2008 Woodie Awards
Motion City Soundtrack's Tony Thaxton talks to The 'Campus
Brett Sowerby
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Style
Tony Thaxton, the drummer of Motion City Soundtrack, answered questions in preparation for opening at the upcoming Honda Civic Tour at the Alfond Arena.
The Maine Campus: You guys have a pretty crazy tour schedule, do ever get sick of it? Do you get tired?
Tony Thaxton: "Oh, there are definitely days when it gets a little old. But at the end of the day, I am doing exactly what I want to be doing for a living, so I can't really complain."
TMC: When did you know you guys kind of made it big?
TT: "Did we? I don't know if I'd say we've made it "big". We don't get played on the radio. We've gotten to play on a handful of TV shows. That's about it. But, we are getting to pay our bills playing music, so we are happy. If we were able to get to the next level, we wouldn't complain. It'd just be a nice bonus."
TMC: Have you been to Maine before? When, why and what did you think?
TT: "We have played Maine twice before. Once at a club in Portland, and then a college show once before. In all honesty, even though we have been, we didn't really get to see much. So, I don't know if I can fairly give an opinion. It seems nice though! Hopefully we can see more this time."
TMC: File-sharing has been a huge issue this year at the University of Maine, with a few students on campus being prosecuted by the RIAA. It seems almost anyone under the age of 35 is probably guilty of file sharing. How do you feel about the RIAA and how they are attempting to preserve the traditional method of selling records? Do you feel they are helping you sell records and make money? How do you feel about what Radiohead did by offering a "pay what you want" option to download their album? Have you considered this? Do you think it will catch on?
TT: "Radiohead really did something interesting. I think we would certainly be open to trying anything really. The music business really needs to figure things out. File sharing is such a mixed thing. On one hand, it makes it so easy to check out a band. If you heard a band's name and want to hear what they sound like, it's so easy these days. But, now, no one is selling records. It seems the days of selling 10 million records are over. For anyone."
The Maine Campus: You guys have a pretty crazy tour schedule, do ever get sick of it? Do you get tired?
Tony Thaxton: "Oh, there are definitely days when it gets a little old. But at the end of the day, I am doing exactly what I want to be doing for a living, so I can't really complain."
TMC: When did you know you guys kind of made it big?
TT: "Did we? I don't know if I'd say we've made it "big". We don't get played on the radio. We've gotten to play on a handful of TV shows. That's about it. But, we are getting to pay our bills playing music, so we are happy. If we were able to get to the next level, we wouldn't complain. It'd just be a nice bonus."
TMC: Have you been to Maine before? When, why and what did you think?
TT: "We have played Maine twice before. Once at a club in Portland, and then a college show once before. In all honesty, even though we have been, we didn't really get to see much. So, I don't know if I can fairly give an opinion. It seems nice though! Hopefully we can see more this time."
TMC: File-sharing has been a huge issue this year at the University of Maine, with a few students on campus being prosecuted by the RIAA. It seems almost anyone under the age of 35 is probably guilty of file sharing. How do you feel about the RIAA and how they are attempting to preserve the traditional method of selling records? Do you feel they are helping you sell records and make money? How do you feel about what Radiohead did by offering a "pay what you want" option to download their album? Have you considered this? Do you think it will catch on?
TT: "Radiohead really did something interesting. I think we would certainly be open to trying anything really. The music business really needs to figure things out. File sharing is such a mixed thing. On one hand, it makes it so easy to check out a band. If you heard a band's name and want to hear what they sound like, it's so easy these days. But, now, no one is selling records. It seems the days of selling 10 million records are over. For anyone."
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