Motel Thieves

Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?

MT: We sit in the bracket of psychedelic rock/Art Rock. There’s definitely a baggy inspiration there, a big 90s influence to be played loud.

PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.

MT: We’re all from Swansea, South Wales or there about. Our frontman, Callum and our guitarist Jake had been attempting form a band and found our drummer Matt on a musicians website out of stroke luck in 2017. Cal met Sam through music in college and invited him to broaden our sound with the addition of another Guitarist. Our bassist Zak joined us in late 2019 to form the current lineup. We found a groove soon after.

PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?

MT: You could say that our inspirations vary and we all have our own certain tastes that formed our sound.

There’s definitely splashes of influence from Brit Pop and Psychedelic Rock going as far back as the 60s and 70s with Pink Floyd, late Beatles and Sabbeth. If we were to pick 3 bands that resonate most, it would be The Stone Roses, Verve and Kula Shaker.

I guess that were always aiming to broaden our songwriting with every new tune we get down, our lyrics are often centered around realism and optimism, just pretty much in a mood to talk about what’s going on around us, living in each moment.

PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?

MT: Our aspiration as a band is to spread our love for music throughout the UK and beyond, making sure as many people as possible are given the motel thieves euphoric and psychedelic treatment.

PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?

MT: We’d have to go with recording our latest singles in Rockfield Studios. It was great to do our thing where so many greats have before us. You could feel the history in the walls, it was inspiring.

PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?

MT: Definitely agree. There’s so many talented people out there, it’s just a matter of both time and luck. At the moment, we’re just writing as much as we can.

PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?

MT: We’re good mates with The Bunkhouse in Swansea so every now and again we do a show there. We’ve got a gig in Tiny Rebel, Cardiff on August 12th as well.

Looking to fill our calendar with dates for later this year and going onto next. Hopefully get up North to Manchester and Sheffield, maybe a London show too would be class!

PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?

MT: It’s much easier to get noticed with streaming platforms thanks to curated playlists, discover weekly and what not. I guess it makes you appreciate physical vinyl and CD’s a lot more as well as streaming is massive in today’s world.

PD: What song do you wish you had written and why?

MT: Oasis – Champagne Supernova

What a piece of music…

PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?

MT: I think the main thing would be earnings. Streaming sites should be more balanced with artists in terms of how much they earn, because it’s very little.

PD: So what are you working on at the moment?

MT: At the moment we are working on new material, experimenting and polishing up some tracks in preparation for our next studio visit in Autumn. Look out!

PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?

MT: Check out our socials, give us a follow it all goes a long way for us. Our website you can find any info on about shows too if we’re in your area motelthieves.co.uk

Nice one guys!