Motion City Soundtrack

In Minneapolis in the late 1990s, Motion City Soundtrack formed around Justin Courtney Pierre and Joshua Cain, soon expanding into a five-piece focused on alternative rock, pop punk and emo. The band developed a sound combining melodic guitars, prominent synthesizer lines and very personal lyrics often centered on anxiety, relationships and everyday life. After independent beginnings, Motion City Soundtrack released "I Am the Movie" in 2002 (reissued in 2003), then refined their approach with "Commit This to Memory" in 2005, produced by Mark Hoppus, and "Even If It Kills Me" in 2007, which established them in the North American pop-punk and emo scenes. A move to Columbia for "My Dinosaur Life" in 2010 was followed by a return to Epitaph for "Go" in 2012 and "Panic Stations" in 2015. Active on numerous tours across the US and Europe—most notably on the Warped Tour circuit and in mid-sized clubs—Motion City Soundtrack alternated between intensive activity and extended breaks from 2016 onward, while occasionally reappearing for anniversary tours and one-off shows that kept their catalogue in view.