INTERVIEW: Us In Motion
rj frometa
Friday, August 16, 2019
34704
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
We’ve been doing well. It’s been a lot of work over the last month preparing for the album release.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Romantics”?
Romantics is the lightest song on the record, and to me, probably the most important. Writing it was a much-needed therapeutic process, and I wanted to capture that in the lyrics and overall mood of the song. Rather than focusing on the grieving aspect, the song is about how we cope with losing a loved one. I wanted to focus on the “what can I do to move on and live with myself” view point opposed to the “I miss you; I wish you were here” that we normally get in music. I believe that it’s our responsibility to check in on the ones we love and make sure the pain from the initial trauma doesn’t come back.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
The inspiration behind the song is not a specific event in my life, but the culmination of many. I’ve known a lot of people that have passed away too soon, and it weighs heavily on you. You never expect it, no one ever does.
How was the filming process and experience behind the video?
Filming the video was exciting, yet slightly stressful at times. We had to shoot it in a pretty small timeframe, so the pressure was on. Our last single “In the Mourning” was only a visualette, so we’d never been a part of a “real” video shoot with story elements and performance shots before. It was exciting to have multiple sets and bring life to the visuals I’d been seeing in my head for so long.
The single comes off your new album Nothing Above – what’s the story behind the title?
The album has gone through some working titles. While writing and recording it, we would refer to it as I came up with that title while I was going through some heavy stuff. In short, whenever I felt like I had overcome a rough spot in my life, I quickly realized you never fully revert back to normal. It’s bittersweet in nature. You find a way to live past it and grow as a person, but like a ghost, even though you don’t “see it” it’s still there in the shadows haunting you from time to time. The stories in these songs are my “ghosts”. The title Nothing Above evolved from that concept when all of those feelings started to negatively affect me. I became very apathetic, and that apathy bled into every part of my life, affecting how I view the world, higher powers, and life itself. The only spiritual thing I felt in my life were those “ghosts”. All in all, it’s a blanket statement about my religious beliefs. I believe that we create our own realities and that we should focus more on the issues and “ghosts” that we put into the world, cos to me, those are the ones that matter most.
How was the recording and writing process?
The writing process was great! Most of the songs off the album are from ideas that we’d been working on over the last couple of years. They’ve had much needed time to grow into what they are now. I tend to work best that way. I like working a couple albums in advance and getting the initial demoing and planning done. Then, I will revisit the songs to finish and modernize them when it’s time to record that album. This way every song grows with us and gets the proper time needed to mature into the best version of itself. I also feel prepared for any route we want to take with our sound.
What was it like to work with Josh Schroeder and how did that relationship develop?
It was an incredible experience working with Josh! We first spoke to him in June 2018 about making this record with us. We sent him some of our demos and then started recording around mid-August. From day one, he made us feel at home and comfortable with the whole process. It was very inspiring working with him. He has such a knack for creating depth and clarity in his mixes. All of our favorite records he’s worked on just sound larger-than-life. We knew he was the right fit for our music and he absolutely killed it.
How much did he get to influence the album?
Quite a bit. When we came into the studio, I had all the songs and production written already, but as we were recording, we would come up with new details and layers to add over what we already had. He took many of our existing ideas and expanded on them, creating something far better than we could on our own. He really knew how to develop the songs and polish them. We learned a lot from him during those few weeks.
What role does Nashville play in your music?
Nashville is the place where we all met. I’m from Indiana, and the rest of the guys are from Alabama and Ohio. We all ended up there to attend college and that’s when the band started. We just graduated a couple months ago, and we get to call it home for the next couple years or so. Even though it seems like a country town from a touristy standpoint, every style and subculture of music is offered here. So, it hasn’t impacted our music, but it’s been a big part of the band’s beginnings.
How has 30 Seconds to Mars and Bring Me The Horizon influenced your writing?
For me, the most important part about Us in Motion is the visuals. Every song has a story and a visual to accompany it. That’s what I want to pursue in music much like those two bands have. Each record should have its own aesthetic to it, its own mood, and its own world to accompany the music. Without those things it’s just the same as everyone else’s new album. Music becomes so much deeper when there is more to it than just the songs. We plan on diving deeper into the theatrics with each release.
Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
The inspiration is from personal experience. Sometimes I’m very up front with how I deliver the meanings, but for this record I tucked them away into different stories for each song. I love the theatrics of concept albums and rock operas, so I tried to deliver the meanings in that why. But since this is an EP, rather than one massive story we have five smaller stories that are tied together by the overarching theme. These theatrics are something we plan to go more in depth with for our future music, shows, and videos.
Any plans to hit the road?
Yes! We plan on hitting the road around the fall and winter time.
What else is happening next in Us In Motion’s world?
We’ll be playing shows to support Nothing Above. That’s the primary goal. We want to get the word out and have as many people jump on board as we can. We want to put up some live videos and some stripped versions of songs as well, maybe even some B-sides that didn’t make the record. Everything that fans will need to know will be on our website (usinmotionband.com) and our socials (@usinmotionband).
Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
