Saint Motel
Saint Motel | |
|---|---|
 Saint Motel in 2016
| |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, US |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels |
|
| Members |
|
| Website | saintmotel |
Saint Motel (stylized in all caps) is an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, whose music has been described as everything from dream pop to progressive indie. The band is composed of singer, songwriter, and producer, A. J. Jackson (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Aaron Sharp (lead guitar), Dak Lerdamornpong (bass) and Greg Erwin (drums).
Career
2007–2011: ForPlay
The group initially came together while Jackson and Sharp were attending film school in Southern California. The duo later met Lerdamornpong at a sushi restaurant where he worked near campus and Greg who went to a school nearby. The band emphasizes visuals in addition to its music; their 2009 debut EP, ForPlay, included a video for each of the six songs.
2012–2013: Voyeur
The band's first full-length album, Voyeur, debuted at No. 18 on the alt specialty radio charts and six of its eleven songs charted on the Hype Machine Charts. The album was praised by journals ranging from The Washington Post to Daytrotter. KCRW Music Librarian and DJ Eric J. Lawrence wrote, "They have attacked [the debut album] with gusto on Voyeur, adding dynamic touches to their rock-solid core of songwriting", and, "Overall the album is a satisfying package from start to finish".
2014–2015: My Type
The band released the EP My Type with Parlophone on August 17 in the UK. "My Type" climbed the Top 40 charts in many European countries including Italy where it was certified platinum. The band embarked on two European and one US tour in support of the EP and were expected to release the full-length album later in 2015. In December 2014 Saint Motel announced that they had joined the Elektra Records roster. Saint Motel appeared as the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC performing the songs "My Type" and "Cold Cold Man". In April 2015, Saint Motel performed during both weekends on the main stage at the 2015 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. They also performed at Piqniq and the 2015 KROQ Weenie Roast.
2016–2018: saintmotelevision
On July 11, 2016, Saint Motel announced saintmotelevision, their second album, would be released on October 21, 2016. The band embarked on a North American tour in support of the album, with Hippo Campus and JR JR as supporting acts. On August 12, Saint Motel released the album's first single, "Move", with an accompanying 360-degree video. The song was featured in the EA Sports video game FIFA 17. In September, in an exclusive with Billboard, they released another song from the album, "You Can Be You". Saint Motel has released 10 virtual reality components, one for each song on the album. This makes Saint Motel the first band to release an entire album with a virtual reality VR experience to accompany every track. Saint Motel has continued to experiment with new technologies, releasing the first-ever augmented reality version of saintmotelevision as well as offering the option to purchase the albums ForPlay and Voyeur with Bitcoin.
2019–2021: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
On October 16, 2019, the band released the EP The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 1, the first of two extended plays consisting of songs from their third album, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. On March 16, 2020, the band released the single "A Good Song Never Dies". This was part of the EP The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 2, the second part of their third album. In 2020, "A Good Song Never Dies" was featured on the soundtrack to the video game MLB The Show 20. On June 25, 2021, the full The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album was released, containing every song from both EPs, the previously-released single "It's All Happening", and four new songs.
2023–present: Saint Motel Studios
On May 5th, 2023, the band released their first single of what they describe as "Saint Motel Studios", a concept based on the classic Hollywood film studio system that they described more as a phase than an album. The new single "Everyone's A Guru Now" was quickly followed by "Fine Wine" on August 4th, and Slowly Spilling Out on November 3rd.
Live shows
Saint Motel has created or performed at a variety of shows, including The Kaleidoscopic Mind Explosion in 3D, Future Fathers Day, The Black & White Show, Make Contact, the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, and Valentine's Zombie Prom and has toured with bands such as Band of Skulls, Nico Vega, Imagine Dragons, Races, Hockey, Arctic Monkeys, Weezer, and Lights. Saint Motel performed at the 2015 Sanremo Music Festival in Sanremo, Italy, and at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. On December 12, they performed in Live Out (Monterrey, Mexico). The band opened for Panic! At The Disco on their Death of a Bachelor Tour. Starting in 2023 the band began their latest endeavor, "The Awards Show Tour" which was modeled after a classic Awards Show program where the fans could vote on songs throughout the night.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
US |
US Alt. |
US Rock |
ITA |
||||||||||||||
| Voyeur |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| saintmotelevision |
|
62 | 9 | 13 | 100 | ||||||||||||
| The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released | |||||||||||||||||
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Peaks | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ITA |
|||||||||||||||||
| ForPlay |
|
— | |||||||||||||||
| 7"1 |
|
— | |||||||||||||||
| 7"2 |
|
— | |||||||||||||||
| My Type |
|
52 | |||||||||||||||
| The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 1 |
|
— | |||||||||||||||
| The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 2 |
|
— | |||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released | |||||||||||||||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
US Rock |
BEL (FL) |
BEL (WA) |
CAN Rock |
FRA |
ICE |
ITA |
SCO |
SWI |
UK |
||||
| "Puzzle Pieces" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Voyeur | |
| "At Least I Have Nothing" | 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "1997" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Benny Goodman" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Ace in the Hole" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | My Type EP | |
| "My Type" | 2014 | 18 | 136 | 53 | 7 | 130 | — | 14 | 20 | 51 | 34 | ||
| "Cold Cold Man" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 45 | — | — | — |
|
|
| "Move" | 2016 | 29 | — | — | 37 | — | — | 48 | — | — | — | saintmotelevision | |
| "You Can Be You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Born Again" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Destroyer" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Van Horn" | 2019 | 30 | — | — | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
| "A Good Song Never Dies" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Preach" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Feel Good" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "It's All Happening" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||
| "Everyone's A Guru Now" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Fine Wine" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||