Marc and Neil caught up with Josh and Tony from Motion City Soundtrack for a few quick questions before their set.
What bands did you see yesterday at Slam Dunk North?
Josh :I didn't see a whole lot we kinda had a busy day, got to watch a little bit of Say Anything, caught bit of Taking Back Sunday.

Tony: Just a Little bit.

Josh :Yea that's kinda it. We had a lot of stuff that we had to do, and it was like a hundred degree's in the venue so after we finished it was like "don't want to go back in there". I think we'll probably watch more of those two bands today as its outside.

What's been the highlight of your last year?
Josh :You know most recently we just played Bamboozle and we did two sets, as we did a later set. For some reason that was one of my favourite sets in a long time I don't know what it was about it.

Tony:Yea I agree.

Do you prefer your own headlining shows or festivals like this?
Josh :It depends on the situation, a headlining gig we know things are most likely to run smoothly but a festival you get in front of so many people you might not get in front of normally. It's a fun show but technically wise it's kind of a mess.

Tony: Yea we have a history of technical problems at festivals.

Josh :I wish we did not have that history.

Can you give us some examples?

Josh : It's mostly due to our monitor system and hearing things, and it just being a mess. We just have to grin and bear it. Like yesterday Justin's voice, they crossed the in-ear monitor channels and Justin's voice was in my ear the loudest it possibly could be and I couldn't hear anything else so I had to turn it way down, and then I couldn't stay on because I couldn't hear anything. So I mean it makes it really hard but hey life's toughs but we try and make it so you don't know out front. If you see me going like this *points to ear and pulls a stupid face* then that's probably what it is.

What's the worst gig you've ever done?
Tony: The worst gig I think has to go to, a show we played years ago in Bologna, with blink 182 and its the only show we've ever been boo'ed .

Josh: The finger was given to us a lot.

the best bit about it was that we've just played, not in Bologna but in Italy a couple weeks ago and I know Matt had someone come up to him and say "I booed you here when you played with blink, and I'm sorry, I like you guys now" I like that he felt he had to apologize.

Tony: That's hilarious.

What's the best gig experience you've ever had?
Josh: The best ever, we were on warped tour back in 2000 umm

Tony: 2005

Josh: 2005 in Chicago, and we had to go on last after Fall Out Boy and we though no one would come watch us because that was outside and we were back inside this building and we thought it was going to be terrible, and it ended up being one of the biggest shows we ever played. We were last on and everyone came and watched it was huge and everyone was singing along. It was quite early for us, when stuff started happening and the entire Warped tour was behind us watching us play, it was just a great experience.

What's your writing process?
Josh: It varies dramatically in all situations, usually one of us or a couple of us have an idea and we flush it out together on the internet or when we get in a room together or in the studio. If we have two measures of an idea we're like let's make this into a song and we just like do it.

You're albums have changed a bit, My Dinosaur Life and Go differ from your older albums, why is that?
Josh: I think it's just we would get really bored if we just kept making the same record over and over. At the same time I listen to it, there's so many similarities, we're not that different, but it's definitely...... we just kinda write music and the best songs are what float to the top and that's the record.

Tony: It's a natural progression you hope you can make from record to record.

Josh: We never make a choice, we maybe in the mood to write rockin songs and then we write rockin songs, I have no idea why, the next record could be totally different.

Tony: Yea we don't ever see we need to write a song like this or that.

Josh: It just sort of comes out as it comes out.

Tony: Yea, we just try to make each song the best we can and we look at each song and go with the best ones for the record. Most of them we agree upon then there's a few we fight about.

What are your favourite songs that you've written?
Josh: Entire Carrier or on the new record?

On the new record?

Josh: The song I think I'm going to enjoy playing the most is "Box Elder" but the song I think is most meaningful on the album is "Everyone Is Going To Die".

Tony: I think "Box Elder" has become my favourite over time, it's changed a few times but now currently "Box Elder" is the one I'm most excited about.

How do you feel about Go being leaked?
Josh: It's gunna happen next week anyways because it's going to be streamed everywhere, we did a pretty good job of holding it back as long as we could. It happens, I don't even know if it's a bad thing. I just hope anybody who likes the record will go out and buy it because it's the only way we can keep doing this is if people support it, but it's hard to change a culture right now.

How do you unwind after a show?
Josh: I just hang out try to stop sweating before taking a shower.

Tony: Yea you hope to get a shower, get clean, just do whatever you want to do, have some beverages.

Josh: I'm usually really tired before we go on and then it wakes me up, so its kinda the start of my day. It's weird I know.

What are your guilty pleasure tracks?
Josh: I kinda like that Goetia song a lot and I don't know if that's a guilty pleasure because its kinda cool, but everybody likes it so I kinda feel like I shouldn't like it.

Where do you enjoy touring the most?
Josh: I like experiencing new places a lot, its changing. Everywhere we go I enjoy it a little bit, anywhere people are there that want to see us.

What's the weirdest gift you've ever been given on tour?
Tony: We don't get that many weird ones they,re usually really nice.

Josh: Someone spent a lot of time and made dummies that looked exactly like us, which was really cool I liked that, that was really rad. Last record we got these really creative cakes that were pretty crazy. I've got some art that I was given at home. Nothing really weird though it's pretty awesome. Wait there was that painting, we didn't get given it but someone had done this painting where Jesse was dead, they painted all of us but then they made like a grave stone and one of us was dead.

Clearly not the favourite member of the band.

Josh: Haha yea I guess, he said he didn't have time to draw him

Tony: I like that solution.

Josh: Yea death.

Tony: Just draw a grave stone.

What are you most looking forward to over the next year?
Josh: We just looking forward to getting this thing started up again, getting out there and seeing what people think of the new songs.

Tony: As fun as it can be to play shows you just play the same songs all the time so it's nice to get a new batch of songs come in.

Josh: I feel like we've had a long stretch of the of the same song so it's really exciting to have a new set of songs.

Have you got anything weird in your rider?
Josh: No, our rider is all health food and sparkling water it's not weird at all. It's weird because its health food.

You're playing all four Slam Dunk Festivals which one were you most excited for?
Josh: I'm quite excited for this one as it's outside so it'll feel more festival than club show. we haven't been to Cardiff for a long time, it's all cool to be honest.

If you could be a Zebra or a Giraffe which would you rather be and why?
Josh: I don't think I could handle that neck so I think I'd be a zebra

Tony: That's a good answer I don't think I can disagree with that, like have you seen a giraffe take a drink of water from a lake the way they have to put their legs.

Josh: I mean they get their food right there which is nice for them, but that neck is weird.

You could get a good view at shows.
Josh: Yea at shows, but it would be weird playing drums.

Tony: How many giraffes or zebra's have you seen at shows though.

None yet but you never know.

Josh: Truth.

Interview by Marc Rich