This year the CODERED concert on May 1 featured Phantom Planet and Motion City Soundtrack. Despite the small turnout of around 200 students, the excitement on stage from both bands charged the audience, and the night ended with both bands claiming the show was one of their best in recent tours.
Motion City Soundtrack had spent the previous weeks touring Europe. Their first stop back in the states was SMU, but neither jetlag nor dirty laundry would stop the guys from rocking the state in their energized and charmingly awkward fashion.
Three days after the show I had the opportunity of interviewing Motion City Soundtrack’s lead singer Justin Pierre. He talked about the band’s recent tour in Europe, the band’s upcoming album and his time on the McFarlin stage.
What did you think of the CODERED show?
I thought it was awesome. I was a little worried at first because apparently there was no PA for the show. I have no idea what it sounded it like out there. But it was definitely a great show. I’m not lying when I say I think it was the best show of the whole run. Well, I don’t know about performance wise, but I know it was the most fun we’ve had. The amount of fun, definitely, was the best.
I know the band just finished a tour in Europe so were you jetlagged going into the show?
Yeah, we were playing festival dates in the UK and in Europe. We flew into Dallas from London the day before [the show at SMU]. We were definitely jetlagged, which I think just added to the whole experience.
The audience size was a lot smaller than the turnout for a usual show. Was the band disappointed?
A lot of times at college shows the turnout is smaller. It’s a show where everyone can come so it depends. There are so many different people with different tastes in the college environment so usually college shows are smaller. It’s definitely different. You either get a show where everyone shows up but half are just standing around because they don’t really know what we’re doing. But like with this smaller show, most of the kids there were into what we’re doing. There was no one really standing around looking confused.
The band’s third album “Even If It Kills Me” is scheduled to drop Sept. 18. How has recording been coming along? Has anything influenced your sound since the sophomore album “Commit This to Memory”?
Making this album was a different experience because we worked with two different producers. [Part of the record will be co-produced by the tag team of Adam Schlesinger and Eli Janney and part of the record will be produced by Ric Ocasek.] It was about half and half. It was interesting because they were two different producers with two different approaches. I don’t know if I would do it again. It’s confusing because you get into it sort of and start understanding how people work, and then you’re finished and have to start with a new person. If anything, it made it more interesting. It was interesting to work with two different approaches.
The thing I like is [the album] sounds a bit more random. It reminds me more of our first record [“I Am the Movie”], whereas on the second album [“Commit This to Memory”] all of the songs flow and there is one specific sound. Maybe I’m too close to the album to answer this question well. The representative at Epitaph [MCS record label] said this record sounds more like it should come between the first album and the second album. I don’t know if I agree. It’s still us– goofy, dark, funny, all of the above. I sing a little better on it, at least I hope.
