Mission in Motion
Words: Rob Lyon

Mission In Motion are packing the Tarago and heading out on their own headline tour through May and June. These lads have had a big start to the year playing Soundwave 2012 and now their attention turns to testing out new material from the forthcoming album.
Triple J has been all over Mission In Motion, with the single Control gaining high rotation and capturing the hearts and minds of a new legion of fans. Front man Brett Islaub is looking forward to the tour and talks to Caught In The Mosh about the tour, playing Soundwave and juggling the band with full-time work.
How is the upcoming tour shaping up?
We’re pretty stoked just to be getting back out on the road as we’ve have not been out on a headliner since last year. After Soundwave we wanted to see how everything was going to go and fit in but it is good to be able to take our friends The Jonesez with us.
All Work And No Pay – is that what it feels like?
The name of the tour borders around a lot of things but maybe the fact that we all work full-time as well as tour. Any money we make goes back in to this band so it seems like we’re constantly scrambling and working on various aspects of our lives. We thought it was a bit of a piss take of how busy we are these days.
How do you juggle all these aspects of your lives without compromising the band?
I think this is a matter of learning some valuable lessons over the years. We’ve been a band and doing this for six years and it is a matter of planning things so we know what is coming up and know what we can and can’t do. Having understanding bosses is an important factor, which over the years we’ve had some and hadn’t had some. There have been a few resignations to accommodate our passion so I think it’s just learning lessons as we go on and try to plan as much as we can as we move ahead.
How important has Triple J airplay been for Mission In Motion?
Since we released Somewhere Safe two years ago and Triple J picked up New Skin we were so surprised that we would get any radio play. The little radio play we did get we were so happy about but to have every single we’ve put out to be put on high rotation, it’s like every time it happens we think it’s ridiculous and so killer! I don’t think these days it is necessarily something that you need especially when you look at bands like Parkway Drive, they don’t get an incredible amount of airplay but they’re one of the biggest bands in the country. It does champion your cause though and more people get to hear then come out to shows but we’re extremely happy with all the support they’ve given us over the last couple of years.
Triple J has been all over Mission In Motion, with the single Control gaining high rotation and capturing the hearts and minds of a new legion of fans. Front man Brett Islaub is looking forward to the tour and talks to Caught In The Mosh about the tour, playing Soundwave and juggling the band with full-time work.
How is the upcoming tour shaping up?
We’re pretty stoked just to be getting back out on the road as we’ve have not been out on a headliner since last year. After Soundwave we wanted to see how everything was going to go and fit in but it is good to be able to take our friends The Jonesez with us.
All Work And No Pay – is that what it feels like?
The name of the tour borders around a lot of things but maybe the fact that we all work full-time as well as tour. Any money we make goes back in to this band so it seems like we’re constantly scrambling and working on various aspects of our lives. We thought it was a bit of a piss take of how busy we are these days.
How do you juggle all these aspects of your lives without compromising the band?
I think this is a matter of learning some valuable lessons over the years. We’ve been a band and doing this for six years and it is a matter of planning things so we know what is coming up and know what we can and can’t do. Having understanding bosses is an important factor, which over the years we’ve had some and hadn’t had some. There have been a few resignations to accommodate our passion so I think it’s just learning lessons as we go on and try to plan as much as we can as we move ahead.
How important has Triple J airplay been for Mission In Motion?
Since we released Somewhere Safe two years ago and Triple J picked up New Skin we were so surprised that we would get any radio play. The little radio play we did get we were so happy about but to have every single we’ve put out to be put on high rotation, it’s like every time it happens we think it’s ridiculous and so killer! I don’t think these days it is necessarily something that you need especially when you look at bands like Parkway Drive, they don’t get an incredible amount of airplay but they’re one of the biggest bands in the country. It does champion your cause though and more people get to hear then come out to shows but we’re extremely happy with all the support they’ve given us over the last couple of years.

Does your record label have much influence over what you do or are you doing it on your own terms?
Absolutely none whatsoever, everything that is done in this band is done by the five of us. As far as I’m concerned this is the way it will always be. We’re the ones who worked on this and we don’t really want anyone else telling us what to do in terms of what single to pick, what sound we should go for and those kinds of things are fucking stupid. Since we’re the five people who make music and put everything on the line to go out on the road and risk our jobs I don’t we’re going to allow anyone to come in and tell us how to work our band and what we should do.
Is Parkway Drive a benchmark or a blue print for bands to model themselves on?
They’re not a band I listen to a lot but their success and the way they have gone about it is something that everyone in the band has said holy shit! You can’t not notice that band and the ridiculous amount of touring they’ve done and the amount of hard work they’ve put in. I think it shows how much work they have put in to that band. I don’t know if it is a blueprint on how bands should launch their careers as I don’t think there is a blueprint. With everything that has gone in the music industry the last few years, it is a matter than some get lucky and others don’t. It is a shit way to have it. Bands with integrity should go forward and crappy hair bands that can’t play their instruments can essentially fuck off. Unfortunately that’s the music industry we live in at the moment but their success stood up and showed that honest content can still make a difference and be heard by a lot of people.
Did you take away a lot from the Soundwave experience?
I didn’t we leant a lot from touring because we’ve been touring for a really long time. We know everything we need to for being on the road. The thing we learnt from touring with Soundwave is that it good to hang back and have some fun. We sit and speculate and worry over every inch of our band all the time. To go out on that tour and have a whole bunch of friends out there and meet so many musicians that inspire us over the last ten years was more of a reminder as to why we’ve put all this amount of effort in to what we do. I think that was the main thing we’ve pulled out from it and has shown us why we love what we do.
What’s the plan beyond this tour?
We’re hoping to have the record out by the middle of the year with plans to release another single before we tour. After this tour we’ll knuckle down and finish the record and start everything we need to do to promote the record. Two weeks after the record is out I’d say we’ll be on the road for at least a month and a half. Any success we have will continue to spur us on no matter what.
Absolutely none whatsoever, everything that is done in this band is done by the five of us. As far as I’m concerned this is the way it will always be. We’re the ones who worked on this and we don’t really want anyone else telling us what to do in terms of what single to pick, what sound we should go for and those kinds of things are fucking stupid. Since we’re the five people who make music and put everything on the line to go out on the road and risk our jobs I don’t we’re going to allow anyone to come in and tell us how to work our band and what we should do.
Is Parkway Drive a benchmark or a blue print for bands to model themselves on?
They’re not a band I listen to a lot but their success and the way they have gone about it is something that everyone in the band has said holy shit! You can’t not notice that band and the ridiculous amount of touring they’ve done and the amount of hard work they’ve put in. I think it shows how much work they have put in to that band. I don’t know if it is a blueprint on how bands should launch their careers as I don’t think there is a blueprint. With everything that has gone in the music industry the last few years, it is a matter than some get lucky and others don’t. It is a shit way to have it. Bands with integrity should go forward and crappy hair bands that can’t play their instruments can essentially fuck off. Unfortunately that’s the music industry we live in at the moment but their success stood up and showed that honest content can still make a difference and be heard by a lot of people.
Did you take away a lot from the Soundwave experience?
I didn’t we leant a lot from touring because we’ve been touring for a really long time. We know everything we need to for being on the road. The thing we learnt from touring with Soundwave is that it good to hang back and have some fun. We sit and speculate and worry over every inch of our band all the time. To go out on that tour and have a whole bunch of friends out there and meet so many musicians that inspire us over the last ten years was more of a reminder as to why we’ve put all this amount of effort in to what we do. I think that was the main thing we’ve pulled out from it and has shown us why we love what we do.
What’s the plan beyond this tour?
We’re hoping to have the record out by the middle of the year with plans to release another single before we tour. After this tour we’ll knuckle down and finish the record and start everything we need to do to promote the record. Two weeks after the record is out I’d say we’ll be on the road for at least a month and a half. Any success we have will continue to spur us on no matter what.
The Mission In Motion
With Special Guests Jonesez (not appearing in GC, Brisbane, Perth or Fremantle)
‘All Work No Pay Tour’
Tickets On Sale Now
Friday 18th May - Gold Coast,Shark Bar - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Saturday 19th May - Brisbane, X & Y Bar - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Thursday 24th May - Newcastle Nsw, Great Northern - 18+ tickets from Oztix and BigTix
Friday 25th May - Wollongong, Nsw The Patch - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Saturday 26th May - Sydney, Annandale Hotel - 18+ tickets from the Annandale Hotel
Friday 1st June - Adelaide, Enimga Bar - Lic/AA tickets from Moshtix
Saturday 2nd June - Melbourne, The Tote - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Saturday 9th June - Perth, Amplifier Bar - 18+ tickets from Oztix and Moshtix
Sunday 10th June - Fremantle, Newport Hotel - 18+ tickets from Oztix and Moshtix
With Special Guests Jonesez (not appearing in GC, Brisbane, Perth or Fremantle)
‘All Work No Pay Tour’
Tickets On Sale Now
Friday 18th May - Gold Coast,Shark Bar - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Saturday 19th May - Brisbane, X & Y Bar - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Thursday 24th May - Newcastle Nsw, Great Northern - 18+ tickets from Oztix and BigTix
Friday 25th May - Wollongong, Nsw The Patch - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Saturday 26th May - Sydney, Annandale Hotel - 18+ tickets from the Annandale Hotel
Friday 1st June - Adelaide, Enimga Bar - Lic/AA tickets from Moshtix
Saturday 2nd June - Melbourne, The Tote - 18+ tickets from Oztix
Saturday 9th June - Perth, Amplifier Bar - 18+ tickets from Oztix and Moshtix
Sunday 10th June - Fremantle, Newport Hotel - 18+ tickets from Oztix and Moshtix