My Favourite Five: Songs That Motivate

Whether you’re in a particular mood or looking for something that you can relate to, music can be a great place to turn. With so many songs around, music is always there for you, even when no one else is. It can give you a sense of comfort, energy or background companionship while you carry on with your day. It can pick you up, make you dwell or give you a way to grieve. It can even motivate you to keep going; either in general or during a task you are less than thrilled about *cough* housework and exercise *cough*

Here are five songs that work for me. Even if we have completely different tastes in music I hope this list at least gets you thinking about your own musical motivators:

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An Interview with Michael from Until Home

Every Summer pic

Matt Reisinger, Michael Trapp and Clayton Mullins, as pictured above, make up the Brisbane-based trio, Until Home. Currently on tour with their debut EP, Optimistic and working as disability support workers; I spoke with the lead singer, Michael about band origins, emotive songwriting, and life spent on the road.

So, how did you guys meet?

We met at school. Matt and I had been friends since we were quite young – we took up music together, playing guitar, learned to sing, wrote our first song together, learned our first cords together – so we’ve been doing it for a while. We [as a complete band] started playing together around late 2013, around Brisbane and the Gold Coast for maybe a good year and then we decided to start recording.

It wasn’t until after school, I started as a disability support worker and then one after the other, Matt started and Clayton started a few months later. So, we met at school but we still work together, which is cool. We’ve got such a supportive work group. Our manager is absolutely awesome! [He allows] us to get time off and he comes to our gigs. We [also] have a wide network of supportive friends which is really great, really good to have.

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Thoughts on Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

I am not a huge Tom Cruise fan. I generally find him annoying. He comes across arrogant, controlling and prone to weird publicity stunts and media stories. (*cough* couch incident *cough*) BUT, all that aside, the man can act. So, being an Emily Blunt fan since The Devil Wears Prada, I finally decided to give Edge of Tomorrow a chance. And you know what? For a military version of Groundhog Day it isn’t too bad.

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An interview with Thom Lion

Thom Lion l Hi Res-11

Currently working as a radio producer during the day and touring with his band, The Tamers, at night – I spoke to Adelaide-based singer/songwriter, Thom Lion, about artistic beginnings, music videos, night terrors and his latest release.

You’re currently on your promotional tour for the release of your EP, Sleep Riots, playing extremes – from the huge Teneriffe Festival in Brisbane, to an RSL on the Gold Coast. Do you tailor your shows to suit smaller vs larger audiences?

A little bit. For the smaller gigs, because there’s more intimacy there, I might throw in a few more witty stories or just a little bit more banter. The band is quite new we’ve been working on this, just having one great show in one big set that we do really well. The festival was obviously amazing, because there were thousands of people there! And the stage was sitting on the river. The RSL was a little more low key. It’s the first time this band has gotten away together, so [it’s been] a lot of fun!

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Thoughts on Me Before You (2016)

I am a sucker for a good rom-com and judging by the trailer alone (as I haven’t read the book it is based on) Me Before You looked like the kind of story that would make you swing violently between laughing and crying.

While I didn’t really want to put myself into a situation where I would be silently sobbing in a cinema I decided to risk the emotional turbulence and give it a go. YOLO! I also made sure I didn’t wear any mascara and grabbed some napkins during my pre-movie lunch just in case – a girl can never be over prepared for waterworks after all.

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An interview with Ryan Wyatt from Project Montreal

IMG_0108If you are drawn to alternative pop music that blends in an orchestra sound, then you may just enjoy Project Montreal’s debut album, Patterns. I spoke with Ryan Wyatt about his four year creative journey, how the experience has shaped him musically, and whether he has any future aspirations brewing.

Firstly, how would you describe Project Montreal?

It’s a bit of a weird one, but I’d say just alternative pop. I like that term – you can throw just about anything in to the mix with the word “alternative”. The name, it’s a bit of a long story, but I remember back at Uni, we used to have competitions about coming up with names – whether it be like a clothing brand or something. One day we were doing band names and I told my friend, “Project Montreal, that’d be a cool band name.” And he was like, “Man, that sucks. That’s such a shit name!” So I was like, I’m going to show him. (laughs)

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