About Me
Often credited as one of pioneers of the "sadcore" genre, No Motiv's origins lie in the town of Oxnard, CA, a place where for many years dozens of hardcore bands ruled the scene. While No Motiv's early recordings had many elements of the "nardcore" sound and echoed the typical crunching guitars, breakneck speed drums, and the loud and agressive vocals of their predecessors, from the beginning it was clear that there was also another side to the band that set them apart from their contemporaries.
In the late 90's, the band developed a more emotional style and was signed to Vagrant Records, at a time before the wave of the popular "emo" bands came to the forefront of the roster. The band released what most consider their first proper full length album, "...And the Sadness Prevails". Most of the songs were portraits of love lost, childhood reflections, family dysfunction, and lyrics so hearfelt that those who listened would not dare lump them into genres like "punk" or "emo" or "hardcore", but rather a distinctive mix of all three.
After years of touring nationally and continuing to develop their sound, in early 2001 the band released "Diagram for Healing", and along with it, introduced a slightly poppier, catchier sound. The band managed to still incorporate the same feelings of heartache and despair from their previous effort, but also included a good mix of polished radio friendly songs, such as "Give Me Strength", which attracted an onslaught of younger fans.
At this point, the band was faced with an important decision: to continue writing and progressing their sound in an honest and creative manner, or churn out an album of manufactured pop punk songs to appeal to their newfound audience and mainstream media outlets. Fortunately for their true fans, most of the members of the band did not want to sacrifice their integrity for the allure of money and fame, and after a lineup shuffle, the band set out to record what would become the defining album of their career, "Daylight Breaking".
Taking matters into their own hands, the band recorded and produced this new album by themselves, and the result was something that took them into a darker, more experimental direction. Without a doubt, the songs are definitely No Motiv, but undoubtedly deeper musically and lyrically, and more complex and varied in style. Unfortunately, the album was not a huge commercial success for Vagrant despite their best efforts, and much the of the maturity of the material was lost on the band's youthful emerging fanbase.
The band went on several more tours after the release of the album, but soon realized that the strains of the road conflicted with their family lives and educational goals, and while they firmly believed in maintaing their creative and musical integrity, the band members did have obligations back home and families to support. During this period, they recorded what were to be their last songs, known as the "Winterlong demos". The songs were not completed, and to this day have never been officially released by the band, but these six songs are arguably some of their best work, especially "Once Again Sundays", which they played live several times during their final shows as a touring band in early 2005.
During the past two years, No Motiv has played only one live show. It took place on June 11, 2006, at the Livery Theatre in Ventura, CA, as a benefit show for the closing of the venue, as well as a reunion of legendy sadcore band The Whereabouts .
While No Motiv never released an official statement announcing their breakup, the band is considered to be on hiatus and inactive at the present time. Jeremy and Jeff reside in Ventura, CA, and have started recording material under a new band called Monster Hand. Max lives in New York and has been recording material under a solo project called Gentlemen. Roger resides in Irvine, CA, and works as a recording engineer and producer in his own recording studio in Santa Ana, CA. He also writes songs for fun under the name He Fails Me .
All band members remain close friends to this day, and also are involved in many side projects in addition to the ones mentioned above, such as Hybrid Moments , Death Country Blues , and Machines .
