? Doesn’t ring a bell,
eh? Well, maybe his band will: Blink 182. Yep, now you’ve
got it now. “We were writing and on tour with them and trying
to figure out who we were going to get to produce and Mark threw
out one day that he really wanted to get into producing,“
says Thaxton. “We didn’t know if he was saying that
as a hint, or just getting it out there.” Hint or whatever,
it worked because Motion City Soundtrack and Hoppus soon hit the
studio together.
“He definitely had ideas about where he wanted these songs
to end up, as far as what kind of sound he wanted for each of them,”
says Thaxton. “Down to what kind of guitar tone he wanted
for this song or what kind of snare drum sound he wanted for that
song.” Hmm, egotistical megalomaniac or hardcore collaborator?
“No, he was always like, ‘Look, I’m just here
to throw my two cents in. In the end, this is still your guys’
record.’ What’s strange to us is that he’s a fan
of our band, so he’d say he didn’t want to screw things
up for us.”
With Commit This To Memory set to hit record stores this
June, you might expect a frenzied congestion of appearances and
tour dates filling up Motion City Soundtrack’s calendar, but
it’s business as usual for the five-member band: Touring,
touring, touring. Small venues, medium-sized venues, and, of course,
the Vans Warped Tour this summer. The only obvious anomaly is the
video for their first single, “Everything Is Alright,”
that they shot the day before Thaxton and I spoke. Filmed in Toronto,
it involves a rare collaboration of directors-—Chris Mills
(Modest Mouse) and Chris Grismer (The Arcade Fire)—and is
the first time the band had a real budget to play with. There’s
even going to be animation. Everything else is just life as normal
for Thaxton and his cohorts. “We’re such a boring band,”
he says. Motion City Soundtrack isn’t your typical band of
practical joke-pulling, alcohol-swilling rockers. “We’re
pretty much the old band out on tour,” Thaxton says. “Not
even everybody in the band drinks. Nobody smokes. After a show,
we’re just looking to take a shower, play on the internet,
and head to bed.”
There’s one more thing I need to know before I hang up on
Thaxton, or am disconnected by the wiles of Minnesota’s big
open nothing. Motion City Soundtrack. Who the hell came up with
that one? “That was before my time with the band,” he
laughs, “but Josh’s brother, he had this idea for like
a Volkswagen repair shop or something. I don’t know. But he
wanted to call it Motion City Soundtrack for some reason. When the
band started up, they asked for permission to use it.” So
you heard it here first, folks: Motion City Soundtrack—named
for a mechanic shop.
Motion City Soundtrack plays the Blind Pig on Thursday, May
5, with Zolof the Rock N’ Roll Destroyer, Melee, and Small
Towns Burn a Little Slower. All ages. Doors 6:30 p.m. Tickets $10
in advance, $12 day of show. The Blind Pig is located at 208 S.
First Street, Ann Arbor. 996-8555
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