Good afternoon, evening or morning,

My name is Brett Robert Islaub and I play in a band called The Mission In Motion. We are a rock band, we have been around for 7 years now (7 years!? shit that feels weird to say) and released a few records, played more shows than I can even remember, spent countless hours in planes, trains, automobiles and even longer rehearsing, writing and sleeping on peoples floors. You probably haven’t heard of us or maybe you have heard one of our songs on the radio in your car but didn’t know who it was. Either way the people at tonedeaf.com.au have been nice enough to ask me some questions and hopefully if you read this entire thing (kudos to you if you do) then I can somehow convince you that we are worth your time to check out and if I can’t well I appreciate you reading the below anyway. As always let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?

What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?

I remember Mum and Dad playing Doobie Brothers and Fleetwood Mac records when I was a kid and being interested by music it wasn’t till I was about 12 or 13 that I started being turned on to bands like NOFX, Pennywise, Screeching Weasel etc that made me want to play music and in the next few years it was Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Jeff Buckley which is what helped me to discover what a powerful thing music was and how I wanted to be involved in it however I could.

You must answer this question honestly or we steal your rider. What and where was the first gig you went to?

You have absolutely no chance of getting to our rider before our bass player Rohan demolishes it believe me, but I’ll be honest. First band I ever saw was Millencolin at Engadine youth centre when I was about 14.

‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?

Uh all of em? Hahaha I definitely stole Fleetwood Mac’s tango in the night because it had some of their best songs on it I believe like 7 wonders and Little Lies.  Cosmos Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival was another one because Creedence were amazing and Fogerty’s voice in the 70’s was amazing. It was mostly things from the 60’s and 70’s that I’ve pinched from them in the last five years or so, I think at some point you just get tired of trying to find a new band you love and end up going backwards which is great because I believe most of the greatest music created was before my time.

What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?

A lot of Sam Cooke at the moment. Also The Menzingers “On The Impossible Past” has been getting a beating since it came out, such an amazing record I just can’t stop going back to it. The new Best Coast is getting a little spin, that’s a fun record for a Sunday afternoon, also Joe Pug’s live at Lincoln hall has been getting played a bit this week especially the song “I Do My Fathers Drugs” great song.

How do you find new music?

Recommendations from friends or my girlfriend, browsing through online music sites like Paste Magazine or AP.net etc. A lot of the new stuff I get my hands on these days comes from my roommates.

Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?

I do ten minutes of vocal warm ups, pace nervously like an asshole the usual kind of stuff. I don’t have any kind of crazy ritual besides chew some gum and drink some pineapple juice and pray to go that my voice holds out.

If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have (attractions/food/bars etc)?

Whoa, this is so much worse than being asked “Name three artists you’d love to tour with” you guys are making it difficult. Okay the festival would be in Salem, Massachusetts (cos I’ve always wanted to go there, random I know) the bill would consist of the following:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

The Replacements (reformed)

Ryan Adams

Wilco

Neko Case

Hot Rod Circuit

The Menzingers

The Mission In Motion (if all these bands are going to play and it’s my festival you better believe I wanna open for all of them)

I’m sure there are a hundred more I’ll wish I put down after I send this off but I know I could be here all day. In terms of attractions the whole place would be Halloween themed (cos it’s in Salem, duh!) with a massive Haunted House etc and I would only let in my friends and my family cos then I don’t have to put up with festival dickheads in fluro singlets.

When you’re Rolling Stones Big, what are you going to request on your rider: don’t be shy. We want specifics!

In the 0.0000000000000000001% chance that this EVER happens I’ll want a sushi train set up in the backstage area. That would be fucking brilliant.

Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?

Hmmm I would like to write a song with Dan Sultan from Oh Mercy, I thought their record “Great Barrier Grief” was really great. I would also like to collaborate with Kevin Mitchell from Jebediah cos I think he is an extremely talented songwriter.

What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?

I’d say a lot of different things. Good for motivation, good for drinking to and good for driving to I think. Not good to sit around and mull over your ex and write love letters to though go listen to Morrissey.

Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them? 

We have just started our “All Work No Pay” tour which is taking in most capital cities in Australia. We have 2 ep’s and an album out and we are working on the follow up album right now. You can check out anything you might want to know at facebook.com/themissioninmotion

Thanks for having me guys!

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine