_Resident Triangle beatmaker Motor Skills has been riding high since releasing its debut album Moving Island earlier this year. The band has a gig Friday night at Slim’s in Raleigh with Lord Redbyrd.
Afterward, Motor Skills will take its tunes up to Washington, D.C., to perform at this year’s Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie Festival.
Diversions staff writer Chris Powers caught up with the band’s frontman, Christopher Hutcherson-Riddle, to discuss the songwriting process, the band’s newest record and live performances._
Diversions: Motor Skills released its debut album Moving Island fairly recently. What was the inspiration behind the record?
Christopher Hutcherson-Riddle: Well actually, last year we had — I say we, I was the executive director of a nonprofit and we had a big building in Raleigh, a warehouse space that we used as sort of like an arts center.
We had a couple of painters and a bunch of local bands that we were allowing to play there and practice there.
The point was to eventually try to get it self-sustaining so that people didn’t have to really pay for rehearsal spaces.
The name of the record and the name of the title track, the last song on the record, are that. It was the name of the nonprofit.
Dive: The band is a collaborative effort between you and Mike Dillon, who also fronts, sings and plays guitar for Gross Ghost.
How do the two of you go about the songwriting process for Motor Skills?
CHR: It’s interesting because I’m also in Gross Ghost with him.
Gross Ghost is his — he came up with the concept, and he pretty much writes the songs and then kind of brings it to everyone else to finish up.
It’s the same way with Motor Skills. He does a little more.
Whereas the concept of Motor Skills was my idea and the instrumentation and I guess the starts of all the songs are mine, he generally finishes all of the ideas that I come up with.
I’ll bring a beat and a keyboard part and I guess a 60-percent finished song to him, and then he’ll do the lyrics and put a guitar part on it as well.
Dive: How would you describe your music to the average listeners who might be unfamiliar with Motor Skills?
CHR: There was a term that was coined about our previous band, Spader, that we were in for almost eight years, a Triangle band from years and years ago.
People referred to us as “post wave.” I think it’s actually pretty fitting.
It’s using the instrumentation and the ideals of new wave, but placing it in a current setting.
So still pop music, a little bit of an electronic influence for sure and a little fatter and a little prettier.
Dive: So it sounds like you’ve come to embrace the term.
CHR: Yeah. We moved away — our previous band together was sort of a dance-punk band.
Like three piece, no electronic elements, drummer, bass and guitar. It was pretty harsh, but really upbeat.
We kind of moved a little more toward the pop aspect and a little softer.
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