30% Physics, 68% Play Dough

With heavy rimmed glasses, long sideburns, and crazy hair, Justin Pierre is hard to miss.  But the frontman of Motion City Soundtrack has much more than crazy hair under his belt: he is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and backing guitar for Motion City Soundtrack, he is a short film maker, and he’s done guest vocals on some very awesome bands (Fall Out Boy, Metro Station, Grown Ups, and Limbeck).  The band has made five albums; the first and the last one are not very well recognized but still a good listen.  The middle three, Commit to This Memory (2005), Even If it Kills Me (2007), and My Dinosaur Life (2008), are the most reflective of Pierre‘s writing style and personal lyrics.

In Commit to This Memory, Pierre attempts to write both from his father’s point of view and his own.  During a large part of his life he struggled with an alcohol addiction, reflected in the lyrics “The liquor store’s closed/ we were so close to scoring/ it hurts, it destroys ‘till it kills.”  In Even If it Kills Me, Pierre was praised by music journalists as “the star of this album” and “refreshing, completely incapable of taking himself seriously.”  My Dinosaur Life veers a little more pop than punk, and is reflective of Pierre’s lightening up after beating his addiction, yet it still has that geeky heartbreak vibe that he is known for.  

Whether he‘s known for his hair (he once said, “It’s a complicated physics equation.  Thirty percent physics, Sixty eight percent play dough.” ) or his power pop lyrics, he’s certainly an interesting frontman.   When asked what’s next for MCS, Justin replied “tour, tour, tour.”


Fun Facts: 
-Pierre had the thick-rimmed, Buddy Holly glasses long before it was ever "a thing."
-Justin has asthma, and uses his inhaler as a prop during live performances.  Endearing, isn’t it?
-Also endearing, Pierre’s middle name is “Courtney.”

Sources:
Scene Point 2/20
http://www.scenepointblank.com/features/interviews/motion-city-soundtrack/ 
Wikipidia 2/20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_City_Soundtrack
Last FM (Image) 2/20
http://www.last.fm/music/Motion+City+Soundtrack/+images/29695387
Tumblr (Image) 2/20
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/joshua%20cain
Blogarts (Image) 2/20
http://blogs.artvoice.com/exitmusic/2010/07/19/warped-tour-2010-veterans-rookies-and-the-crawl-of-death/

Gutter Punk

“Under the bridge downtown/ Is where I drew some blood/ Under the bridge/ I could not get enough."  You’ve probably heard these autobiographical lyrics from The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  They’re Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, toured with Nirvana, and have been around since for-ev-er.  And so has their lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, who has been making music since his teens when he met Flea, his bassist, bandmate, and best friend.  He recently turned 50; he’s still making music and he’s probably healthier than ever.

Kiedis: Then and Now

Kiedis spent his early life in LA, with divorced parents (he idolized his mostly absent father).  But during driver’s ed he met fellow social outcast Flea.  Flea encouraged him to make music,  and to be adventurous; he hurt his back jumping from a roof into a swimming pool, a frequent habit of theirs.  He also encouraged the experimentation with drugs that would begin a life-long drug addiction that is braided deeply into his lyrics.   “Under the Bridge” was written by Kiedis to reflect how his opiate addiction had affected his life, written from pure loneliness.  Kiedis said he was “shooting speedballs under a bridge” and how emotionally drained he felt looking back to that.  This song is a large Rosetta Stone of the 90’s Alt-Rock movement.  Kiedis’ style has changed over the years, he’s run the scale from funk scat-singing to punk rapping, all over music by his amazing band mates like Frusciante, Hillel Slovak, Chad Smith, and of course Flea.  But the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ style of melodious self-described “gutter punk” of the 90’s, as well as Kiedis’ personal unique voice, make them omnipresent.

Kiedis was deeply affected by the death of his band mate Hillel Slovak by overdose, and for six years was clean from drugs.   His major relapse was when a doctor prescribed him a synthetic opiate, which caused serious cravings.  His book Scar Tissue describes his life and drug-use in detail, which is a really moving read.  Red Hot Chili Peppers released their tenth album I’m With You in 2012.   Currently, Kiedis has been clean since December of 2000, and has taken on yoga and workouts to improve his back problems.  He has a son, Everly Bear, and is working on his relationship with his father Blackie.  Personally, I think this gutter punk’s story is so moving, and there’s so much more to his life and lyrics as well as the band than other artists.

Under the Bridge Live at Slane Castle

Thanks to (02/07/12):
http://redhotchilipeppers.wikia.com/wiki/File:Anthony_Kiedis_12.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Kiedis
http://www.youtube.com