Interview – Motion City Soundtrack

With publications raving about their recent release My Dinosaur Life, it’s no surprise Motion City Soundtrack have been busy week in and week out. We got the chance to chat with guitarist Josh Cain about touring, working with producer Mark Hoppus and the praises the band has received from critics.

The winter has been a busy one for you guys so far with the release of a new record. How excited are you for the next few months?

Super excited, so much going on with the band and our lives. My wife is giving birth to our first child in May. With the new record, my life is pretty crazy right now.
 
It seems like the press won’t take the spotlight off you. Did you ever think while you were recording that you would ever get this much attention?

We never really think about it. We just make music we love and hope other people love it as well. We have always thought of ourselves as “the underdogs”, I know this might sound crazy to some but this helps our drive to stay creative and work hard for what we get.
 
Along with general praises, My Dinosaur Life has also received five star ratings from major music publications like Alternative Press. How does a review like that affect you as a musician?

It is nice, sometimes its hard to swallow compliments. We are humble about what we do but it does make me feel good to hear that people enjoy our music.
 
One can see that the music is the reason for such a reception and it’s no secret, the new record has an old Motion City Soundtrack feel to it. Was this something you guys focused on or did it just kind of happen?

Normally I would say we didn’t set out to do anything, but this record was a bit different in that I think we wanted to not worry about being successful and just make a rock record. When we started writing it, some of the first songs we wrote were darker and a lot heavier than Even If It Kills Me. We were really digging that direction and the rest just kind of fell into place. It was an experience that made us feel free.

You’ve given a lot of credit to producer Mark Hoppus for his work. Do you think he helped you reveal yourselves or quietly push your boundaries as far as your sound goes?

I think he helped us make a really energetic, dark and fun record. He also helped us feel free to be ourselves, trust our guts and not worry about the outcome.
 
Do you think you’ll get Mark to produce your next album?

Always a possibility. I definitely would not rule it out.
 
Was the songwriting process difficult this time around?

Yes we ran into some pitfalls. Tony broke his arm in the middle of writing the record which brought us to a halt. We had to rethink how we wrote songs and ended up using the Internet to email ideas back and forth, flushing them out in our own homes. In the end it worked out really well for us and will likely use this new technique in the future.
 
How did you guys come up with the name My Dinosaur Life?

It was a misquote from a movie that Justin was using in his everyday life. When you would ask him what he was doing he would say “thinking about my dinosaur life”. He threw it in one of our songs which is a b-side to our record. We liked the line and thought it implied some deeper meanings so we used it.

Along with being scheduled to play Soundwave 2010 in Australia, you’ve been included in this year’s Vans Warped Tour. How excited are you to be hitting the road, playing show after to show to thousands of North American fans that are eager to see you guys play?

Warped Tour is always hot, sweaty and a dirty mess, which makes it also one of the most amazingly fun rock tours to do. We are stoked!
 
Do you have any plans to tour from April 2010 until Warped Tour? If so, are there any bands you hope to play with?

Yeah, we have tour in the United Kingdom with Jenny Owen Youngs. Then a three week tour in the United States after that with fun., A Rocket To The Moon and Sing It Loud.
 
Some critics have claimed My Dinosaur Life to be your best record yet. Do you agree or do you think the best is yet to come?

I just enjoy making music and hope to be able to continue to do that. There is always more to explore we will have to wait and see what the future brings.

 
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