Motion City Soundtrack featured Joshua Cain (guitar), Tony Thaxton (drums), Justin Pierre (vocals/guitar), Jesse Johnson (moog), and Matthew Taylor (bass). The indie rock quintet originally formed in 1999 when Pierre and Cain were still in high school. The two were big fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbox, the Flaming Lips, and Superchunk, and those influences spurred their own band. Motion City Soundtrack self-released a 7" before the start of 2000, but it wasn't until Taylor, Thaxton, and Johnson joined the group that things came together. Thaxton and Taylor moved from Richmond, VA, to the band's hometown of Minneapolis, MN, and the band immediately started recording with producer/engineer Ed Rose (the Get Up Kids, Ultimate Fakebook). Motion City Soundtrack's punk-glazed debut, I Am the Movie, was released in summer 2003. The Mark Hoppus-produced Commit This to Memory followed two years later. A deluxe version of the album (complete with bonus DVD) appeared in 2006; the band spent the summer on Warped before heading over to Europe with OK Go that fall. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
