“I think that just comes with a lot of years of experimenting,” says singer Chris ‘Motionless’ Cerulli. “If you look back to when the band started, we migrated from where our earlier material was coming from to where we are now.
“I think now it’s just at a point where I know my own standpoint on where I want to go with it, and how to try to blend it together to the point where at least when I hear it, I’m happy with it. I can’t say that for some of the past material, but that’s just what happens as you evolve and grow as a band.”
Any band that undergoes stylistic changes does so at the risk of alienating their original fans, which is something that is not lost on Cerulli.
“It’s tough because, as with any band, being stuck in that pit of, you want to evolve but you don’t want to piss off your fans – you want to take risks, but you don’t want to ruin your career,” he says.
Although Cerulli doesn’t believe that the band’s change in sound was dramatic, he acknowledges that some fans have labelled it as such. “There’s a lot less experimentation with identity and more just fucking owning it now,” he says. “I would much rather be a band that kept things interesting than have 12 of the same songs, and I think that helps bring new people in too.”
Motionless in White are heading to Australia this month for a run of shows that Cerulli says will be a landmark moment for the band. “It’s really a special event for us on this occasion because it’s the first time that we’re doing a headliner in Australia,” he says. “There’s anticipation, there’s years and years of, ‘Why aren’t you guys coming here more?’, years and years of fans just waiting for this, and it’s finally time to give them what they want.
“It’s definitely a little bit more intimate feeling,” he says about playing to Australian audiences. “I really look forward to that energy in the room every day, that kind of feeling –different than it would be doing a 25-30 date tour in the States.
“I can’t believe that I can finally say that we’re going to play Australian headliners,” says Cerulli. “I’m so happy and grateful that fans have stuck with us and demanded it over the years to the point that we can finally come and do it.”
Motionless In White are touring nationally from Tuesday September 19 through Live Nation. Graveyard Shift is out now through Roadrunner Records/Warner Music.
