<P> Motion City Soundtrack formed in 1997 in Minneapolis, Minnesota . The band signed to Epitaph Records in 2003 after recording I Am the Movie, their debut, independently and selling copies of it out of the back of their tour van for a year . Motion City became part of a slew of Epitaph signings, including Matchbook Romance, Scatter the Ashes and From First To Last, amid concerns the Southern California label had strayed too far from its roots, and seemed "a little too emo ." By the time the band began production on their sophomore record, I Am the Movie had sold nearly 62,000 copies . The group had accumulated significant buzz, and were regarded as a "must - see" act on the Warped Tour 2004 . </P> <P> Mark Hoppus' involvement stems from when an Atticus Clothing employee played him I Am the Movie . He was so taken with it that he raved about the band in Rolling Stone, inviting them to open for his group, Blink - 182 on their 2004 European tour . On the trek, he became good friends with the musicians . He told them that he had purchased an abundance of recording gear and amplifiers for the previous Blink - 182 album and told the band of his interest in recording music from a production standpoint . At the final show of the tour, guitarist Joshua Cain went to Hoppus' dressing room and asked him to produce their next record . Although Hoppus had never produced anything before, he was excited to be a part of the album and accepted the offer . </P> <P> The band first began writing songs at their rehearsal space in their hometown of Minneapolis, which they nicknamed the "Dungeon", due to its ability to "suck the life and energy out of the band ." For Pierre, the album came at the brink of a transitional period for him, in which he began to seek treatment for alcohol abuse . He left the band during the writing stages for Los Angeles where he moved in with Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings . Afterwards, the band rejoined Pierre in Los Angeles to begin recording demos for a month; the change of scenery brought about new energy for the group, according to Pierre . Commit This to Memory would be the first album by the band to feature material crafted by each musician in the group, as previous releases had featured songs written in the years prior to each member joining . In addition, the band had more time and funds to spend time working on the album . "It was also the first time we had a lot more time and money to go in and feel like we were making a real record this time, whereas I Am the Movie was recorded in little segments here and there and eventually pieced together," said drummer Tony Thaxton . </P> <P> Recording sessions for Commit This to Memory, which were booked by Hoppus, were scheduled over six weeks at Seedy Underbelly Studios in Valley Village, a district of Los Angeles, California, which was actually a rented house that had once belonged to Jeff Porcaro, the drummer for Toto . The band had, according to Hoppus, "a million ideas and a lot of energy and enthusiasm to make a great record". Pierre strove for the record to have a sound that resembled the bands Braid, Superchunk, Jawbox and the Pixies . Living in a suburb, the neighbors had called police to the band and Hoppus several times for being too loud at night time, especially when Hoppus brought a Roland TR - 808 drum machine outside to work on a song late at night . According to Pierre, Hoppus was not interested in putting his own stamp on the music, but rather bringing out the best in what he saw in the group . Hoppus generally modeled his production after Jerry Finn (a longtime producer of Blink - 182), and therefore it involved much watching and listening . "Mark kept telling us,' Your name is going to be a lot bigger on the front than mine is on the back'," recalled Justin Pierre, "So he would throw suggestions out there but always say,' Feel free to turn these down .' And we would!" </P>

Motion city soundtrack commit this to memory review