Pulls pranks, hangs with Hoppus - just don't ask to touch his hair
By Rob Ebert
If there's one thing to be said about Motion City Soundtrack's Justin Pierre, it is that despite the crazy hair, he could never be mistaken for someone in Motley Crüe. While one sort of expects that bars, trashed hotels and maternity suits to be part of the touring scene, it is not farther from the truth. To be honest, Pierre tries to avoid too much excitement.
"I don't have fun on tour mostly, it's bad for my voice. A lot of people can go out and do cocaine, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol but I can't," Pierre, the band's lead singer and guitarist, said.
Protecting his voice was such a problem that he sought out professional help.
"I kept losing my voice so I went to some voice guru in New York," Pierre said. "The first half hour was him telling me how many people he has worked with and the second half was him telling me how much I sucked."
MCS comes from the Midwest — Minneapolis, Minn., to be exact. Considering the close proximity to Chicago's Fall Out Boy, it is no wonder Justin and Patrick Stump have traded favors. Pierre appeared on the track "Chicago Is So Two Years Ago" from Take This To Your Grave while Stump sings on "Everything Is Alright" off of MCS's latest, Commit this to Memory.
Unfortunately, conditions were less than ideal for Pierre sing.
"When I came into record it was at the end of a tour, my voice was completely shot," he said. "We recorded at liked two or four in the morning, but it did turn out sounding a lot better than I remember."
Pierre wanted to make sure Stump paid for that situation.
"So, to get that (guy) back we had him on 'Everything is Alright,'" Pierre said, laughing. "He nailed it on the second take, because his voice is so good, but we made him do like 12. That's how we have fun in Motion City Soundtrack."
That's not the only notable guest that worked on Commit This to Memory. It was produced by Mark Hoppus, better known for his own band, Blink 182. Hoppus was cut from a different mold than the band's last producer.
"Our last album, the producer was more like, 'Are you going to sing today princess?' and Mark was more like 'this song needs to breathe a little more.' He was more laid back."
And he's still Mark Hoppus — from Blink 182.
"It's weird because it's like 'I've seen this guy running naked on TV, yet he's a musical genius," Pierre said.
With two albums under their belt, as well as a video for "Everything is Alright," Pierre is feeling like the celebrity a little bit. Most fans he meets have a simple, but odd, request.
"The most random thing fans want to do is touch my sideburns or my hair. I have no idea why; if they knew what lived in there they wouldn't want to."
"I don't have fun on tour mostly, it's bad for my voice. A lot of people can go out and do cocaine, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol but I can't," Pierre, the band's lead singer and guitarist, said.
Protecting his voice was such a problem that he sought out professional help.
"I kept losing my voice so I went to some voice guru in New York," Pierre said. "The first half hour was him telling me how many people he has worked with and the second half was him telling me how much I sucked."
MCS comes from the Midwest — Minneapolis, Minn., to be exact. Considering the close proximity to Chicago's Fall Out Boy, it is no wonder Justin and Patrick Stump have traded favors. Pierre appeared on the track "Chicago Is So Two Years Ago" from Take This To Your Grave while Stump sings on "Everything Is Alright" off of MCS's latest, Commit this to Memory.
Unfortunately, conditions were less than ideal for Pierre sing.
"When I came into record it was at the end of a tour, my voice was completely shot," he said. "We recorded at liked two or four in the morning, but it did turn out sounding a lot better than I remember."
Pierre wanted to make sure Stump paid for that situation.
"So, to get that (guy) back we had him on 'Everything is Alright,'" Pierre said, laughing. "He nailed it on the second take, because his voice is so good, but we made him do like 12. That's how we have fun in Motion City Soundtrack."
That's not the only notable guest that worked on Commit This to Memory. It was produced by Mark Hoppus, better known for his own band, Blink 182. Hoppus was cut from a different mold than the band's last producer.
"Our last album, the producer was more like, 'Are you going to sing today princess?' and Mark was more like 'this song needs to breathe a little more.' He was more laid back."
And he's still Mark Hoppus — from Blink 182.
"It's weird because it's like 'I've seen this guy running naked on TV, yet he's a musical genius," Pierre said.
With two albums under their belt, as well as a video for "Everything is Alright," Pierre is feeling like the celebrity a little bit. Most fans he meets have a simple, but odd, request.
"The most random thing fans want to do is touch my sideburns or my hair. I have no idea why; if they knew what lived in there they wouldn't want to."
Published: 11/10/05 Section: Marquee
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
randomfan
posted 11/06/07 @ 8:50 PM CST
ommmmmg I LOVE motion city soundtrack! justin is the best singer in the entire freakin world. he is seriosly amazing! and i adore "commit this to memory" and espeacially "I am the movie". (Continued…)
Ally
posted 2/22/08 @ 8:01 PM CST
I laughed numerous times while reading this ^___^
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