“We tried to design the show that’s happening tomorrow to feel like it’s a movie experience,” Saint Motel lead singer and guitarist A/J Jackson said during a Q&A session held after the band’s exclusive Songkick Live session in NYC. After the band performed a selection of hits for some of their most dedicated fans (who got the chance at this unique experience by following the band on Songkick), the group – A/J, guitarist Aaron Sharp, bassist Dak and drummer Greg Erwin – shared some behind-the-scene magic about their project, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. “That was the challenge that The Motion Picture Show, which is the name of the tour, faced. We did it in kind of a way where the audience is going to be as much as part of the show as we are, and it’s kind of happening around you.”
During the chat, held before the COVID-19 outbreak suspended all live music events, Saint Motel revealed that “Old Soul,” the track that opens up The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Pt. 1, was the first one the band wrote. “Most of [the songs were] written in a cabin in the Mountains in Monrovia, California. Then, [they] all get kind of flushed out,” said A.J., who added that he specifically remembered, “Van Horn” being next. “‘Van Horn’ started before ‘Old Soul’ started, but didn’t finish until after.”
“With this album, after we finished the My Type EP and saintmotelevision, it was like – it all kind of spanned together, in one big cycle,” continued A.J., explaining the process into making this new Motion Picture project. “So, I craved structure. So, I set hours and a schedule. ‘You’re going to stop and take a walk in the mountains. Oh, you’re going to stop here, and you’re going to eat food. You’re going to stop here, and you’re going to meditate. You’re going to stop here for the night, and you’re not going to think about it again until you come back in the morning.’ It was very much to see how that would affect the creative process and have a little bit of separation from it as it was kind of being created.’ ”
The results were The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, an album being released in three parts. “I think Pt. 1 sets up the world of the album pretty well,” says A.J. “And like a movie, you kind of introduce your characters. Then there’s a call to action that happens in ‘Save Me,’ that is going to kind of test us in the next part of the album…I think, Pt. 2, musically, we do something similar while maybe taking some liberties, musically, or going into some uncharted territory somewhat for us.”
“The idea is by Pt. 3, we have the final showdown. And we come back to the world recreated in part one with the newfound knowledge we learned on our journey.”
Perhaps the best part of The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be the physical presentation. During this Songkick Live session, Saint Motel revealed that they’re releasing the different parts on CDs “because it works really perfectly, for we’re putting them in film canister cans. So, every part of the album comes in a film canister can, and if you collect all of three of them, you get a third collector’s case where you put your film reels inside of it.”
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Saint Motel’s The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Pt. 1 is out now. During this time of COVID-19, the band is raising money for the American Red Cross through the same of a limited edition enamel pin. More information on that can be found here.