The story of Motion City Soundtrack begins in Minneapolis, Minn. where Pierre (guitar, vocals) and Joshua Cain (guitar, vocals) began playing in 1997.

"Josh and I and some other fellows were touring in Milton, Pa. and we met Matt [Taylor] and Tony [Thaxton] and their old band Submerge ... and we just became friends," says Pierre. "Then their band broke up and we lost some members, so we sort of joined forces.

"And then Jesse [Johnson], who was some guy that Josh worked with that had nice shoes, [joined the band]," he jokes. "He had never played the keyboard before, but we were like, ÔWell, he's a fan of music, so let's see what he can do.' So I taught him all the keyboard parts that had already been written, and then he wrote some of his own and that's pretty much it."

Pierre is just as one would imagine from his lyrics: clever, witty, and sharp as a tack. He refers to himself and his band with self-deprecating humor, but underneath it all, he is absolutely serious about MCS and its music.

"We tried to imitate our favorite bands and we failed miserably, and that's how we ended up with the music we have," he says.

Cain is more direct and succinct with his words, but shares the same opinion about the music they make.

"I just think that we're a band that copies a lot of bands from the early Ô90s," he admits. "I think we kind of skip by people realizing that because a lot of people these days don't necessarily listen to those bands. [Some of] our influences are Ben Folds Five, The Pixies, Superchunk, Jawbox, and Fugazi ... stuff that these kids that come to our shows don't listen to, so they're not going to hear those influences straight off."

Whether people can hear the influences or not is irrelevant. MCS has created a staggering album filled with deeply personal songs that will undoubtedly satiate old fans as well as impress and attract new ones. Upon first listen, Commit This to Memory seems to be glossier, cleaner, and more mature, but after spending more time with the record, it's apparent that it is still the same Motion City at heart, just a little more cohesive and introspective.

For those purist fans looking for a carbon copy of I Am the Movie, Pierre explains that even when there's a clear idea of what something is going to be, it never turns out quite as it was originally imagined.

"There's no way to harness the initial idea and just duplicate that and have a product," he says. "Things just go through change that you don't really have control over. Like the fact that I lost my voice and we had to record things a certain way made the first record something. And kind of in an egotistical way, Josh and I refer to I Am the Movie as our Surfer Rosa," Pierre says sardonically.

Most of the songs on I Am the Movie were a few years old by the time the album was released, and some were written by members who are no longer in the band. Pierre explains that even though the song parts were not theirs, Taylor, Thaxton and Johnson adopted them as their own and truly brought them to life.

"I guess the biggest difference on this new record is the five of us writing songs together completely from scratch," Pierre says.

"We didn't really write that different kind of songs; we just kind of tried to develop ourselves a little bit more within what we were doing," Cain adds. "You're never able to record [another] record like your first record, because your first record you've had your entire life to write."

If I Am the Movie was the first installment, then Commit This to Memory is certainly the eagerly awaited sequel. Not only did the band have more time in the studio to sift through the details, they also had the help of blink-182's Mark Hoppus.

The partnership was conceived last year in Paris when the two bands were on tour together. Before going out on the road, Hoppus was given a copy of I Am the Movie and instantly became a fan. He was backstage in the dressing room when Cain came in to tell him MCS was going into the studio. "It was pretty courageous of them to ask me to be a part of it," Hoppus says. "I've never produced a whole album before."

Pierre says working with Hoppus was an incredibly positive experience.

"He never yelled," he says. "He didn't really goof around much, either. Every once in a while he would do something ridiculous, but most of the time I think he's got his on-camera persona and then he's got his real-life persona. He's just a really fucking rad dude."

Pierre also remembers Hoppus saying, "ÔYour name is going to be a lot bigger on the front than mine is on the back, so this is your shit, not mine. I'm just making suggestions and you can tell me to fuck off,'" he recalls. "And we did a few times."

Though much of the clarity and streamlined sound of Commit This to Memory can be attributed to Hoppus' influence, he humbly diverts the attention back to MCS.

"[As a producer] you guide the record, but ultimately it's the band's album," he says. "We just tried a bunch of stuff and I was trying to push them to go in a different direction. They have great songs, great ideas and great parts; it was just a matter of spacing them out so each could be heard individually.

"I was really honored to be asked to be a part of it," Hoppus adds. "It was kind of a dream come true for me to work with a band that I love."

Motion City Soundtrack is ready to tackle Warped, armed with their powerfully visceral second Epitaph release. Cain aptly summarizes the tour as a "great bang for your buck," and these Warped veterans are looking forward to adding to the many memories they've already cached.

"[In 2004] we played at the baseball field in Minneapolis where the Minnesota Twins play," Pierre says. "I used to see shows there all the time when I was a kid, and somebody said that they opened up the Metrodome, so there was just a bunch of bands down there playing softball. It was really funny. Everybody was drinking beer in the dugouts. So I was down there fucking around with other bands playing softball and got to pitch on the same field as the Minnesota Twins! It was just really ridiculous."

Pierre and Cain are especially looking forward to hanging out with friends My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects, The Starting Line, and Fall Out Boy at Warped Tour. In fact, Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stumph appears on "Everything Is Alright," along with Rob MacLean and Patrick Carrie from Limbeck.

"The name of [Limbeck's] first Doghouse release is called Hi, Everything's Great," Pierre says. "They recorded a live version of that [album] at a party and put that out, and that's called Hey, Everything's Fine. So on our record, those are the lines that they're singing at the end of the song, which is kind of my little inside joke. So they sing, ÔHi, everything's great. Hey, everything's fine.'"

Pierre himself is no stranger to guest vocals. He contributed a cameo on Fall Out Boy's 2003 release Take This to Your Grave and also appears on the upcoming debut record of Minneapolis' own Small Towns Burn A Little Slower. In addition to this, Pierre and Cain submitted their own treatment for MCS's video to "Everything Is Alright" and are looking to possibly direct videos in the future. Pierre has an obvious affinity for film and would ideally like to marry his musical talent with his directing passion.

Motion City Soundtrack is poised for grandeur with Warped Tour on deck, directors' credit for videos and short films, and an extraordinary new release in tow. The future doesn't look so freaky anymore, and so it seems that everything is great, everything is fine, and yes, everything is alright.

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