Saint Motel formed and are based in Los Angeles, but the band's A/J Jackson thinks Saint Motel may qualify as a local (to Minnesota) band. "As long as you have family still living here and you reside for at least one holiday a year within the borders, maybe you're OK then," Jackson suggests.

Touring in support of their recent album, saintmotelevision, Saint Motel stopped at The Current's studio for a session hosted by Mac Wilson.

Jackson, who started the band while attending college in California, is concerned with the "local" designation because he grew up in Minneapolis, and his parents now live in Orono, west of the Twin Cities. "Now basically, my metric of how we're doing as a band is my mom and whether or not she hears us on The Current," Jackson says.

During their session at The Current, Saint Motel played stripped-down versions of a song off their new album and a couple songs from their back catalogue. "We have done most of our songs acoustically," Jackson explains. "Sometimes we'll bring out a piano or a keyboard, or all acoustic guitars … The essence is there. We had a mariachi band that covered all our songs; it's completely different arrangements and instrumentation, but the melodies cut through."

Although Saint Motel have enjoyed a fair amount of success with their song, "My Type," from their 2014 EP of the same name, the track does not appear on their 2016 full-length album. It doesn't mean Saint Motel are tired of the song; they just see the album as a way to introduce more new music to audiences. "We always just make the best songs we can," Jackson says. "With most of our career in general, we do OK, and there's always incentives to keep us going, but we've never had this, 'Everyone in the world knows us' moment. … We have plenty of room to be discovered."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete session with Saint Motel.

Songs Performed

"My Type"
"Feed Me Now"
"Move"
The second song is from Saint Motel's 2012 album, Voyeur, released on OnThe Records; the first song is from Saint Motel's 2014 EP, My Type, and the third song is from the band's 2016 album, saintmotelevision, both released on Elektra Records.

Hosted by Mac Wilson
Produced by Anna Reed
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Jalen Russell
Web feature by Luke Taylor

Resources

Saint Motel - official site