Toronto, Canada — A young band from the suburbs of Toronto called Motion Device has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their upcoming double-CD concept album Wide Awake.
Fronted by their 15 year old vocalist Sara Menoudakis, the band has taken it upon themselves to prove to the world that the only thing a rock band in today’s music industry needs is fans. They’ve become experts in the crowd-funding forum with two previous releases Welcome to the Rock Revolution and Eternalize fully funded by their fans in 2014 and 2015.
Motion Device’s current campaign was funded in less than 3 days and continues to grow as the band introduces stretch goals to their loyal backers. “Music belongs to people not corporations,” says Sara who also states in the band’s Kickstarter video “we would rather give control to the ones that deserve it – you (the fans)”.
Sara’s vocals have often been compared to a reincarnated, hard rock version of Janis Joplin. A couple years ago Universal Music came calling to learn more about the band and also inquired about the possibility of Sara leaving her band mates to start a solo career. That’s kind of hard to do when the other members in the band are your sister, brother and first cousin. The band has also been in communication with some big name record producers and engineers but they all seem to want to change the band’s sound to fit the model of today’s music industry.
“Our style has really come into it’s own over the last year,” says guitarist Josh Marrocco. “We don’t write about drinking and partying like lots of other rock and roll bands. We like to hit on the deeper topics and our fans really relate to the lyrics and music. There’s an energy about our sound that’s very hard to describe but the fans seem to get it – that’s what it’s all about.”
The idea of a concept album was something the band had in mind for quite some time. Some of their biggest influences include Black Sabbath, Rush and Dream Theater so it’s easy to see why a concept album made perfect sense. As the material for the album came together the band soon realized that the music wasn’t going to fit on one CD so they decided to take on the ambitious task of recording a double-CD album with more than 2 hours of music, which is rare in today’s market. Of course the plan includes digital downloads of the new album but a lot of their fans still like to hold a CD in their hands, which is evident from the weekly orders they get from all over the world for the band’s previous releases.
As old-school, senior rockers continue to claim ‘rock is dead’, Motion Device firmly believes rock music is alive and well – you just have to adapt and use the resources available. Twenty years ago it would be impossible for an unsigned band to generate the funds to record an album on their own. The difference is this band is not on their own. They have a very loyal fan base that’s ready to back them every step of the way. “Together with our fans we are an army,” claims Sara. “An army that’s ready to show them that we are in control.”
If rock was dead, it sure looks like it might be waking up.
To make a pledge you can visit Motion Device’s Kickstarter campaign here: www.kickstarter.com