Thunderbird Interview Hell

 Motorama

 
Who are you? (names, food of choice, political persuasion, musical appendage)
 
Marcus: TacoTime 1 lb veggie wrapper, fascist, guitar/backing vocals 
Ash: cheeseburgers, hopeless romantic, vocals/antics. 
Carl: Yves Deli slices, hooligan, drums
Tony: garlic, anarchist, guitar
 
Describe the history of Motorama as though all members past and present were comic book heroes.
 
Well Motorcycle boy brought together Captain Cheesehead, Girlboy and Squid Girl to fight Evil Dr. Boredom.  Dr. Boredom’s right hand man Junkman mortally injured Captain Cheesehead so Motorcycle Boy, Girlboy and Squid Girl had to continue on without him until they were joined by a sympathetic Neckbeard.  Squidgirl decided she needed to brush up on her Dark Arts and travelled to another Galaxy to do so ­ promising to aid the others if necessary.  Squidgirl’s replacement Willy Doit did not last long as he was injured by the Memory Man (another of Dr. Boredom’s minions) and fell by the wayside and was quickly replaced by Captain Birdman.  In the meantime Girlboy was frightened nearly to death and had to beg off and the Cantakerous Johnny Anger quickly filled his shoes.  All the while a loner by the name of the Reverend had been battling Dr. Boredom on his own.  He heard about Motorcycle Boy and his group’s plight and decided to cast his lot in with them.  The evil Dr. Zetetic and the devious Huskee Dudes ate Johnny Anger’s resources so he also fell by the wayside and was replaced by Kid Positive.  Which leaves us with Motorcycle Boy, Captain Birdman, Neckbeard, Kid Positive and the Reverend.  Motorama is now a more powerful alliance than ever, eager to battle Dr. Boredom and his minions.
 
Argue the importance of all other projects past and present associated with current Motorama members.
 
Marcus:  Presently both Ash and I are in a band called Veronica which is 3 bass players, a drummer and synth stuff ­ very rockin’ and danceable.  Carl was recently in Filthy Rocket which were a very driving punk band.  Tony used to be in a band called Civic Pride who were very cool ­ one of my all time favourite Vancouver bands.  Harold used to play guitar with the Black Market Babies (became the Black Halos).  Ash used to have this great band called Piss Queen and also played in Suicide Club, 5 Against 1 and Adolf Christ.
 
Rave about your favourite piece of gear making sure to get a few digs in about how yours is better than the other members of Motorama.
 
Marcus: my favourite piece of gear is my 1966 Gibson Melody Maker made in Kalamazoo, which was once owned by Tortoise’s Bundy who hotrodded it (speizel tuning pegs, brass nut, seymour duncan humbuckers, badass bridge and a phase selector switch.  You’ll never experience a better sounding guitar.
 
Who is most likely to get kicked out of the van when Motorama goes on tour?
 
Marcus: We really don’t want to mention any names, let’s just say the most negative of us will be kicked out of the van.
 
Are all math rockers just prog-rock wannabees who can’t sing?
 
Marcus: I think there’s a little more punk/metal in math rock than prog rock.  I don’t think you can really compare the two.  Math rock to me is quite a bit more aggressive.
 
What is the current relevance of mp3.com?
 
mp3.com is potentially a very powerful thing, but one must promote their site which can take up a serious amount of time and energy.  Basically anybody anywhere in the world can listen to an mp3.com artist’s music, give they have a broadband internet connection or a lot of time on their hands.
 
What was the worst piece of press on Motorama and how have you used it to your advantage?
 
A Georgia Straight writer once wrote a very scathing paragraph about us when we opened for Clawhammer and Close Captioned Radio ­ something to the effect of “Indy noise rock parody band ­ completely unlistenable god awful noise”.  In a subsequent review of Botch, Black Halos and Gob, he said that Botch had dethroned us as “the worst band he had ever heard”.  We immediately posted his comments on the home page of the Motorama site (www.motorama.net).  Ron from Darth Brooks is very jealous of the review and wants something like that said about his bands.  Some day he’ll come into his own…
 
When and where was the first Motorama show?  Who was in the band then and where are they now?
 
Our first show was quite some time ago (maybe 7 years) at the Malcolm Lowry Room.  Motorama’s lineup at that time was Marcus, Bart, Denise and Ryan.  The last I heard of Bart was that he had a tattoo shop in Victoria.  Denise finished her PhD in marine biology and moved to Los Angeles to do research at the University of California.  Ryan became disenfranchised and left.  Marcus still remains.
 
Where do you play in Victoria and with whom?
 
We’ve played a few times in Victoria ­ once at this all ages hall downtown, twice at a place called Thursdays.  The first time we played in Victoria, we played with Martensville and the other two times with Darth Brooks who are a great band ­ kinda country/metal/industrial ­ high quality stuff!
 
Where are Motorama CD’s available and are anymore releases forthcoming?
 
Motorama CD’s are availabe at Zulu, Scratch, A&B sound, HMV, Virgin etc.  We’re about to start another recording that should be availabe in a couple of months as mp3’s at the very least.
 
Motorama sites:  www.motorama.net     www.mp3.com/motorama
 
Contact Marcus: telephone 604-874-6667
Email Marcus