Viera Motel Take Heart Interview

Interview with Viera Motel

Question: How would you describe your music?

Viera Motel: High energy with bold, stadium ready choruses and dark but honest lyrics.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Viera Motel: We've got a song written about New York city called 'Yellow Cars'. It's just a beast. I get goose-bumps every time we perform it, especially when Fergs' guitar part kicks in at the chorus. Playing it once, we had a lovely couple in the crowd looking into each other's eyes whilst slow dancing. It seems to have that kind of effect on people which is special. Fergs and I actually went to NYC after writing the song and recorded a live demo of it in a studio in Brooklyn, mixing it on the plane home. So it's collected a fair bit of weight now.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Viera Motel: Performing live in a heartbeat, and I think the rest of the band would say the same. My brain runs a muck with creativity in the studio to the point it becomes an issue. I'm never settled. Luckily we had someone else mix the single, because if it was in my hands it would have taken a year… and I probably would have ended up in a ward somewhere. I would say our songs are made to be played and heard live.


Question: What is the story behind the band name?

Viera Motel: Until a few months ago we were called 'La Tanika', but no one could pronounce the name!

Absolutely no one, so before we released this single we agreed to change the name. I think having the word Motel in our name is somewhat unique, and I personally love the whole concept around a motel. The creative possibilities around it are endless and I just love the seedy, 80's vibe it carries.


Question: How did the band come together?

Viera Motel: Fergs and I have been playing together for around eight years now, but failed to get a solid band together until about a year ago, when Matt Colvin (drummer) found us on Gumtree. Dane (bassist) was in an old line up we had a few years ago, but that fell apart pretty quickly. We tried a couple of bassists but no such luck, so decided to contact Dane again for a reunion jam! The rest is history.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Viera Motel: Presenting it to the band: I love the excitement of not knowing what reaction you may get. There's been times where I've though certain songs would be received poorly, but then turned out to be their favourites and vice-versa. Another would be competing with other artists, big and small. At certain times I would hear a song on the radio and think "What rubbish, I'm gonna go write something better than that!"


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Viera Motel: I rarely listen to music which may be a surprise. I find that if I listen to another artist for too long it greatly influences my songwriting, steering me away from our bands musical direction, if that makes sense. But I just listened to Radiohead's 'OK Computer' for the first time the other day. Real class that album is. One band I won't bother competing with that's for sure.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Viera Motel: To quit my current job.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Viera Motel: Who's on top of the charts right now? Or what's the current 'trend band'? Let's go Queen, people seemed to have jumped on board the Queen train of late. Chuck our name on one of their tracks and BOOM, we're off.

Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Viera Motel: Lack of confidence for sure, I would say around six or seven years ago we had the songs, Fergs and I had the ability, had the style… even when we had a drummer and bassist we were ready to get out there and get going, but just didn't have the guts to take that one little step to doing live shows. That is one of my biggest regrets, starting as late as we have now.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Viera Motel: Every day I get up, have a shower, catch the train to work, work, catch the train home, sit in my chair, eat some pretzels or olives depending on my mood, have a few glasses of red or a few beers, then sleep. Oh, I might manage to write a bit of a song in there somewhere.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Viera Motel: Saying that I'm in a band. I'm sure we'd all say the same thing. 95% guaranteed to get a 'oh wow!' followed by a 'What are you called?' or 'What do you play?' Didn't get that reaction when I used to say "I work in a call centre", trust me.


Question: Can you share your socials?

Viera Motel: Facebook
@vieramotel
Triple J Unearthed

Interview by Brooke Hunter