Saint Motel’s A/J Jackson and Aaron Sharp talk influences, tour and new music

Inspired by the old and driven by the new, Saint Motel looks for unique ways to push boundaries while paying homage to the vintage Californian culture that defined its style.

The St. Motel will be the second stop on the ‘The Awards Show’ tour, playing at Newport Music Hall on Tuesday at 7pm. According to the company’s website, they will also perform at the Columbus Music Festival Wonderbus on August 27th.

Consisting of vocalist A/J Jackson, guitarist Aaron Sharp, bassist Dak Radumpong, and drummer Greg Irwin, the band’s roots are in Orange County, where Jackson and Sharp met while attending film school in 2002. dating back to After several iterations of the band, Saint Motel officially formed his 2009 release of his debut EP, ‘For Play’ shortly thereafter. Since then, the band has amassed over 4 million monthly listeners on his Spotify and has garnered critical acclaim worldwide. Their most popular song, “My Type,” has nearly 300 million plays on him, and since then the band has played Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and more.

Jackson, who has become known for his decidedly upbeat, plush sound characterized by big vocals, pianos and horns, said the band’s debut album Voyeur was a turning point in his music making.

“‘Voyeur’ is pretty much the halfway point between when I was self-producing and when I wasn’t, so you can hear a lot of different songs there,” Jackson said.

Sharp said the change allowed the band to evolve into the sound that defines them today.

“The way we wrote and played music was completely different. It was very simplified,” Sharpe said. “It was great while it lasted, but when we start going to the second and third albums, I think we can hear an evolution in terms of production and arrangements.”

Sharpe said that while the band is always looking for creative ways to play and express themselves, there are certain worthy traits in their music that keep coming back.

“All the things and ideas that you hear and integrate into our music are sampling old records, referencing old music, talking about old movies, creating new and interesting sounds out of what has already happened. That’s why we’re trying to, but also make them fun and fresh again, in a new light,” Sharp said.

According to Jackson, “The Award Show” tour aims to refresh previous live performances.

“This particular tour, ‘The Awards Show,’ is going to be very unique and really exciting, unlike anything we’ve done before. I’m really looking forward to it,” said Jackson. rice field.

Instead of having a designated setlist each night, Sharpe said, the audience votes for the songs they want to hear. The concept of voting for each song also ties directly into the theme of “The Award Show.”

“Everyone was off the whole time, so we were trying to come up with different fun ways to get the audience involved,” Sharpe said. “In some ways, we wanted to stick with the theme of the movie because it was part of our origin his story and has always been part of our story.”

Sharpe said nothing compares to the energy of a live performance.

“Especially the energy of a live show, with fans who know the language and are excited, nothing else gives you that feeling. So it’s very exciting for us,” Sharpe said. I got

Sharp said the band will be playing old and new songs. Fans can start looking for new music from Saint Motel, but they have their own release his model.

“Rather than releasing an EP or LP, we plan to release songs over the course of several months,” Sharp says. “It’s going to be a fun new way for us to do the album cycle, hopefully giving each song its own space and finding its place in the ether.” ”