The Mission In Motion
Sydney's The Mission In Motion have been kicking for a few years now, with countless tours and two EP releases, the band has just recently released their debut album "Somewhere Safe". The band's singer Brett spoke to us about the album, as well as their upcoming tours with Senses Fail and Scary Kids Scaring Kids.
Sydney's The Mission In Motion have been kicking for a few years now, with countless tours and two EP releases, the band has just recently released their debut album "Somewhere Safe". The band's singer Brett spoke to us about the album, as well as their upcoming tours with Senses Fail and Scary Kids Scaring Kids.
Start off by stating your name, what you play in The Mission In Motion and your favourite restaurant in Sydney?
My name is Brett, I sing and my favourite restaurant is Cafe Pacifico. Good burritos and great Margerita’s.
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The band’s debut album “Somewhere Safe” is out now.
What was the writing and recording process like for the album?
The writing process was super long Far and i were in his home studio every day for months just working through every part of every song and demoing everything to make it what we wanted and then we recorded it over the space of a year so it was really a year and a half’s worth of work but as much as it was hard work it was super rewarding to see everything come together and hear our ideas finished.
Did you do anything different when writing this album compared to the previous two EP’s?
I think we were willing to try anything on the recording of this album and that made the songs better. We weren’t going to shy away from a four part harmony or a piano section for fear of not being able to replicate it live and I think that’s definitely something a lot of bands are conscience of (and something a lot of bands should be conscnience of) and now that we have Rohan in the band we can pull off a lot more things we couldn’t previously. I also think that there was so much more to say than ever before. Lyrically it was almost difficult to fit in everything we wanted to say into one record and I think that is definitely a good problem to have.
What are your thoughts now that the album is finally out?
Relief? Hahaha we never write songs for approval or praise but when you write songs that you really like and other people seem to like them too then that’s definitely a relief and we have been pretty lucky with the comments/reviews etc that have been coming back to us about the album. It’s also nice just to have it out, i mean we started it a year and a half ago so it feels really good to finally be album to say “Here is what we spent so much time on”.
The album was once again released by Taperjean Records, what made the band decide to release the album with them?
It was always the obvious choice for us, even before we signed with them we wanted them to put out Curse and we always liked the bands they were signing so we figured it would be the best fit for us and thankfully Andrew (label owner) thought so too. Also it’s not like we have ever had labels breaking down our door so we are thankful to have a label home and somewhere to put out what we do and support us, Andrew worries about the band just as much as we do and when we have triumphs he will be just as stoked as we are and i think that’s definitely a blessing.
Has the band gotten any feedback about the album yet?
Yeah definitely, there are a lot of comments coming out and they are all super positive from people who like the band to friends we have in bands we have toured with to family etc It’s all been really uplifting especially after all the shit we have gone through to get to this point in our band we put a lot on the line to make this record, we paid for it completely on our own and sacrificed our work, relationships etc to write it and record it so to hear that the effort is appreciated is really cool.
Do you have a favourite song on the album? If so, why?
What do you do is probably my favourite song on the record, i just like that we put a song like that on the album next to all the faster heavier songs and the writing process of that song was really cool. Caitlin and i wrote that over a couple of days and then went straight into the studio to record it so it wasn’t too thought over or worried about it was just written and then recorded straight away and i just like the way it turned out. Plus her voice is incredible and i am happy that she has a place on the record.
The album comes with a bonus disc including live, remixed and acoustic tracks. What was the reasoning behind including this disc?
We just wanted to include as much material as we could, we are never going to sell a shitload of records but to give people who waited a long time a reason to go out and pick up the physical copy when it came out was something we really concentrated on. Also we had always done those older songs at acoustic shows and always played them the way they are on the bonus disc so i think it’s cool to give the songs another spin and interpret them a different way.
The album also features guest vocals by Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line/Person L. How did the band get Kenny to sing on the record?
We were on the road with him when he came out for the acoustic tour last year, we were about half way through recording and Far and i had said if we get along really well with him we should just take a shot and ask him if he would be into it. Turned out he is one of the nicest people we have ever been on the road with he is such a funny, creative guy and after a few shows we managed to get the balls up to ask him and he was totally into it so we went into the studio the next day and he laid it down in literally ten minutes we were stunned hahaha and then he sang the part live with us for the rest of the tour, looking to my left during that song and seeing him singing with us was just one of those amazing moments i was like “Holy Shit! Kenny Vasoli!” hahaha
The first single from the album, “New Skin”, has started to get a bit of airplay lately. Did you ever expect to see this happen?
Not at all. I mean we definitely hoped it would but we were really surprised when we started getting messages and phone calls daily saying “Dude your on Triple J!” and I think it’s definitely helped get the record more attention so we were really thankful for it.
The band will be touring with Senses Fail in a few weeks, what are you looking forward to the most about these shows?
I think to be playing rooms bigger than we can do on our own is definitely something everyone is happy about, just to go out and promote the shit out of this record to a lot of people who would have never heard us before is definitely something we are excited to do. Also to just get back out on the road i mean we haven’t toured since May? That’s a fairly long time for us so everyone has that itching to be back out and playing shows.
You will also be playing a lot of the dates for the upcoming Scary Kids Scaring Kids tour, including the New Zealand shows. What do you think you can expect playing shows over there?
I honestly have no idea hahah, we have heard it’s a really good place to play though from a few people. We are just starting to get used to the idea of playing in different countries, we went to Singapore earlier in the year and that was just crazy 4 years ago we were wondering if we would ever play interstate and now we are leaving the country for the second time? No matter how the shows are we are going to be happy just to be able to go.
The band has shot a few music videos now; will you be shooting one for any of the songs from the album?
A video for New Skin has been done and should be out pretty soon, we spent an entire night in a warehouse in Sydney shooting it and it’s turned out to be a pretty cool looking video. We will also shoot another video in the next few months for the next single but we are all throwing around ideas as to what song we think we should release next etc.
Who are your main influences when writing songs for the band?
I think we all have pretty different influences nowadays i mean i am listening to completely different music now then what i was when we first started as a band and that definitely comes through as we write more and more songs and that goes the same for every body in our band we literally have COMPLETELY different music tastes which i think is only going to continue to benefit the songs we write.
Do you have any goals that you would like to achieve with this band?
Definitely, i think the common goal we all have is to hopefully at some point be able to do this for a living. Not have to convince bosses to let us piss off half way around the country for weeks at a time hahaha.
What is your favourite, and least favourite thing about being in a band?
My favourite thing is touring, just to be around music pretty much 24 hours a day is perfect for me, getting to watch bands play and to play ourselves and the camaraderie that goes on when 2 or 3 bands are all on tour together and everyone is there for the same reasons i just think that’s a really great thing.
Least favourite? Being constantly broke? Hahaha that’s probably high up there.
The band is no stranger to the road these days, who is the most annoying member of the band while on tour?
Me. Without a doubt. Constantly loud, constantly talking about topics no one gives a shit about hahahaha.
What albums get played the most in the van?
Most of what we listen to comes off our tour manager Pees’s ipod, that ipod has everything. I think a lot of Fleetwood Mac, old Saves The Day, Wherewolves, Lucero, Jeff Buckley, Descendents, and Sigur Ros were being played on the last tour, i vaguely remember being yelled at for playing Tom Petty for like 2 hours, but we will also play the shit out of whoever we are on tour with last tour The Dream, The Chase ep got a working in our van.
Who are some bands you have been enjoying lately that we should be listening to?
The last two records I bought that I really got into were: Band of Horses – Infinite Arms and the new self-titled Steel Train is amazing.
What are the band’s plans for the rest of 2010?
Just to keep touring, release another single, there has been talk of us going overseas again at some point. Just look for more and more excuses to stay out on the road really.
Thanks for doing the interview, any last words or shout outs?
Thanks for reading and supporting the band if you have picked up the record or even downloaded it we appreciate that people are taking the time to listen to what we are doing. Oh and The Vike needs to get rid of his Rhianna hair cut, just sayin. Xo.
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