Motion City Soundtrack

Interviewee: Jesse Johnson, Synthesizerist of Motion City Soundtrack
Date: August 10, 2005
Press Conference Style Interview

Okay, you’re on the Warped Tour. How’s it like to be the Warped Tour for you’re fourth year?
Warped Tour for us gets better every year. First year we did three days in a van. Second year we did 8 days in a van. Last year we did a month. This year we did like 6 weeks. With having a brand new record out, it ahs definitely shown a more hectic time for us. More fans coming and singing along. Everything has been really awesome and we get to hang out with our friends in bands that we never get to see. It’s kind of like a punk rock style summer camp for us.

There’s apparently a new trend with keyboards. You’ve all done crazy stuff. Can you take them on? Who’s the craziest synthesizer?
Um, who’s the craziest? I think that’s all different. James, who plays in Get-Up Kids and Reggie and Full Effect, has been doing it longer than most people. Obviously, he’s been playing a lot longer and more accomplished than I am. And yeah, you got Rob from Mae, he may not be the craziest but he can play multiple keyboards at a time and he knows piano and stuff like that. The guy from Underoath, he’s awesome too and he’s really good at getting the crowd going. Everybody has their own niche for what suits their band and I think the idea is that for years is that keyboarders were off to the side of the stage. And finally, people were saying “screw that we can sweat too.”

Have you guys been inspired from other forms of media like movies or books?
Definitely Justin, he reads about 4 or 5 books per tour. He’s also an avid movie collector; pretty much every cent of his money is spent on books or DVDs. I think of that is shown through his lyrics and his writing style. The way he writes his lyrics can be kind of dramatic, and he uses some words that might not end up in most people’s lyrics. I think it definitely shows through his part.

Do you feel the songwriting has changed between albums? I think I am movie is a little more melodramatic, how about you tell me?
I think I am the movie is a little more frantic. I think it is because of a few reasons. A) Some of the songs from I am the movie were 5 years old and some were 4 days old. So I think there was quite of span of time. It was obviously the first full length we ever did. In writing styles there’s a lot of parts where all of us play at the same time. There wasn’t a lot of space to be different. On the new record, it was the first time we were writing during touring and all five of us writing at the same time. And also at the same time, Mark Hoppus come in and listen to the songs and tell us what he likes and doesn’t like. Sometimes it was hard to step away from your songs and hear them the way someone else hears them and I think he was a big help in that. Having the time and money to spend more time on the record made a big difference.

Today you guys played at the amphitheater it was really hot and security everywhere. Next time you guys will be playing in a club where there’s no security or barricade. Which do you prefer?
I would say we definitely prefer clubs. It’s a lot more intimate and there’s seem to a lot more connection with the fans. We prefer that definatley more and that’s generally obviously what we do. On the other hand, having the opportunity, like the time we played arenas and amptitheaters when we toured with Blink 182 and did a show with no doubt. It was obviously their fans but it is an awesome opportunity to play for that many people. You take what you can get in a way and if get the opportunity to do something that’s awesome, you kind of go with it.

Is there something you wanna tell your fans?
Basically thanks. It’s our fans that are the people that let us do what we want to do. Most of us wanted to play ever since we were very young and played music when we were very young. It our fans that enable us to do that. It’s very awesome. I wouldn’t want any other job in the world.