Elana Justin, lead singer of Los Angeles based band Motive Black, doesn’t take long to recall her most memorable live performance.
“When I was a teenager, I went to see System of a Down for the first time,” says Justin, promoting the band’s single “Broken.” “That’s got to be my most memorable experience, not just because the music was so good, but because of the energy between the audience and the band. I’d never seen anything like that. I was slammed up against the stage, listening to this epic show. My mind was being blown.”
ED Magazine spoke with Justin — on behalf of StripJointsMusic.com — about making the move to the West Coast from her New York home, Motive Black’s EP and the band’s new single “Broken.”
ED: You grew up outside Manhattan and cut your teeth playing in the Lower East Side, tell us about that experience and how it grew your rock chops?
JUSTIN: New York is home and I love it there. People are really honest with you there, so you learn a lot about rejection, not to give up and to keep going no matter what. I bother people all the time, I think that’s how I got half the people that have worked with me to work with me. We used to play around the East Village a lot, it was a super fun time.
ED: What brought you out to Los Angeles and how did the move change your musical career?
JUSTIN: I came out here to do a few shows and I came out here and liked it, so I figured why not stay. It really affected me, musically a lot because when I came out here, I connected to people I never would have met in New York, like Nick Row and Josh Wilbur, the guys who produced, co-wrote and mixed the album. It really helped mature my sound and really helped me grow as an artist. That wouldn’t have happened if I stayed in New York.
It’s intimidating to get started because when you’re looking at people that have mastered social media, it’s hard to go up against them, but it really is easy to have people hear your stuff now. So I think, overall, social media is great. You want to get your stuff out to the world and you can, just by clicking. — Elana Justin, lead singer Motive Black
ED: How did “Broken” come into being?
JUSTIN: There were a lot of pretty aggressive songs on the rest of the EP and I wanted to be a little bit more vulnerable. So we were hanging at Nick’s home studio, I was writing and that’s how “Broken” came to be — we wanted something softer, well, softer as far as I go, just a little less aggressive.
ED: Besides “Broken”, how many other songs do you have ready for release and tell us how they got recorded?
JUSTIN: There are six songs total and they were recorded between NRG studios and Nick Rowe’s home studio and it’s cool because we have Ray Luzier (drummer for Korn) on all of the songs, which really added a whole new level to the whole EP. I’m so excited.
ED: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
JUSTIN: I would have to say Joan Jett. I’m super inspired by her. I grew up listening to her, that would have to be the one.
ED: With so many platforms via social media and the internet, do you think it’s easier to be heard/seen or harder to be identified among the masses?
JUSTIN: I’ve actually talked to a lot of people about this; it’s intimidating to get started because when you’re looking at people that have mastered social media, it’s hard to go up against them, but it really is easy to have people hear your stuff now. So I think, overall, social media is great. You want to get your stuff out to the world and you can, just by clicking.
ED: StripJoints services DJs at gentlemen’s clubs nationwide, so why would “Broken” be a good choice to play at a gentlemen’s club?
JUSTIN: It’s a powerful song. It’s about both power and vulnerability; I think that would play really well at that sort of venue.
For more information, visit stripjointsmusic.com.
