skull-kiid asked: So you guys are playing another show in Bakersfield this year?:D
We sure are. At a place called Megaland. We’ll have the tour announcement soon with all the dates. Bakersfield will be on oct. 27th.
we are giving away tickets on our facebook page. check out our wall to find out how to wiiiiinnzzz.
House shows for our tour this October
So we are trying to finish up the booking for our tour this October, but we are having some trouble with a some dates. If you are from one of these cities or near them and want to throw a house show we would be so game! Hit us up at our email themotellife@gmail.com
These are the dates still open:
Oct 15- Tuscan, AZ or El Paso, TX
Oct 17- Austin, TX
Oct 18- Austin, TX
Oct 20-Colorado Springs, CO
Oct 21-Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 24-Portland, OR
Thx -TML
Anonymous asked: i love you, i love you, i love you, i love yooooooou. theres no other way, to better say. i love you, i love youuuu. =)
awww thanks :)
Anonymous asked: Your thoughts on cucumbers?
they are good on sandwiches… yum
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We are posting our songs with notes from the the band members to spread the word about our music. Please support and reblog this post and encourage other people to reblog as well. There will be more songs with notes to come. -Mike
“Falling Asleep” by The Motel Life (band camp)
She listens to words of change, but she doesn’t stand for what that means
He sees his life the same
No one told you had to go through with it
And every night awake makes life more of a dream
And every conversation makes this town better than it seems
All this talk has made me grow so tired
So tired
I’m so tired
I’m so tired
And if this is falling asleep
I think I’ll fall asleep
And everyone that I know is falling apart
This something you knew without the help of her art
If this is all in my head, then why is she still in my bed?
And every women that I have come to meet
She is kicking herself for getting pushed off her feet
If this is all in her head, then why is he still in her bed?
Your fear is crashing your judgment
Who says that our god is that innocent?
All these lies have made grow so tired
I’m so tired
I’m so tired
And if this is falling asleep
I think I’ll fall asleep
My nerves have gone insane this is one night that’s just a little taste
And every conversation I’ve had gone to waste It says this all, all over your face
No one knows as much as I do and when you write this down I won’t be around
Notes:
Mike – I think the phrase keeping a bun in the over works well with “Falling Asleep”. We had this song during the We All days and we used that year to improve the dramatically. The lyrics shifted and changed several times. I think the only thing that stayed consistent was the chorus. This song reflected terrible relationship, even some that lead to violent behavior. I felt like these kinds of traits in relationships were very frequent, that is what inspired the sleeping theme.
Judcody – “Falling asleep” was written at the same time We All Left Something Behind was. I wasn’t completely stoked on the guitar riff at first because I was just messing around. Nick convinced me to finish it and a jam session later the deed was done. I will never get tired of playing this song live.
Al - “Falling Asleep” was the first demo I heard from The Motel Life. I was a little confused and couldn’t figure it out by ear. It was because Judcody tuned it very weird. I couldn’t figure it out on my own. But when I finally got to experience a practice I was blown away by “Falling Sleep’s” energy. I really couldn’t hear the lyrics but the sound and the intensity resonated with me. And after hearing that I knew I made the right decision by joining The Motel Life. This song is special. No matter when we play this song even if we’re having a bad day, practice, or show this song seems to take all those problems away for at least those 4 awesomely fun minutes.
Nick - Out of all the songs I have ever been a part of, this one I am the proudest of. Judcody and I had been jamming in my garage just a bit after finishing up our first record, We All Left Something Behind and this song just wrote itself. We saved it for quite a while and finally recorded it for Retreat. After playing this song for almost three years, it hasn’t gotten old. It’s also nice to hear little things change throughout the song as we learn our own parts better and better as time goes on.
Anonymous asked: SOOOOOOOOOO THE WORD ON THE STREET IS THAT YOU GUYS ARE PLAYING AT '"ANDREWPALOOZA"? PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS AWESOME.TELL ME ITS TRUE?
this may or may not be true?
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Please Reblog! We are posting our songs with notes from the the band members to spread the word about our music. Please support and reblog this post and encourage other people to reblog as well. There will be more songs with notes to come. -Mike
“Wooden Hands” by The Motel Life (band camp)
Let every child be born with wooden hands and wooden arms
so they can rebuild their lives
The worlds of poets are so beautiful, but those poets never lived in California
We thought we were changing the world,
but it turns out these hands were wooden all along
And I know that I’ve been on my own
Notes:
Mike – “Wooden Hands” lyrics were literally written on a piece of wood. I came up with the piano part on a small kids piano that I found in garage. In the beginning the song was mostly about that feeling when you’re growing up that you want make difference in the world. As a band you always strive to do something different, but then something happens and you lose that hope. That’s where the lyric, “We thought we were changing the world, but it turns out these hands were wooden all along” comes from. The song’s lyrics were morphed a little when writing Retreat so that it would fit the theme of the album a little better.
Judcody - What’s fun about being in a band is that the writing process is so unpredictable sometimes. This song used to be just a piano and vocal track that mike wrote back before We All Left Something Behind was ever recorded. I remember opening up the set very awkwardly with playing this song at our first show being “The Motel Life”. Back then I believe we had a horrible habit of playing songs live that weren’t finished. Later on during the Retreat writing sessions, I was a taking a bathroom break and overheard Nick and Al jamming in my living room, which sounded lovely. I ran out to ask them to repeat what they had just done and the song came together within a few minutes. I’ve always loved this track because it reminds me of At the Drive-In’s “Invalid Litter Dept.”.
Al - “Wooden Hands” was another one of those songs that just naturally happened. I know it was one of the first songs written before I joined The Motel Life, but we never played it. Then during a demoing session at Judcody’s, Mike began playing this song on his own on the piano and Nick and I wrote out parts sort of in a jam. It’s funny because Judcody was in the bathroom at time and when he came back into the room he said, “that sounds amazing.”
Ray - This is probably my favorite song on Retreat. I love the build up and the simplicity of this song.
Nick – “Wooden Hands” wasn’t one of those songs that took time and patience to be written, it just sort of happened from what I remember. We are big fans of having an intro song for albums and this one did the job. I also feel it really set the tone for the rest of what is “Retreat”. I wish I had more to say about this song but it’s really just short simple and sweet, just like this paragraph.
Win tickets to our show Friday at Mr T’s Bowl
Our very sexy buddies from Indie from the Living Room have a contest going on to win tickets to our show with Science Fiction Theater, Mousainina, Indian School and DJ Donuts this friday at Mr T’s Bowl in Highland Park.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Please Reblog! We are posting our songs with notes from the the band members to spread the word about our music. Please support and reblog this post and encourage other people to reblog as well. There will be more songs with notes to come. -Mike
“Writing a Book” by The Motel Life (band camp)
I read those books you gave I understand what you’re trying to say
I read between the lines, the subtext of your actions
But I’ll never understand ‘til this day
You’re an asshole, plain and simple
And I’m just as gullible as you can deceive
You said that you hate me, but you ignore the truth
That it was you who rearranged the and changed who I knew
So I’m writing these books to remind myself I was wrong
That you are who you are and that you knew it all along
You knew it all along
Did they scare the day that you told them the truth?
These problems never seem so big until they were centered on you
You said that I was lost in my music
I didn’t notice until the day you were gone
Now these words are making more sense than ever before
I’m ending this chapter, I can’t shake this feeling anymore
These books will tell me where you’ve been
I made the first mistake of letting someone in
You are who you are, you’ll never change
Notes:
Mike – This song went through so many different edits. I remember writing it with Judcody one long night. We never had the ending so we left it alone for a long time. Considering the time difference between us beginning to write this song and actually completing it, there are a lot of different meanings to the lyrics. On the surface, it’s about friendship and growing apart, but look deeper and you’ll see this song is about pizza. This song also includes my favorite TML lyric, “You’re an asshole plain and simple”.
Judcody – “Writing a Book” makes me think of sitting in my garage and playing guitar. I started writing the guitar riff at Mike’s house during one of our late night delusional writing sessions. It then floated around in what I like to call “TML LIMBO” for a while until Mike and I felt the need to finish it. I believe this is one of the first songs Al and I worked on together during practice. It’s still one of my favorites to play live.
Al - If I remember correctly “Writing a Book” is the first song I help write after joining The Motel Life. I remember hearing the demo from Judcody’s Garage Band recording and writing my parts in my girlfriend’s living room after a show one night. It’s funny cause while Judcody and I were jamming it out, my GF’s kitten kept running back and forth through the living room. This song starts slow but it picks up pace and has a tremendous amount of intensity that is conveyed in our live show. In writing this song I remember I took elements from everywhere. There is some Kings of Leon, RHCP, Etc. Plus in this song I went towards using more of the middle strings of the guitar and utilizing those tones.
Ray - The second half of this song is probably my favorite second half of any of our songs. I also get to yell ‘wooooooo’ all by myself when we play it live so this song is alright by me.
Nick - I think “Writing a Book” was one of the first songs we had completed for Retreat. This is definitely the song that showed me where we were as a band and where we continue to head. Drum wise, this is my favorite to play live due to the fact that the ending is one big climax and we literally just let it out on stage. I get to show a lot of different techniques that I’m fond of including rim shots and just straight snare work. Our original bassist, Anthony, wrote exactly what the song called for and I still remember the giddy look on everyone’s face once it was complete. Ray came in and definitely made those parts his own once we entered the studio. Over all, the song would really not be exactly what it is today without everyone who was a part of it including the Producer, Dave Trautz, with the keyboard work he provided.
