| Masters of the Obvious | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Genres | Garage punk, Pop punk, Indie rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, drums |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Criminal IQ Records |
| Associated acts | Kill Hannah |
| Website | Official Site |
Masters of the Obvious (more commonly known as M.O.T.O. or MOTO), is a New Orleans-based garage punk band. Formed in 1981 by Paul Caporino, the lineup of the band has seen many changes over the years, with Caporino being the only consistent member. The band has recorded several albums for Chicago-based record label Criminal IQ Records.
The band, along with Dianogah, served as opening acts for Coctails on January 15, 2000 at the Lounge Ax.
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As of 2009, M.O.T.O. has existed in some form for 28 years. Over that time, the band has undergone numerous lineup changes, but it has always functioned primarily as a platform for Paul Caporino's songwriting, a repertoire that includes hundreds of songs in a variety of genres such as pop, punk rock, metal, soul, noise music, garage punk and new wave.[1]
M.O.T.O. was formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1981. The original lineup consisted of Mike Tomeny on guitar, his brother Jeff Tomeny on guitars and vocals and Don Ward on drums in addition to Caporino on guitar and vocals. Official recent members include Davey Tiltwheel, Gene Doney (today is his birthday) and Josh Mosh. This edition of the band first performed the songs "Skeletons Need Their Sleep" (composed by Jeff Tomeny) and "Satan Always Calls Collect" (by Tomeny and Caporino), which would reappear on several 7" EPs in later years.
Because M.O.T.O. recorded and performed live somewhat infrequently, Paul Caporino began to record a series of cassette albums without the assistance of the other members of the band. The tapes were originally intended as demos, but Caporino was so satisfied with the results that he decided to distribute them to the public. These tapes included Turn Your Head and Cough, BOLT! (short for "Best of Lent Tape"), Rock, Roll & Dismember and MOTOERECTUS. Caporino wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on the cassettes, layering multiple guitars, bass, lead and harmony vocals over a Mattel Synsonics drum machine. These early tapes feature many songs that would reappear in live shows and studio recordings over the years, including "Midnight at the Guantanamo Room", "Dick About It", "Month of Sundays", and "I'm Infected". The tapes showcased Caporino's offbeat and often vulgar sense of humor along with his extensive knowledge of the popular music of the previous thirty years. To reward the astute listener, the music contained winking references to the Beatles, the Kinks, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Led Zeppelin, The Jam, Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Judas Priest and many other artists.
The original lineup also made a few recordings as a band, which were collected on the QUASIMOTO cassette. When, in 1987, the original lineup disbanded, Caporino continued M.O.T.O. as a trio backed by Brad Brewster on drums and Greg Fisk on bass. This edition of the band played more live dates than the original lineup, but recorded very little.
Shortly thereafter, Caporino moved to West Somerville, Massachusetts, near Boston. There he formed a new version of the band with drummer Beck Dudley which lasted until 1993 and produced a number of 7" EPs, three home-recorded cassettes (Neon Bone!, 1000 Years of Rock'N'Roll, and Talk of M.O.T.O.) and a full-length album, compiled from the first two tapes (This Corpse is a Warning). This lineup was the first to regularly record in a professional studio. These recordings were collected in 1994 on the Single File CD, released by Mind Of A Child Records and later re-issued by Criminal IQ Records in 2004.
The band achieved its greatest notoriety to date as a duo, touring extensively and being featured by legendary BBC DJ John Peel, who played the song "Rot Rot Rot" from the Hammeroid! EP on his program several times. This lineup could be said to have presaged the later success of the White Stripes as a guitar/drums, male/female duo.
It was also during this period that both Caporino and Dudley moved from the Boston area to Chicago.
Dudley left the band in 1993 to pursue a Master's Degree in architecture. Though the band experienced a fall-off in popularity, Caporino continued to home-record cassettes at a highly productive rate, releasing seven cassettes between 1993 and 1998. The band also performed live with new members Dennis Spaag on bass and Garret Hammond (a future member of Kill Hannah) on drums. The Chicago lineup continued to evolve, featuring drummers Tim Ford and Ryan "Guitar" Murphy, bassist JJ Champion, and guitarist/bassist Laurence Museum of Death.
2003 saw the release of the band's first full album of all-new recordings, Kill M.O.T.O., which featured studio recordings of songs from Caporino's most recent home-recorded cassettes as well as brand new songs. In 2005, the band released Raw Power, which met with critical acclaim, including being selected as the best Chicago release of 2005 by the Chicago Reader's Bob Mehr.[1]
In September, 2009, Caporino briefly moved to Providence, Rhode Island.[2] He planned to continue the band with a new lineup in Providence, but subsequently decided to return to his native New Orleans, where he reunited with original members Jeff and Mike Tomeny. Caporino has also begun to perform acoustic solo sets consisting primarily of M.O.T.O. material.
The band recently completed a new studio album, "No Way Street", which is scheduled to be released on LP by the Criminal IQ label[3] and which is available as a Japanese import CD on Tokyo No Records.[4] M.O.T.O. is embarking on a new US tour in June 2011.
In the early years of the band, Caporino expressed disdain for compact disc media. Although recent M.O.T.O releases are now available in CD format, most of the earlier band releases were on cassette and LP. Many of the newer releases are still being released in this form to allow creation of mix tapes. Most of their newer recordings are released through Criminal IQ Records and Little Teddy Recordings, the latter being home to Daniel Johnston's recordings.
All of M.O.T.O.'s cassette releases are available directly from Paul Caporino.