Interview: The Mission in Motion
Posted on April 5, 2012 by 10percent
I was lucky enough to have the chance to speak with Brett Islaub, frontman to up and coming Sydney big ballers, The Mission in Motion. Equipped with Vodafone rage inducing line drop outs, extra terrestrial interference and conference operator love, we got down to the nitty gritty about their latest single ‘Control’, their new and yet unnamed release for August, and their All Work No Pay tour kicking off in May. Check it!
Brett! How’s things going?
Yeah, dude! Really good, busy but good, just working on the record at home while we’re off touring. Getting ready to head back on the road in May.
Yeah mate, you guys have been super busy, we’re not even halfway through the year and you’ve been turning heads for 2012!
It’s been awesome, and as you said, super busy, but it’s all been really rewarding. It’s been really good for us as a band. For every ridiculous tour schedule we have, we’re super happy to be out on the road.
I just wanted to get a bit of a background check on the band itself before we get balls deep. How did you guys start?
Well as The Mission in Motion we’ve been around for about 6 years now. We were all in bands when we were teenagers in our home town and when those bands kinda finished or broke up, our current guitarist, Far, ever the musical aficionado, had a song idea that he thought I could sing on, so we went to the studio and recorded it. We started writing some more songs, and then we ended up deciding we wanted to put a band together. We just grabbed everyone we knew who were in other bands with friends at the time and kinda pulled it in from there and the rest is history!
You have your new single ‘Control’ which has been out for a while now and it’s being smashed on Triple J. How does it feel to be receiving such a great reception?
Yeah, man! It’s really surreal for us as a band, we don’t really have aspirations to be any giant rockstars or anything like that. I mean, we started the band because we love music, we wanted to play what we wanted to hear. Then through Triple J playing us on the radio and then getting texts from friends every time one of our songs are played on the radio, it’s kinda crazy. It’s really cool they all jumped on board and supported us. There’s so much love.
Your talent as musicians combined with the airplay from Triple J has seen you develop this great following both locally and I guess internationally which must be so important for the band and going on the coming tour, All Work No Pay. What can we expect from you guys from this tour, especially with the promise of a new album?
I think we’re going to play some songs from the last record that we haven’t played previously on tour and we’re going to play a bunch of new songs as well. But in terms of what you can expect from us? I think that we’ve been the most motivated and positive and happy as we’ve ever been coming off the back of the start of this year especially being out on the road, I mean, for example we’ve been so privileged to play at things like Soundwave that in our camp there’s a real positive and happy vibe. It goes without saying that we’re just gonna try and bring that all out on the road and have a good time.
Just talking about Soundwave, how was it playing Australia’s largest Alternative Festival?
It was ridiculous! It was the most insane experience I’ve ever had in my life! I can’t see there being a better tour in Australia than that. I mean, I was surrounded by bands I grew up with, that I was listening to when I was younger, everyone on the tour was so cool and so nice and so humble and wanting to have a sit and a talk. We kinda walked away from that going ‘holy shit, that was the best thing ever’!
Must have been some surreal shit?
Yeah I was sitting in the airport at Adelaide and I heard this voice talking behind me and I was like ‘I know that voice’ I turned around and it was Tom DeLonge. I was like ‘holy shit!’. I went up and spoke to him and he was the nicest guy, just asking us about the tour and he was so chill. I mean the guys been in one of THE biggest punk rock bands in the world and he was so down to earth. That was what it was like on the tour, there were so many people who were so incredibly nice.
You said before how things have changed for you as a band, how have you developed your style since your previous album to the one you’re about to release now?
I think there are changes within parts of songs, I mean, it’s still very much a Mission record but at the same time there are things that we weren’t trying before and there are things we’ve tried before. With each record we complete we tend to over analyze a bit more, we kind of steer the songs and pull them apart a section at a time and really figure out what fits together as a song and what we like and what we want to hear in the song. I think how we’re working in the studio has become better over time and I think that will be reflected in the record. In terms of production; we’re working with a guy from the US called Will Putney who we haven’t worked with before. We’ve always had the same people on every record previously so it’s kinda getting to the point where the songs come back after he’s mixed them there’s a fresh sound. There’s just something that we think will make it shine through a bit more and make it a bit different to the other records
More polished?
Nah, not really, more punchy I think. These days production can really drive a song home, especially for a band like us, you know? There are punk rock bands that can record in a garage and their song will sound just as awesome when in a studio. But for our sound, with the production the more the song shines through and I think that’s where the difference is.
In terms of going into the studio with your song creation. What’s your creation process like? Is there one big swinging dick, or do you guys all just take parts and put yourself into it.
Nah. It’s usually Far who writes the majority of the song and then I will write the lyrics myself, or he will write the lyrics himself. Then in terms of melodies he will either come up with it or I will or whatever. Sometimes he’ll sit in a room in his house and be motivated to write a whole song, lyrics and everything, and bring it to us and we’ll be like, ‘that’s awesome!’. It depends on the song, but mostly Far is the principle song writer. In terms of having the songs that he’s brought to me and shown me, I’m more impressed by every song and more excited to record.
So the maturity is changing as well then?
Definitely man, we’re inspired things, we listen to different things.
What are you inspired by yourself?
Oh man, it really depends. The same things inspire me when I was 22 when I first started writing songs, I’m 27 now and I’m very different, I can see things differently now I’ve grown up. But man, it can really be anything. Everyones inspired by a million different things, no ones going to sit around and go ‘you know what, I was really inspired to write this whole record while I was watching Scooby Doo’, that’s stupid man. Like, it would be shit house. [laughs] Actually, you know what, I’ll probably sit there on Saturday on morning and be like, you know what, I’m going to write a song about that.
That would no doubt yield interesting results! Jumping back to your All Work No Pay Tour. I love the title, I want to know what it’s about. Is that something you guys came up with yourself?
Yeah we came up with it. It was essentially a play on words to the fact that we all work full time jobs and we’re all incredibly busy people and we sacrifice a lot of our personal lives and our work especially on tour. The band comes first and music will always comes first for all 5 of us, always, and the title is just a bit of a joke about how busy we are and about how ridiculous things can get while we’re trying to juggle things in our lives. We were sitting in the studio trying to figure out what we were going to call it and the All Work No Pay tour came up and we all thought it was hilarious. Kinda breaks the norm, having a stupid title.
It’s good to see you guys not taking yourself too seriously as well, is that something you pride yourself on?
We’re not the kinda dudes who are going to dick around and be all like ‘we’re artists’ and we have obscure track titles. You know, that’s not us, we’re very ‘what you see is what you get’ and that’s something we pride ourselves on. We don’t want to do anything super cryptic and weird and have people all ‘what are those guys on about’. I mean there are people like that, but we’re not that. We don’t want to project something we’re not. All these bands who are so mysterious and whatever, I think it’s ridiculous.
Do you think that’s becoming a mainstay in Australian music? People taking themselves a little too seriously?
I could give a shit less about any of that. In terms of whether I think it’s happening? Man, I’m sure it is, but it’s not happening right in front of my face. In terms of the bands we play with, it’s not really part of our ‘scene’ I guess but I think there is genuine mystery in some music but I think that people are looking to people like Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards and THEY had mystery. I think there’s a whole lot of throwing back to the 60′s and 70′s right now in music and I think a lot of people are seeing that and trying to force it and to try and be really serious. Really? You’re not fooling anyone. I think if you’re honest about your music and you write it with integrity, no matter what it sounds like it doesn’t really matter as long as you’re true about it and not trying to bullshit anyone. You can only keep up a ridiculous facade for so long until someone see’s you having a good time somewhere and the jig is up.
This is a bit of a soft question but it semi leads on from those comments. In regards to the Australian music scene, the band has been around for 6 years, enough time to see a lot of changes in the way things are done and the emergence of the independent artist. How do you see things developing at the moment?
I think the one main thing that no one can really not comment on is that everywhere the use of the internet is dominating music and I think that’s effected the industry and things like that. However, I think there are good things and bad things about that. I can go on about it all night about how for a band like us it really doesn’t matter if people download our shit for free. The only people who really scream about it are Lars from Metallica and Bono, they’re the ones who are losing sleep about it. Who gives a shit? If all these people are hearing our band, then that’s a win for us, and if that brings someone out to show, then that’s perfect. In terms of music, I think that that there are definitely better things about Australian music, but there are bad things I don’t like about it, for example I don’t like all these fashion bands that have come in who are more worried about straightening their fucking hair than writing good songs. It’s kinda like, if they end up in the charts and kids go ape shit for them, it’s ridiculous. You can’t like a band for someones hair, that’s just stupid. I don’t want to be the old jaded dude who’s having a rant about it, but at the same time there has to be some place for good honest music that means something, not songs that are written to give someone the opportunity to go out on stage and flaunt ‘it’ like they were on a runway. In saying that, on the other hand, people are now not listening as much to what’s on big top 40 commercial radio stations, people are going and finding their own music and finding the underground bands that were otherwise 10 years ago might not have been played or been heard. Things like the Triple J Unearthed station are one of the things that are helping. I really think there’s going to be a massive resurgence of great rock bands over the next 5 years. I’m seeing it now that there a bands coming up that we see on tour who open for us and some of them are absolutely awesome – I’m seriously impressed by a band almost every show that we play. In all honesty, at the end of the day a good live band is a good band, and a good song is a good song. All the production trickery and make up in the world can’t stop a good song from being heard, you know what I mean?
It must be so important for you guys to put on really good live show, I mean, I haven’t had a chance to see you live yet, but a few of the boys have seen you and reckon you bring the heat to the stage. How important is that for you?
That’s great! That’s the thing, we just wanna make sure we are a band that what we do live we bring to the record, and vice versa. At the same time, like everyone else, we have our good nights and our bad nights. Everytime we walk on a stage it’s going to be passionate and we’re going to give it everything we have and I don’t think there’s room for bands that don’t think like that. All the bands that we know like Parkway and Amity Affliction, like those bands actually care about bringing it to their fans and that’s the way it should be.
Right, the new albums coming out, any word on a release date or a title? Or are you keeping it super hush?
There’s no titles yet, when there will be we’ll tell people, we don’t like to keep it hush hush. The record will probably be out in August.
It’s been absolutely fantastic hangin’ with you Brett, but last question: Who would win in a bar brawl? Kony 2012 or Whitney Huston zombie?
Wait, who? Kony? Holy shit. Ummm, I’m going to go with Whitney, I reckon she’d have a longer reach.
TICKETS TO THE ALL WORK NO PAY TOUR ON SALE NOW
FRIDAY 18 MAY –GOLD COAST,SHARK BAR* – 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545 / All Oztix outlets
SATURDAY 19 MAY – BRISBANE, X & Y BAR* – 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545 / All Oztix outlets
THURSDAY 24 MAY – NEWCASTLE NSW, GREAT NORTHERN – 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au & www.bigtix.com.au / 1300 762 545 / All corresponding outlets
FRIDAY 25 MAY – WOLLONGONG, NSW THE PATCH – 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545 / All Oztix outlets
SATURDAY 26 MAY –SYDNEY, ANNANDALE HOTEL – 18+
Tickets available from www.annandalehotel.com / 02 9550 1078
FRIDAY 1 JUNE –ADELAIDE, ENIMGA BAR – LIC/AA
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au / 1300 GET TIX / All Moshtix outlets
SATURDAY 2 JUNE –MELBOURNE, THE TOTE – 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545 / All Oztix outlets
SATURDAY 9 JUNE –PERTH, AMPLIFIER BAR* – 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au & www.moshtix.com.au / 1300 762 545 & 1300 GET TIX / All corresponding outlets
SUNDAY 10 JUNE- FREEMANTLE, NEWPORT HOTEL* –18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au & www.moshtix.com.au / 1300 762 545 & 1300 GET TIX / All corresponding outlets
Presented by Alt Music Hub, Macbeth Footwear. Select Music
* JONESEZ not appearing
All images pinched from The Mission in Motion Facebook.
