I have to admit harbouring a little bit of unfair favourism towards Canadian punks Motion Sickness, given that they reveal one of my all-time favourite bands A Wilhelm Scream are one of their key musical influences.
Luckily, our favourism isn’t placed blindly as Hamilton, Ontario-based Motion Sickness offer up their own raucously angsty brand of feisty punk that it’s tough not to love.
Our first taste of this is the lively All Systems Fail, which the band tell us is about an alien encounter. It opens up with a bit of guitar noise before launching into a deliciously punky opening verse. Pounding drums support frontwoman Rowena Fonseka’s catchy vocals “Hey, what are you searching for, any sign that I exist at all beyond the open sky, Wait, wait for a signal, little did you know that I’m the one coming just for you.”
A second verse “Don’t, don’t be afraid my friend, We are both from different planets but there is so much to learn, You, the perfect specimen, Let us free you from our memories now, There is no place to run and hide, run and hide, There’s nowhere to hide,” which feeds into a singalong chorus of “Do you care to look like you, So ordinary.” That flows straight into another raucous little verse then a cool little guitar solo feeds into a final chorus. Give this awesome track a listen below:
The only other song we’ve heard from the band is Think Before You Vote (An Open Letter To Doug Ford), which takes a pretty savage swipe at Ontario politician Doug Ford – the brother of the more controversial former Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford.
It kicks off with big cries of “Fuck you Doug Ford,” which sets the scene. Then a lively chorus starts “It’s not too much to ask for some human decency, This time we’ll take you task, We won’t be silenced while you are in control, You running motherfucker… Can’t even pay for a fuck, We will not be silenced, Fuck you Doug Ford.” The lively guitars drop out and Rowena exclaims “Does anyone else have anything to say?” which is met by multiple cries of “Yeah, fuck you Doug Ford, Fuck you, Fuck you.” It’s short sweet, and makes its point pretty succinctly! Give it a listen below:
GR: Who are Motion Sickness?
MS: “We are a 4 piece punk band from Hamilton, Ontario. Guitarist Matt Gauthier began writing some riffs in his attic, and it quickly spiraled into creating a full band once he had a few songs together.
“Matt had worked as an engineer on a project with lead singer Rowena Fonseka in the past, and felt she would be a great fit on bass and vocals. Matt also worked on 2 albums for guitar player Ross Carvelli (Bad Buzz, Brews Willis), so naturally he was a good fit to round out the string section. Drummer Kevin Gallant (Pineapple Girls, Summerside) came into the fold after a few months, and has been solid on the back end ever since.”
GR: You just released All Systems Fail. What should people be expecting from the song? What inspired you to write it?
MS: “All Systems Fail was penned by Rowena after a wild encounter with a UFO. Though the details are a bit unclear, she recalls playing hopscotch with a ‘green monster’ and dancing to alien folk music. She also recalls eating a rather large, chewy portabello steak prior to the experience.”
GR: Sounds like a wild night. How would you describe your sound to people that haven’t listened to you yet?
MS: “We are a fast, aggressive, female-fronted skate punk band.”
GR: What influences you to write music? Any key themes or topics that you write about?
MS: “There’s no set theme really, all of our songs vary in terms of lyrical content. They all share that same aggressive approach with loud guitars and hard-hitting drums.”
GR: Which bands/musicians are/have been your strongest musical influences?
MS: “Propagandhi, Frenzal Rhomb, and A Wilhelm Scream would be the top 3 for sure.”
GR: Much love to A Wilhelm Scream! What have you got coming up through the rest of 2019 and into 2020?
MS: “We have just finished writing most of the songs for our first full length, and will be heading into the studio in a couple of months to record. Gigs will be announced soon, nothing booked at this point.”
GR: Anything else you’d like people to know about you/your music?
MS: “We’re just getting started, looking forward to releasing some more music in the very near future!”
The band have kept themselves very secretive online so far, so for now, we only have their music to share on Spotify and YouTube. But stay tuned for more from this exciting band soon!
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