Saint Motel Talk My Type, Preach, And Going Viral

There’s an elephant in the room. That elephant is the absurdly catchy 2014 gold-certified single, My Type. You know it – trust me you do. The song has been featured in numerous films, Volkswagen, Uber and Now TV commercials, and appeared on the FIFA 15 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 soundtracks. In 2019, Saint Motel launched their most ambitious undertaking yet, unveiling Part 1 of a three-album concept. Lead vocalist A/J Jackson explains why the band want to be known for more than ‘that song from that advert’, and why The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 2 sees them inching ever closer to their very own Hollywood ending.

“It’s funny because we love touring in the UK, and we have somewhat of a fan base there that are awesome and passionate. I think a lot of it is actually due to FIFA...we get a lot of soccer fans actually,” realises A/J, lead vocalist in Saint Motel. (I can only imagine the pints sent flying when My Type’s ‘DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DAAA horn part kicks in).

The quartet – comprising A/J, Aaron Sharp (guitar), Dak Lerdamornpong (bass), and Greg Erwin (drums) – had been on the L.A circuit for a while prior to their big break, and had experienced some pretty rough experiences within the music industry along the way, but were steadily building up an underground fan base by doing “crazy concerts at every dodgy bar we could”.

A little bit of airplay followed, but not much, and the labels wouldn’t turn their heads. They were getting more love overseas. The band decided to play some shows across the pond, and My Type got picked up for a prominent whiskey campaign.

“At that point, we were definitely living true to the struggling musician lifestyle,” A/J recalls. “While we were there, we played as many shows as we could, and eventually Parlophone took a chance on that song.”

Sharp has a knack for predicting a hit, and said he would eat his hat if My Type didn’t blow up.

“He is a good gauge for me,” A/J smiles. “He's said that a few times, so he’s a good barometer. The song started getting played on Radio 6 in the UK and some BBC director tweeted something really kind about the song.

"We have a weird relationship with the UK because we were there for a long time, and everything moved so fast for us there that I feel that people know the song, but they don't know the band. That makes me kind of sad, because people know it through adverts – definitely no complaints as far as that has allowed us to be a band and people know it in some way! – but they don't know it in the same way that people do in the US, Mexico, and some places in Europe.

“People in the UK know it mostly through adverts, which is kind of a shame to me because people don't get to know more about the band and that we had 10 years of music coming out and are still doing stuff.”

The group initially came together at film school – their movie background being evident in their cinematic music videos and The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album trilogy concept. The band most recently released the second instalment of their three-part album, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 2.

“Pretty early on with this album, the idea of releasing in three parts seemed to make sense,” A/J shares. “Initially that was because there was a large part of the music that had a certain kind of feeling, and then another part that felt like the complete opposite. So we had this idea of a hot, cold mixture, and then that extended into the thinking of how the album sleeves would fold into each other.”

Sharp was reading a magazine article about a movie soundtrack on a plane on the way to a gig, and suggested that something like that would make a good name for an album.

“Instantly, it was like, ‘That feels like that's a perfect evolution from film school, and it is the next step up in that world’.”

Capturing the same uplifting and hooky horn-led energy of My Type, Preach is a standout single on The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 2. The music video was directed by A/J himself and longtime collaborator Mario Contini, and stars A/J performing choreographed dance moves alongside the LA Roller Girls.

“This song was done with my friend Sam, and it was kind of just done for fun,” he admits. “I remember initially it was just kind of an experiment – this was definitely not supposed to be on the final version! I’m singing the verse in this weird way where I was channelling Prince, and Sam really liked it. I'm still coming to terms with it,” he laughs.

“But that is why it sounds slightly different. It's almost unrecognisable to my usual singing style, but it was never really meant in a serious way. I like trying to sing as different characters sometimes, and this one was definitely different.”

A/J says that his songwriting style has changed since the band’s debut album, Voyeur in 2012, and a lot of that stems from their circumstances:

“Just where I'm at as a human being as opposed to where I was 10 years ago is slightly different. In the early days writing songs, I was much more escapist. We all had shitty part time jobs and we were rehearsing in a dark, dungeon-like space. I think writing music that would have been sad and introspective probably would have led to the entire band’s suicides,” he jokes.

“So instead, it was writing music that was fun and we would play every night as a way to say something that was a break from the monotony of the rest of our daily experience. It changed in some capacity after we found some version of success, and since we were able to do this full time. On our very first EP we worked with a producer who really got in my head that every song needs a reason for existing, and I still feel that every song needs a reason for existence.”

All trilogies need a part three; can A/J share when they might be releasing this?

“I'm just happy that part two is out at this point,” he answers. “I don’t even want to jinx it with part three, because we were hoping to get part two out earlier and it just wasn't possible. So if I even say something right now about part three, I'm sure it's gonna be wildly off! But saying that, as soon as possible really, because this is designed to be one album in three parts.”

When part three does come out, A/J says it will be on vinyl. Further tying it into the movies, Saint Motel were releasing parts one and two in individual film canister CDs. When the final chapter is released, all three parts will go into one case.

“Although they are coming out separately, and unfortunately, very far away from each other as far as parts go – they are designed to be one album. There are film score transitions between the songs that we work with a composer to create, and there's a cohesiveness to them. Just like any movie storyline, you have a three-act structure, which will allow us to put music out in these parts. It just made sense.”