Saint Motel Interview: Know Your LA Bands

BeatCrave is excited to bring you band, Saint Motel, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. It’s not too often that you meet a band at a Thai restaurant, hear one of the band members speak fluent Thai, then have another band member tell you they’re honorary Thai guests. That or have one of their moms come in only to exclaim, “I have the fake blood!”

With Saint Motel, everything is extravagant but it’s all done in a very homemade way. This is another way to say that Saint Motel is one very hard working band who knows how to engage fans, look professional, yet also just be who simply they are: Four normal guys who met in film school and decided to start a band that would eventually rock the hell out of LA.  If you haven’t been to one of their shows, that needs to be added on to your “To-Do” lists, because it’s music fully enhanced. They make sure of it.

We got the chance to chat with Saint Motel about everything serious, silly, and anything in between. Check out this exclusive interview with the entire band and learn what they think about illegal downloading, how they changed digital purchasing, and well… their possible careers as match-makers!

So everyone knows you all met in film school, but how and when did it actually happen?

A/J: I met Aaron first. Pretty much when I moved up to California. He was the rumored best guitarist on campus. It was fate to meet. Dak, we met at a sushi restaurant. He’s still a pretty great chef. Greg is a little bit younger. He came down a little after us. We met Greg at one of our concerts. He came to us and said “I want to play.”
Greg: I broke their drummer’s knee caps.
A/J: Yeah, with his snare.

You guys do so many promo and recap videos for your shows. Who’s the one in charge of all that? It looks like a lot of work.

A/J: Pretty much after a gig, I usually go back home at about 2 am, start pulling clips, then try to finish it in the morning and just don’t sleep.

Do you have someone taping the shows?

A/J: It depends. We usually have from 1 – 3 cameras.  We run a camera in the back for all the residency shows, but we haven’t been really focusing on that. We’ve been putting so much effort into the actual live experience, we haven’t been really focused on capturing the experience.

Who are the people that help?

Greg: We have people, like friends. Aaron’s dad is a film maker. He’s been filming this band for like 4 or 5 years. So he’s got an archive of this band. The whole life history.

Do you guys ever go back and watch footage from back in the day?

Greg: Yeah, recently. Six months ago, we watched old stuff. It was kind of cool to see the progression.
A/J: Yeah, we were going to make an EPK, which is still in the works.
Greg: We’re also going to make a 6 part documentary about not finishing it. Actually, we could probably do that with the amount of footage we have, but we’re not that interesting… Yes, we are.

Congrats on the release of your EP, ForPlay. That word can be used in so many different ways in numerous contexts. What is the meaning behind it?

A/J: ForPlay… You can take the name a couple of different ways – same way with Saint Motel. Forplay is kind of expecting more to come in the future. That’s what the album is – 6 song, 6 videos. It’s our first release and it means something’s yet to come, pretty much.
Greg: Just to tease the world a little bit… We were going to call it foreshadow but we liked ForPlay better.

$5 for all that is more than a reasonable price for the EP. Because of all the hard work you put into it, would you be disappointed to find out someone had illegally downloaded it?

A/J: Well, that’s the thing. It’s much more work to download our EP. You don’t just have to find the music, but you have to find the music videos. If someone figures out a way, then that’s okay. But I guess we put it together in a way to encourage people to buy the album. The people do what they want to do but we think it’s a pretty sweet deal.
Greg: It has a lot of value. That’s what our initial plan was, because obviously we thought about that.  People might want to get the music and rip it for all their friends but the packaging really fits the band. When you buy the hard copy CD, you get all the lyrics, photos… and all the lyrics are in a pdf with a nice background. The whole vibe is on the disc, and it’s only $5. So people might be surprised. We haven’t really had to deal with that issue.
A/J: But, I’m sure it could be happening right now.
A Sharp: There’s no way to stop it.

Would you be glad that they just wanted your music in the first place? Would that feeling override the hurt from knowing that they illegally distributed it?

Greg: Well, yeah in that sense. You just hope that they pay to come to the concert, and buy a t-shirt. Since we try to make it all about the live experience anyway. It’s based on feeling an experience. I don’t think we’re going to lose any sleep over it at this point… Why? Do you know anyone who has done it? What are their names?
A Sharp: Well, it’s a good way to get your band heard as well. If they do illegally download it, and they really dig the band, all of a sudden they come to our MySpace, look for where we’re playing again, go to a show, buy a CD and the videos. The whole way the music vibe is being exchanged and sold has completely changed. I think as young musicians, we should be able to embrace the change, go with it, find out ways to survive as artists and still have our music available – maybe for free sometimes…

That’s what the Featured Artists Coalition is discussing right now.

A Sharp: Yeah, we have to really embrace the changes happening in this industry, no matter how turbulent or non-capitalistic it is.

So iTunes told you guys that you were the first to release an EP with 6 songs and a video for each song. Were there any issues with that?

A/J: Initially they said we could just have two songs and two music videos, but a week later they told us we could just have them all. So we uploaded them all to a hard drive in a week.
Greg: A/J actually went to Steve Job’s house and threatened him.
A/J: Yeah, I was like, “Steve. Come on, man! You can figure it out, right?” and he was like, “Okay… Give me a day.”
Greg: …and then it happened.
A/J: …and now we’re here!  It’s definitely different to go to a band’s iTunes account to look for music videos. We’ve sold just music videos off our iTunes store. It’s an interesting thing to think about, a new phenomena. We’ve got new ideas for how stuff is changing. Rather than adapt, we’re trying to stay one step ahead. That’s why we do all this video content with the music.

Did you know that there’s a band called The Pity Party?

A Sharp: We’ve had words.
Greg: It’s about them. (Laughs) Every time we see them on the sidewalk, it’s like..
A Sharp: (Starts singing dueling music)
Greg: We just pull out our switch blades and they just keep walking.
A Sharp: We should dance fight!
A/J: We’ve actually never met them, but they are THE Pity Party and our song is “Pity Party.” It’s totally different. “Pity party” is probably the oldest song of Saint Motel, but I mean, we can’t copy write the phrase, “pity party.”

So you guys had four themes for your Spaceland residency: Sci-fi, erotica, experimental, and slasher. Did each of you pick a theme or was it a collaborative effort?

A/J: Like the power rangers? Red! Blue! Green!
A Sharp: It was a group decision. We wanted to have themes that would be visually crazy.
Greg: Romantic comedy just didn’t seem like it would work.
A/J: Or historical drama…
A Sharp: We should have done court room drama!
A/J: We picked themes based on how people want to interpret it, and dress up how they want.
Greg: We did a zombie prom last February and people got crazy dressed up. They got in full Halloween get-ups and it was February!
Dak: Yeah, we even had a prom zombie king and queen. Did you know that? They got engaged!
A/J: Oh yeah, they met before the show, but that was the first date. He said that if he could take a girl to a zombie rock show, then she’s pretty cool.
Greg: We’re the new eHarmony. Go to our Facebook. We’ll pick your match.

So no one was really gung-ho for erotica?

A/J: Well no one was really gung-ho, but I WAS really happy it landed on my birthday.

Quick-fire Round:
You guys seems like pretty funny guys. Do each of you have a favorite comedian?

Dak: I’d go for George Carlin.
Greg: What are the 7 words you can’t say on TV, Dak? I really like Mitch Hedberg. RIP Mitch!
A Sharp: Jerry Seinfeld. It’s gotta be him. He doesn’t have to use profanity. Just straight humor.
Greg: He’s like Kramer without the racial undertones.
A/J: Monty Python and certain years of SNL.

What are you all going to be for Halloween?

A Sharp: I’m going with sexy nurse this year. I’ve done it every year ever since I’ve been able to walk, but I feel like I really really need to do sexy nurse this year.
Dak: I think I’m going to be myself.
A Sharp: You should be a cop!
A/J: No, Dak’s going to Dak, and I’m going to be Dak. Then we’re going to see who’s more Dak.
Dak: Exactly.
Greg: I’m going to be Russ [Saint Motel manager]. I’m going to just manage stuff the whole Halloween day.

What is your favorite record store in LA?

Greg: Territory BBQ and Records. They have really good food. It’s like two blocks from my house.
Dak: I want to say Amoeba but everyone knows that.
A Sharp: I live in the Valley and there’s place called Second Spin.
Dak: Or Origami.
A/J: Yeah, the place next to The Echo is pretty cool.

Tell us one thing about yourself we probably don’t already know.

A Sharp: I have a pug. It’s a type of dog from China. It’s bred for companionship.
Greg: Your secret’s out!
A Sharp: And, I’m a crazy cat lady. I have several cats and I don’t clean up after them. AJ loves cat videos!
A/J: I killed a man in Texas.
Greg: Just to watch him die?
A/J: No.
Greg: Oh, that was Reno.
A/J: But he deserved it.
Greg: Just IMDB me! Wait, let me go in to my secret files… (his iPhone).
Dak: I am six foot tall and I play American football. Just kidding. I’m a sushi chef. I don’t know if that’s a secret anymore.
A/J: I don’t know why you said that when the first two were clearly true!
Greg: There’s nothing interesting about me!
Dak: I know! Greg’s head is not as big as it looks.
Greg: No, everyone’s head is just smaller than mine.
A Sharp: Greg’s a robot. He can destroy anything, especially when his adrenaline is going.
Greg: It’s accidental though!

Are you digging Saint Motel? Come to a show of theirs we’re presenting!