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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
“How Things Go” by The Motel Life (bandcamp)
Hell is a small town out of Southern California
Where I live with a woman stuck in coma
You should already know
But I can see that there’s a window of hope
But I rather just sit around and smoke
This how it goes
You should already know
She said composure got the best of me, while I lie face down on the ground
There’s nothing wrong with me, ignoring everyone that’s around
I guess this is falling out, but you’re a face that just can’t ignore
But I’ll try, but I’ll try
I’ll write some stories about my friends
And how they spend their nights and their weekends
You should already know
I’m sorry I can’t be calm when by now everything has gone so wrong
This is how it goes
You should already know
So go ahead and seek your father to thank him for giving up on you
He seem to know what he was doing from the start
Notes:
Mike – This fun track is kind of a spiritual sequel to the themes that were in our first EP We All Left Something Behind. The lyrics followed the same idea of issues growing up in the town of Ontario, Calif. If you know anything about me, you know that I have several issues with my hometown. The chorus for this song came from an old Elm and Oak song that Judcody and I never released. It felt good having some of that song see the light of day. Also, there are a lot of little nods to people I know in this song, which is always fun for hometown shows because I like looking at them when I know I’m singing about them. PS: Fuck Stimmel.
Judcody - “How Things Go” is a perfect example of how a deadline for studio time can be great for a song. I wasn’t completely confident about this track until Al came over and wrote his part.
Al- “How Things Go” is one of those pieces of work that just happened naturally. I remember Judcody, Nick and I pulled this song together in a jam fairly quickly out in Judcody’s garage in San Bernardino. Judcody and Nick kind of had something going before hand but nothing too definite if I remember correctly. In less than about an hour we jammed something pretty solid, and I recorded on my handy iPhone with the voice memo app. The thing that’s interesting about that is the way we jammed it and recorded it on the iPhone, like in terms of counts and general structure of the song, pretty much stayed the same on the album “Retreat.”
Ray - This song is probably my favorite to play live. Particularly because I enjoy my killer bass lines, but also because I like to see Al and Judcody hit the high note during the bridge. I remember also hating anyone that owned a Rickenbacker bass like the one I played on to record this song. To conclude: this song rules; too bad we don’t play it too much because it takes Judcody way too long to get into half-step.
Nick – “How Things Go” was probably one of the last songs we wrote for Retreat. Judcody, Al and I spent a couple days at Judcody’s just writing and trying to finish up small ideas we all had and “How Things Go” was the only one we finished. It all happened really fast. Musically I think it’s one of our more catchy songs, but that doesn’t take away from the overall theme of the song, which is actually much, more of a bummer than an upbeat theme. This song’s chorus was also a chorus for Mike and Judcody’s old band so I was really excited to hear it redone for The Motel Life. Overall, I think this song is a great beginner song for new TML fans. It really showcases everyone in the band.
Anonymous asked: Where is your next show?
The next show that we have booked is on the 26th of August at Mr T’s Bowl in Highland Park. We’ll have more details on that show sooooooon……..
video of “Alva” from No Future Cafe taken by Joe
[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
“Alva” by The Motel life (bandcamp)
We lived at the bottom of a mountain
The avalanche was coming so we bought ourselves an apartment
This city is split in two and I’m stuck at the center
I’m lost and confused this was such a mistake
The words will follow you like the smoke in your lungs
You can’t speed up a heartbeat to tempo of your tongue
So let the crosswords fill with their letters
And I will think about the nights
We spent with each other
I have a picture where everyone is crossed out
Everyone that I’d like to forget about
I will never be better
When things were falling apart
you were there to pick me back up
There’s just something about the music that you play
That cuts me like a knife and keeps me awake
It may make me feel alone, but at least you feel alive
You’ve always been so good at going up
And singing a lie
I have a picture where everyone is crossed out
Everyone that I’d like to forget about
I will never be better
When things were falling apart
you were there to pick me back up
It’s our way of saying this isn’t working out
Notes:
Mike – From a writing stand point “Alva” was always one of my favorite songs. It details the issues of a breakup and family problems that drove many of my relationships to the ground. I remember this song took a long time to finish. I recorded vocals for this song along with a couple other demos that I don’t think made the album one night in my room. The beginning verse was done early on in the writing process, but the rest of it wasn’t really completed until it was time to go to the studio. We do that quite often.
Judcody – “Alva” was the result of having the house to myself and my brother’s mac to record. It was just a 2 minute long demo of me trying to play drums to a loop of guitars and piano. I had not intended on the song being a Motel Life track; which is funny to say because it wasn’t like I had anything else to do with it. I sent it to Mike because I wanted to get his opinion on it and he wrote to it before I could tell him not to. I loved what he had when he sent the song back and I’m glad I hadn’t kept it to myself. I’m sure it would’ve ended up just being another loop idea in the lost libraries of my iTunes.
Al - Remembering back to the beginning stages of “Alva” there was nothing I did initially to contribute to the song. The song was shown to Nick, our former bassist Lujan, and me in its completed form with Judcody playing all of the instruments on a simple, yet well-executed, Garageband demo. So my initial involvement in the song was nonexistent, but the song has still developed into quite the number for us. It always seems to find its way into our sets. It’s supposed to give us a break from all the intense rocking we do. Naturally all bands have these, they’re called ballads. But we still perform this song with the same intensity so it isn’t really a break.
Ray - When playing “Alva” in front of an audience my movements are inspired by a vision of mine in which I am waltzing hand and hand with the lovely Emma Watson; this is why it is my favorite song to play live.
Nick - the first time I heard “Alva” as a demo I had a feeling it was going to be a tough song to finish. With an odd piano part and interesting guitar lead, it sounded like something we hadn’t really tried before. It went through tons of changes and a lot of different drum parts. In the end, I kept it pretty simple but still added my own spin on it. Considering this song almost didn’t make the album, I’m very happy at the response it has gained from fans. What was once a song that we all couldn’t stand is now probably our most successful tune.
Anonymous asked: announcement possibly of Nick back in TML??
We did announce it…
OPERATION ALADDIN JR. 2: We got our carpentry on last night! Remember that shiny metal backdrop at AJ2? After last night’s Willbur show, we plugged in our tunes, said our final goodbyes to the wall and worked through the night to take it down! Next time you’re in Pomona, come visit Aladdin Jr. 2’s new look. In the mean time…anyone need a drum stick? We found quite a few under the stage.
we play here a lot, so this is pretty exciting :D
TML Facebook Contest!
TML CONTEST TUESDAY!!!
Let’s get this contest going. Okay to get you and a friend in our next show on the 29th at No Future Cafe in Pasadena for FREE, you must follow these three simple steps:
1. “Like” our facebook page and make your are “Attending” on the show’s event page.
2. Post on our wall what song of ours you want to hear at the show
3. Share this event with your friends on facebook!
We will pick someone at random who has all of these qualifications, and not only give them and friend free admission to the show, but we’ll make sure that the song they left on our wall will appear somewhere in our set list.
Contest ends Monday July 25th! GOOD LUCK!
