THE MOTION BELOW // Enter Wormtongue

Metalcore quintet The Motion Below are relatively new to the scene. After releasing their debut EP Reform/Converge last year, the Melbourne based band are back with their latest single, Wormtongue. This April they will take the new single on tour, sharing the stage with Amberyse in the process.

Before they hit the road, Hysteria caught up with Ryan Matheson, the guitarist and clean vocalist of the band.

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Hysteria: Congratulations on the release of Wormtongue! How are you feeling now that the song is out in the open?

Ryan: Thank you! I appreciate it. I’m not entirely sure yet. I’m really happy that we’ve finally put something new out for people to listen to but I’m also nervous as to how people will take the change. We’ve been riding off Reform/Converge for almost exactly a year and we’ve been itching to get something new out, so overall I guess I’m relieved in a way.

The track is a lot more aggressive than anything else the band has put out so far, what inspired this change?

It’s kind of a funny story! Other than obviously wanting to change it up for this release, in June/July last year we did a regional tour with our close mates, The Ascended. They’re a much more straight up metal band so I was listening to them a lot, as well as all the older stuff like Killswitch Engage and Bullet For My Valentine. So one day I decided I was going to write a song influenced by those much heavier bands.. enter Wormtongue.

Do you feel like getting inspired by the sound created by those heavier bands let you create some lyrical content that you might’ve not before?

Not really. The lyrical content has always been Tom’s (vocals) domain and all our songs are based on his personal experiences, whether directly or indirectly. He had already written the majority of the lyrics for Wormtongue before we had even written the music side of the song. It just so happened that the lyrics he already had and the composition went hand in hand perfectly.

Wormtongue however, was recorded entirely in my bedroom! I engineered, recorded and edited the track and then we sent it to Chris again to mix and master it for us.
[ Ryan Matheson ]

What was producing the track like? Did the band work with anyone or was it more of an independent effort?

It was a bit stressful but it worked out awesomely in the end. We did it very differently this time compared to when we recorded Reform/Converge. The EP was all produced and mixed by our good friend Chris Themelco at Monolith Studios. Wormtongue however, was recorded entirely in my bedroom! I engineered, recorded and edited the track and then we sent it to Chris again to mix and master it for us. The bloke works wonders and we highly recommend him to everyone and anyone!

How did it go shooting the video for the track? What was the experience like?

It was insane! I have always wanted to do a film clip and it was some of the most fun I have ever had being in a band while shooting it. It went really well, it was the first film clip any of us had done so it was an amazing experience all-round.

We tore Aiden’s (percussion) dining room apart for the story side of the clip. It was interesting turning an entire room black, but it turned out pretty awesome I think. It sort of all just fell into place honestly. Even the smaller things for it like props…the typewriter and the lighting we used are my girlfriends’, the rats are Aiden’s which we just decided mid shoot to throw them into it for something extra.

It was a great first experience. Andrew (Bromley), who filmed and edited the clip is really easy to work with as well and he went above and beyond for us to make sure we got exactly what we wanted out of it. I highly recommend working with him for any artists and bands looking to do a film clip or photoshoot.

Tom and I have been discussing some pretty out there idea for future clips and we all can’t wait to do it again for a future release!

How’re you feeling about the co-headling tour with Amberyse that’s coming up next month?

Oh I honestly cannot wait! We were lucky enough to tour with Amberyse for their EP release tour last October and they’ve become our best buds and tour buddies because of it. Jamie (Guitarist of Amberyse) and I actually planned to do this upcoming tour while we were on tour last year and have spent the last few months planning it all and making sure our single releases lined up. It’s going to be a hectic month for us and we are super stoked to be out on the road again! Amberyse’s new single Heavy Hands is out on the fourth of April, so make sure you check it out and catch us on the road!

What would be your dream tour to jump on?

I would love to tour with Parkway Drive purely because they were one of the first metal bands I got into. It would be insane. If it were a multi band tour It’d have to be Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage, Breaking Benjamin and maybe Escape The Fate, like from the This War Is Ours era.

Is there a new album or EP in the works?

Good question! You can definitely expect another EP at some stage. When that will be I have no idea, but there will be at least another single pretty soon. We’ll get through this tour first and hopefully have something new again shortly after!