If you’re looking for a brand new emo-tinged post-hardcore record to check out, Movements would like to offer up their latest release, Feel Something, as a possibility. After all, the four-piece band from Rancho Santa Margarita sunk the vast majority of the last 19 months of their lives into their first full-length, so the least they could ask for is simply for the good people of their home county to give it a listen.
“We spent a long time writing and creating these songs,” says Movements’ vocalist Patrick Miranda. “Pretty much ever since we put out [debut EP] Outgrown Things in March of 2016, we’ve been writing nonstop. Whether we were on the road, at home, or even on vacation, we’ve just been working on these songs and sending them to each other. We put a lot of time and a lot of time into each of these songs, and it’s kind of cool to see how each one has gone through multiple versions of themselves where they start as a rough idea and turn into what they’ve become now.”
Along with veteran producer Will Yip (Circa Survive, Say Anything, I Am the Avalanche), Movements put the extra time and effort into guaranteeing that after making a splash with their six-song EP last year they wouldn’t be taking a step backward this time around. After all, the release of their first full record means they can finally start feeling more like a band now and less like some random dudes who go around and play the same six songs every night.
“I feels like we’re a real band now,” Miranda says. “For the longest time, it felt like we were just some guys playing random shows and touring. We were just hoping that anybody would come watch us play and we were stoked any time anybody ever gave a shit about our band. No one knew who we were, so it was just us grinding it out for a while. It’s crazy to see now when we come back to places where we played in front of 20 kids two years ago on our first tour ever, and now it’s a packed room. It’s unreal, and it’s the coolest feeling.”
These days, the local guys are on arguably the biggest tour of their lives — a nationwide venture headlined by Knuckle Puck — with a whole lot more planned for the future. But they’re not looking ahead to their international debut on a tour through Europe this winter or prospective first headlining tour early next year just yet. No, Miranda is just excited that people actually know the words to the songs he wrote this time around — even if he had to spend a lot of time in a van just to witness it for the first time.
“We had to drive three days out to Minnesota to start this tour, but it’s been totally worth it,” Miranda says. “We’ve only ever played places like Minneapolis one other time — that was on Warped Tour this summer — so we were kind of nervous about what if a lot of kids don’t show up to those shows. So far, it’s actually ended up being crazy good. It’s been so much better than anything we could’ve imagined. I’m sure the rest of it is going to be awesome.”
Among all of the firsts the band has hit already this year, there’s one thing that sticks out in Miranda’s mind above all else. The band’s summer-long stretch on Warped Tour was something that the singer had dreamed of doing ever since he was a little kid. Combine that childhood dream with being able to use the tour to promote their big release, and the famous traveling festival fulfilled everything Movements could’ve possibly wanted out of a tour just a couple of years into their existence.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun on a tour as I did on Warped Tour,” Miranda says. “It’s kind of like summer camp, because you’re with a bunch of your friends just exploring the country and having a good time every single day. It’s a lot of work and it’s not an easy tour to be a part of, but it’s a lot of fun. If we got the opportunity, I’m sure we’d love to do it again because it’s something we’ve all looked forward to since we were like 12 years old. Who doesn’t want to tour on Warped Tour?”
Josh Chesler used to play baseball for some pretty cool teams, but now he just writes about awesome stuff like tattoos, music, MMA and sneakers. He enjoys injuring himself by skateboarding, training for fights, and playing musical instruments in his off time.