What instrument did you start on, and what do you play now?
I started my musical journey playing guitar, starting in early 2008. I’ve stuck loyally to guitar and it is still my number one weapon of choice.When was your first gig and how'd it go?
My first gig was in mid-2010 as part of a VET music course I did at a different school to what I was attending. I felt that the gig went very well and was definitely good for all of us as we came out of our shells onstage. Plus, won the honour of being the loudest band of the night. (I may have been involved with this and the producing said volume)
What drives you to play? What motivates you to go that extra mile to play music?
I guess what drives me to play music is just sheer love for it, my personal philosophy is that ‘I’d gladly die tomorrow knowing that people will remember me for something I’ve created’. I guess that philosophy also states my drive to go far in music, I want to create something that people can share and happily listen to and enjoy. As well as that, music is the only thing I am apparently good at, and that is a real positive for me because I’ve never really been fantastic at anything before. There’s also that endless quest of trying to reach a new level of playing, that’s another thing that I am willing to go that extra yard for.
Best gig you’ve played? Worst?
I guess the best gig I’ve played was in august of 2012, at my band’s comeback show from our 5 month absence. I guess just all the stress and worry over the incident we had with our ‘was to be’ E.P (that’s another story for later) kind of left me broken a bit and I had lost close to all my confidence. To come back with the response we had and the crowd we had at that show. . Wow man, something I wasn't expecting in the slightest. 100 fans at a small venue going mental crowd surfing, onstage with you and violently head banging just leaves you in a state of euphoria, can’t help but be happy knowing something you have done has made so many happy and enjoying themselves. Now, the worst show.. Come to think of it, we haven’t really had any nightmare shows. We did however have this one issue at a venue in Ballarat called Karova Lounge. This show was our 3rd show so we still had our vocalist John at this point, during our set, there was this majorly strange interference between the guitar and the sound system. According to the sound guy the only ‘plausible’ solution was to take ALL guitars out of the mix entirely so onstage and in the audience, the band’s mix was just drums bass and vocals.
Influences: What are your top 5 albums?
I don’t as such have ‘top’ bands or albums as I love all my music equally so I guess to answer this I will just list 5 albums in no particular order that I really like.
1. ‘Make Yourself’ – Incubus
2. ‘Train Of Thought’ – Dream Theatre
3. ‘The New Normal’ – Cog
4. ‘Hybrid Theory’ – Linkin Park
5. ‘Themata’ – Karnivool
What's the best gig you've ever seen?
I haven’t really seen many gigs to be honest, I’ve only gone to a handful of local shows and like two arena shows which were AC/DC (2008) were and Bullet for my Valentine (2010). I will say one of the best live performances I have seen though was actually at our comeback show, ‘Branch Arterial’ totally destroyed the place and their set was ridiculously tight and intricate which is just how I like a set! You give energy to the crowd and they appreciate it!
What have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been stuck with this strong case of writers block so to combat I’ve been listening to a wide variety of stuff, varying from 30-40’s swing groups like; Benny Goodman, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Les Paul and Mary Ford to more contemporary, technical bands like Gru’s ‘Cosmogenesis’ album. I’ve really been indulging in Radiohead, Dead Letter Circus and Pink Floyd too recently. I just try keeping an open mind about listening to new things all the time, throws a new twist in your writing!
What's a band you dig that no one would expect you would like?
I am a total sucker for soul/funk bands, so I am hugely into Rick James! I love all that kind of funk stuff. Believe me if there was one style I wish I could write, it would be funk/soul. I also really love Earth Wind and Fire; I’ve got their whole discography!
Motionless Me: For those who don't know who Motionless Me are, bring us up to speed on the band. Who are you? And what do you do?
Okay well, Motionless Me is an instrumental rock band from Geelong. We are one of those bands that people have a hard time categorising as we tend to bring in some elements that make us more left of center for people to decipher. I guess it’s true, we throw in elements of Progressive music, to alternative and rock music, so I guess ‘Instrumental alternative hard rock’ is the best bet. We are just a bunch of mates together making music and doing what we love, trying to get our music out to wider audiences and having fun along the way.
I know you had a lot of trouble trying to get a band together, and once you did, you lost a vocalist. What do you feel the other members bring to the band, and how do you all approach the challenge of being completely instrumental?
It was a pretty big shift in dynamics to lose what most people consider the crux of a band so all of had to really kick it up a notch to compensate. As a result, we had to become A LOT more polished and tight as a band whilst remaining technicality so that audiences wouldn't get bored of us. I think each member brings something different to the band in the way that we approach things, Dean is a more go with the flow kind of guy in the sense that he’s keen for whatever pops up and does his best to rise to the occasion. Jake brings a more dynamic role in the band in the fact that he, as a drummer has a lot of pressure to maintain consistency in the songs so he practices regularly and that helps us be a lot more refined, plus being a really technical music i.e. Dream Theater and Periphery, he is able to find the fine line between technicality and consistency which some people tend to cross, that helps us sound a lot more like a unit and ‘progressive’ in a way. I am a control freak and can admit to that, I’m always organizing and booking and everything and keeping tabs over what the guys are doing (occasionally telling them that they should be practicing) but in my other time I practice frantically, both rhythm and lead which helps make the music a lot more interesting as I can interchange between a solid and fat rhythm to a lead break or solo while the guys have dynamically met me at the point of change.
How does the song writing process work for the band? and what unique twist do believe you bring to your genre?
Our writing process is very simple and very close minded, I essentially write up a complete tab of a song that I have been working on/finished which is complete with bass, drums, keys and whatever else I may choose to throw in for studio dubs and whatnot down the track. I’ll send it to the guys and say ‘this is what’s going on in my head, don’t feel obliged to follow it in any way it’s just what I hear in this’ and then they will go off and learn it, adding their own little twists….sometimes. I think classifying something as unique these days is hard because we live in a second hand world were everything is borrowed from somewhere in some way, like influences. When we have asked fans what they like about us and they bring up the word unique, it’s more or so the idea that the riffs or chord progression I’ll write with are labelled as ‘motionless me’ as I tend to use extravagant and big chords, at times mixed with licks and other fancy stuff in-between. I just don’t get much satisfaction out of your standard power chord as everybody uses them, I find something like a suspended chord so much more interesting!
Like myself,you are all in the final year of high school.What's the plan post year 12? I believe an E.P is in the works? (this question was asked a while ago now)Well, an E.P is always in the works I guess but as recording at the places we want too can be expensive, we are looking at more gigging for a while and just earning enough cash and fans over the time to fully justify an E.P. We also plan to focus a lot more on Melbourne next year as Geelong’s music scene isn’t really good for us, despite being our home town and where our allegiance lies, Geelong’s music scene as many would know is very one sided in that metal has and probably always will rule the town. We are also potentially scheming an interstate show or two..
So for this I chose the first record I ever received. I got this off a brother’s co-worker back in 2008 when I was still very new to guitar and rock music as a whole. I remember listening to it on my record player that I stole out of my brother’s room and being completely enticed in the music. This record hooked me on guitar and I knew then that it was the instrument I wanted to play forever, despite my doubts after I struggled to grip the basics initially. So yeah, very sentimental to me. Plus the album cover is pretty cool and my record’s sleeve has a, let’s say ‘distinctive’ smell to it from it’s previous owner, a somewhat narcotic smell…
Motionless Me
28th December @ The Barwon Club w/
Our Lady Of Pain
The Greeting Method
Insygnial
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