Interview: Movment (Written)

Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging bring you an interview with alternative genre-bending rock band, Movment.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Martin: We are a post punk alternative rock band with some electronics and synths which add to the atmosphere of our songs. We are about to release our 3rd album in November. And we are music fans, so we listen to lots of music and go to lots of gigs.

Kevin: We started in a band called Raw Novembre and released 2 albums and a compilation album. Initially Movment was a side project for me and Martin. We started writing and recording songs in 2007/08 and released our first album in 2012. We are a rock band with a dark twist.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

Martin: Alternative Rock, although that can mean a lot of things. Others have described our music in various ways, darkwave, post punk, goth, even metal. We probably don’t fit exactly into any genre. We were once called Heavy Metals answer to The Smiths.

Kevin: We play post punk rock music, by post punk, I mean music that was inspired by punk, but is not necessarily punk by nature. We are more rock than punk, and as we use synths there are aspects of electronica to what we do. There is an energy and intenseness to our music.

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

Kevin: We have just released a 2nd single, Crawl Back Inside, from our new album Reinvention, which will be available from 24 November this year. We will have an album launch in Ireland and we will look into playing some gigs in 2024. Our focus has always been on writing and recording.

Martin: We will release a 3rd single, Existence, from the new album Reinvention, on 27 October. We have also 6 new songs, which won’t be on the album, and we will record them in the next few months and release them in 2024. So, we are keeping busy. And because we run our own independent label, Distort The Scene, we are heavily involved in promoting the singles and new album ourselves, over the coming months. Distribution is via Epictronic. We create our own artwork and shoot our own videos.

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

Kevin: I think anyone that creates something, a visual artist, sculptor, writer, will know how it feels to produce something new and unique to you. Our reward is writing songs, whatever happens after they are written, is not that important to us. Creating something is the vital component, and if that connects with other people, and is inspiring to them and to us, that’s enough for us. Songwriting is also beneficial to our minds. We are inspired by others art. Everyone can be creative.

Martin: Writing songs gives us a purpose in life. It opens our minds and broadens our perspective on life and living. It has a spiritual aspect to it and helps us understand life on a profound level. Ask anyone that plays music, and they might struggle to describe how it feels, but it definitely is a positive part of your existence. It is inspiring and feeds into other aspects of you. Even if we write about sad or extreme or harsh things, it is a genuine positive experience for us.

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

Martin: It is always a struggle to create music, in lots of ways. Trying to make it true to who you are, and when it is not the only thing in your life, you have to make time for it. It is not always a positive experience and it can be frustrating, but that is part of living anyway. It is best to live in the moment and not carry the problems you face around with you all the time.

Kevin: No matter what problem you face while writing and recording, or in life in general, music can a;ways make things better. Listening to it or writing music. It has a deep connection with your innermost thoughts and can be comforting in bad times as well as good times. At our stage of life, we are better equipped to focus on the positive aspects of what we do, so we haven’t let the challenges we face get us down.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

Martin: We don’t have the normal expectations, as such. We just want to write songs. That is where our efforts go. Make them as good as they can be, to us. Once we have the songs written, recorded, then that is the end point. What others think of us, or what is expected, don’t come into it. We are just happy if someone hears our music and gets something from it. We will engage with social media, but to a certain degree. We are not posting stuff everyday, just stuff that is important, or worth posting.

Kevin: We don’t really expect much from our releases. We like people to hear what we’ve written, and we hope they get something from it, like we do from the music we listen to. But if it’s not for you, don’t listen to it. We don’t need likes and follows as such. We are not chasing them. If a person likes what we do, and like or follow us, that’s great. We are not actively chasing this. We have listened to music for years, without ticking a box for the artist saying we like it. I don’t think that is necessary. If you create something that you like yourself, that should be enough. I suppose it is easier these days to find music and follow and like it. That is not a bad thing.

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

Martin: Ultimately most musicians are writing and recording and releasing music without payment. It is their passion. And musicians are squeezed out of income all the time. It is only a select few that are earning a decent living from music. More could be done to support musicians. A more equitable share of income for musicians from streaming would be a good start. Music production has become more democratic but also it is much more difficult to break even from musical projects and almost impossible for most musicians to earn enough income to keep going. I’m not sure how this can be resolved though!

Kevin: Even playing gigs and earning an income from it is more difficult these days. Especially if you are playing original music. I think that is just the way it is. Selling physical products is a key income stream for artists, but they also have to look at ways to generate income to support themselves. Merchandise, Gig Income, Social Media Income and licensing are ways to keep recording and releasing records. But once we are able to write and record music ourselves, that satisfies us. The whole process of doing that has got easier to do. That is why there is more music out there I suppose.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

Martin: I don’t think I would personally ask fans to support our music before it is recorded and released. If they like it when it comes out, then they can buy physical copies from Bandcamp, buy merchandise, stream it, and that supports the bands.

Kevin: I’m not really into the idea of paying for music before it is written and recorded. That investment should come from the band or their record label in my opinion. I don’t like buying something when I haven’t heard it first. But once it is available then buying physical products on Bandcamp or the bands own website is the best way to support bands. There is not much income from streaming, unless the numbers are high.

9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?

Martin: Like most people I watch movies and tv shows, but music is my main hobby.

Kevin: I like most sports too, particularly soccer. But lots of other things interest me, space, history, the outdoors. But I also watch a lot of music on TV, YouTube and I read a bit too. I’m reading a lot of music biographies at the moment.

10. Where can people find you?

Martin: We are based in Mullingar, Ireland, but all our links and details are available from www.movment.ie. We are on most social media sites – YouTube (@distortthesceneIRL), Twitter (movment) Facebook (movmentie) Instagram (movmentie) TikTok (@movmentie) SoundCloud (movment) and movment.bandcamp.com. And we have a linktree for Movment (https://linktr.ee/movmentie) and our record label Distort The Scene (https://linktr.ee/distortthescene).

Kevin: We are located in Ireland, and can be found on social media on the web or via our website, or via https://linktr.ee/movmentie – we are easy to contact online.