INTERVIEW: motions

Teesside metal band motions are set to release their self-titled debut album. The band are sort of a local supergroup with guitarist Dave Anderson and bass player Jason Robson having played in Kerrang faves Exit By Name. Paddy Jordan is on drums, having previously played guitar for indie-heroes Young Rebel Set as well as producing many of the region’s big names. Completing the line up is vocalist Jonny Grant, who as he explains, took a little convincing. “They had reached out to several vocalists but couldn’t get one to commit. When Dave asked me, I initially said no, due to time constraints, but at Download Festival, seeing all of those amazing live bands over the course of a couple of days, I had a realisation I had an itch I needed to scratch.”

The band emerged from lockdown with the seeds of an album thanks to guitarist Dave. “He wrote a bunch of guitar structures during lockdown, so he nailed the basic start-to-finish structures of the tracks as they are now,” Jonny explains. Since then they’ve each added their influence to create an album that is raw and intense but that has been thoughtfully balanced with gorgeous sonics, including strings, synth and female vocalists Abi King and Krsy Fox, to create a finely-crafted and accessible body of work.

“Sonically, I’d describe the album as groove-driven but also full of clarity. Paddy’s done a fantastic job on production and Dave really structured the songs to take the listener on an emotional journey. It’s heavy, dark and melodic.”

if you think too hard about why there’s so much suffering it can drive you crazy, and certainly angry – you’ll hear a lot of that rage in the songs and lyrics

The themes in the album were inspired by Jonny’s work in safeguarding and addiction, he tells us about the cathartic nature of the album. “Creativity is a healthy way of dealing with such things. I think it’s too easy to become desensitised to other people’s trauma, which can result in you neglecting your own wellbeing, and actually developing vicarious trauma. I’m no psychologist, but it’s hard not to be affected in one way or another by regularly supporting people with suicidal ideation, abuse, neglect, drug use and so on. It’s hard not to see the world in relation to those things. And if you think too hard about why there’s so much suffering it can drive you crazy, and certainly angry – you’ll hear a lot of that rage in the songs and lyrics.”

Parenthood was also a driving force behind the lyrics. “There’s no love like it and it’s impossible for people who aren’t parents to truly understand. But with that comes a fear of loss, which of course most people can understand and relate to. I think being a band allows you to explore that fear in a safe and creative way.”

The band will launch the album at The Georgian Theatre, Stockton on blood red vinyl thanks to Press On Vinyl’s Fairsound initiative. With the infrastructure in place in Teesside and more bands of the alt variety appearing, I ask Jonny if the region’s alternative scene is starting to bubble? 

“I think so yeah. There are some fantastic heavier bands such as Flatline and Burn the Valley, both are supporting us at our album launch. Then there’s Curtis Robinson and Dale Husband’s new band Done In, who we’re really excited to see. There’s Motherland who have been going a while, and of course us.”

motions release their self-titled debut album on Friday 28th April, with a launch show at The Georgian Theatre on Saturday 29th April.