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Justin Pierre
Background information
Birth name	Justin Courtney Pierre
Born	May 26, 1976 (1976-05-26) (age 33)
Origin	Mahtomedi, Minnesota
Genres	Pop punk Indie rock
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Epitaph Records

Justin Courtney Pierre (born May 26, 1976) is a singer, songwriter and guitarist originally from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, United States. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, and is known for his interests and pursuits in film making and production of music.

History

Justin Pierre formed Motion City Soundtrack in 1997 with friend Joshua Cain,^[1] becoming the lead singer and also playing rhythm guitar. He and Cain both previously took stints on the moog synthesizer in the band, until the foundation of the current lineup. Pierre is the primary lyricist for the band, noted for his pronounced sideburns, wild hair and glasses (which are Kirk Originals).

Motion City Soundtrack released their third album on September 18, 2007 entitled "Even If It Kills Me". During the recording of the album, he relapsed and binge drank due to the ending of a relationship.^[2] Pierre suffers from asthma, having to use his inhaler on stage at times.

The band is due to release their fourth album, My Dinosaur Life, on January 19, 2010. Pierre is currently "trucking along on The Dino Trail" to promote the album. He began his promotional tour in Chicago on November 1 and is making his way around the United States doing "meet ups, impromptu performances, in store appearances, and other shenanigans that will surely ensure along the way."

Film making

Pierre makes short films, went to college for film, but did not complete a degree.^[3] He now works on independent short films while at home, recording, and on tour. His most famous is entitled "Karen" and was in a few film festivals early winter and spring 2007, including the 3rd annual Griffon International Film Festival (GIFF) ^[4] and The Sacramento International Film Festival.

Pierre has been involved in the direction of music videos for fellow bands, he co-directed the music video for "Big Drag" by Limbeck, ^[5] as well as co-directing with Shane Nelson the video for Sing It Loud's "No One Can Touch Us", which was produced by MCS' guitarist Joshua Cain.^[6]

Other works

In addition to singing for Motion City Soundtrack, Justin has sung guest vocals on Fall Out Boy's "Chicago is So Two Years Ago"^[7], Small Towns Burn A Little Slower's "Alias: The Beekeeper"^[8], Metro Station's "Kelsey"^[9], Sing It Loud's "We're Not Afraid", and is thought to have been heard singing numerous times on the Limbeck CD "Hi, Everything's Great". He Also sings and helped write a song with a band from Michigan City called Are You Kitten Me? By the Grown Ups. Justin Pierre was featured in Revolution on Canvas, Volume 2: Poetry From the Indie Music Scene, a compilation of poetry from the indie music scene, inputting a short story about the love and loss of a certain person in his life who was also addicted to alcohol. Pierre also produced two songs (along with Joshua Cain) on Metro Station's self-titled debut album.^[10]

Pierre recently joined sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen, horror icons Bill Moseley, Danielle Harris and Tiffany Shepis, as well as AFI's Davey Havok and Battlestar Galactica's Nicki Clyne in the cast of the "illustrated film" series Godkiller. Pierre voices the lead role of Tommy, a boy on a mission to save his dying sister in a post-nuke wasteland. ^[11]

Previous projects

Previously, Pierre played guitar and sang vocals for the band Slide Coaster, who put out an album in 1995 titled Thrown. ^[12]

Equipment

Pierre plays a variety of Fender Telecasters from Fender Telecaster Deluxes to Fender Telecaster Customs to American Fender Telecasters.

References