Getting to Know… Movment | Interview 🎤

In the 381^st Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Irish alternative rock band, Movment. 

“Rock is a tool we use to express our ideas.” Interesting, 🎙 Movment, an alternative rock band from Ireland 🇮🇪. “The core reason for creating music is to convey our thoughts and connect with people, the same way we connect with the artists that we listen to,” 🎙 Martin Kelly, one of two brothers in the band, asserts, adding, “What we do is not trivial, but intense, it’s not meaningless or superficial, but has substance..” Like our many other Getting to Know Q&As, we get the inside scoop on the Irish collective’s genesis, goals, musical influences, and of course, current, and future musical endeavors. 🎙 Kevin Kelly, the other brother who is a proponent of the ‘Movment’, also answers our burning questions. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into 🎤 Getting to Know… Movment: Interview No. 381! 

For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Movment distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Kevin: Movment are an alternative rock band that strive to produce original music and lyrics that is exclusively ours. We are influenced by many artists, bands, and by lots of musical styles, and we operate within the rock genre, but ultimately the goal is to produce music that is unique to us. And lyrically, what we explore comes from deep within and so is our take on our existence and life and living. So, listeners are getting our angle on rock music which is different to other bands. We are like no others.

Martin: Rock is a tool we use to express our ideas. But the core reason for creating music is to convey our thoughts and connect with people, the same way we connect with the artists that we listen to. What we do is not trivial, but intense, it’s not meaningless or superficial, but has substance. This will either resonate with people or not, we cannot control that. We can only create songs and music and lyrics and after that those that hear it can make their own minds up about it. Music and words have a power, and we are tapping into it and that is what we offer to listeners.  Because listening to music is a relationship between the artist and the listener. Like all music you have to engage with it to get something from it, but if you engage with what we do, I am sure you will find it stimulating and compelling.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Movment form and what were some of the goals or visions you had early on?

Kevin: Movment is the main musical project of myself and my brother. We were in a band previously, Raw Novembre, and we produced 2 albums, an EP and some singles, and a final compilation album, 💿 My Bones. But we had a side project from the early days called Movment, where we wrote songs together. It was about 2007/08 that we started to finalize songs as Movment and we released our first Movment album, 💿 Broken Down, in 2012. Movment write songs and that is our goal.

Martin:  Our goal has always been writing rock songs that connect with people, based on our experiences as music fans, and because we got so much out of listening to music.  That remains our goal, and at its core our music uses intensity, energy, and deep, meaningful lyrics to express our ideas. Music and song writing are simple really. It is a form of artistic expression. We are not interested in entertainment. We are interested in creating something that is timeless and insightful. A direct connection to our minds and to the minds of those listening.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Martin:  Not really, we have been inspired by many bands and songs, and our goal is to create something that also inspires others. We want listeners to get something out of our music when they engage with it. So, our goal is still to write songs and express ideas about our life experiences and what we see around us, in our own particular way. We have changed as people over the years, and I am sure this feeds into our songwriting, but the objective is to write songs that connect with others. Listening to music is an experience. And also, playing music that you have written can take you places in your mind. It is an adventure in thoughts.

Kevin:  Our goal is writing songs, creating albums, and creating visuals that are guided by our ideas. So, completing albums is always the main goal of ours, and sharing our work with others. Creating something and not sharing it is pointless, isn’t it? Because it has gotten much easier to work on songs, and finish songs, and create atmospherics in songs, we are finding it much easier to finish an album than we did in the past. It is also easier to record and mix songs. So, I expect there will be more albums from Movment over the next 2 – 3 years. If you listen to our music, and hear our lyrics, you should get a good idea of what we are about, and what we are interested in. Over time your songwriting will change because you experience new things and get influenced by new music and songs.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Kevin:  I started listening to music seriously in my late teens, and Joy Division were a big influence at the time. But since then, I have had many bands and artists that have been influential. I am a big fan of Sparklehorse and the simplicity of Mark Linkous’ songs, and the Eels, who make simple songs sound incredible. I suppose I am attracted to the simplicity in song writing, and less so to complex arrangements. These days, in order to keep reminding myself of the bands and artists I listen to, I keep track of them on my blog – roughcalmhead.com – which is predominantly for me, and is loaded with playlists, and song lists, and whatever else comes to mind about music.

Because I listen to so much music, new and old, it is difficult to keep track of it. I particularly like listening to CDs in the car at the moment and listening to full albums. So, these bands are influential, but I have no interest in copying them or trying to replicate what they are doing.

Martin:  Yeah, early on I was into metal (I still am!), Iron Maiden, Van Halen and Nine Inch Nails, but I have widened my taste in music. I am a big fan of New Model Army, and Rammstein. I listen to all kinds of music now. Once I connect with it then it becomes influential. It is so much easier to access music now via Streaming Sites, YouTube, but I still like listening to CDs and Vinyl.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Martin:  We did play a gig with an alternative circus once, that was strange. Lots of weird and wonderful performances that night. Although we were quite punky back then, fire eating, sword swallowing, contortions and bunny outfits were hard to follow! 

Kevin:  At one gig in the past, we had a guest saxophonist 🎷 on stage with us. He used to regularly guest with all kinds of bands, even punk ones! One of the enthusiastic moshers at the front decided to engage in a rude gesture with the saxophone, and the sax man started swinging the sax and all hell broke loose… I kept playing. It really added to the song, giving it that extra bit of bite and energy. We might sing about violence, but it is not something we engage in on stage, usually. There is enough violence in the world.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

Martin:  🎵 “Violence” is a key song of ours, and it is quite intense, so we normally finish with it. But I like other songs too, 🎵 “This Way is Lost”, and 🎵 “Propaganda” as it is very apt for the world we live in today and the information that we receive. What do you believe anymore? And 🎵 “Reinvention” from our new album is a song I like a lot.

Kevin:  I quite the lyrics of 🎵 “Birthday Tapes”, a song from the album, 💿 Disturbed. But I also like 🎵 “We All Must Go” from 💿 Transformation. And probably 🎵 “Don’t Let Go” from our new album, 💿 Reinvention. Every song we write has its own appeal and its own story.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

Kevin:  We are dark minded. Which is not necessarily negative. And black is our favorite color. And we are obsessed with music.

Martin:  I play drums 🥁 and sing on our new album. We mostly write and record in our home studio, End of Light Studios. We have other items that would be good to know, but we are very secretive about our lives and our art. I think you will understand us by listening to our lyrics and our music and checking out our visuals.

Closing out, what is Movment currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

Martin:  Our new album, 💿 Reinvention, is out on 24 November, and we will release a single, 🎵 “The Light Goes Out”, on that day.  And we are releasing a 3^rd single, 🎵 “Existence”, from our new album on 27 October. We also have our own record label, Distort The Scene, and we are busy promoting our album at the moment. Also, we have 6 new songs written already, they just have to be recorded and mixed.

Kevin:  Besides our new album, we have 6 brand new songs. Once these are recorded and mixed, we will release them as singles in 2024. It is likely this will be a series of 4 singles, 2 double A sides, available in January, February, March and April/May. And probably after that we will begin work on our next album.  I like hard plektrums, and I’m really liking my Johnny Cash pleks at the moment! No rest! We enjoy it too much!

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

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Getting to Know… Movment: Interview No. 381 [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Movment; Tumisu via Pixabay]