Alternative Rock duo Migrant Motel combines modern rock sounds with contemporary production techniques into a blend that is unique yet familiar. They have steadily released music since 2017, with 10 singles and an album in their catalog so far. The band has started making in-roads into the growing Blended Cultural youth movement in North America. Tapped as the future of Bi-Lingual Rock by Rolling Stone, they will be making a headlining appearance on the BMI stage at the 30th anniversary Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago on Thursday, July 29. To bolster that appearance, they are releasing new single and video “Sweat“ on July 23rd.
On making this big leap career-wise with the featured performance at Lollapalooza, the band’s Chava Ilizaliturri says “Getting asked to play Lolla this year is absolutely insane! It’ll be our first time at a big festival and to be given the opportunity to close the BMI stage on the first day – let alone play at all, is an incredible honor. It feels like we’ve been building the history of Migrant Motel for a while and now is the first time it’s mixing in with the history of Rock N’ Roll. From now on, we’ll always be on the bill for the 1st Lollapalooza after Covid… It’s a dream come true”.
In speaking about the inspiration for new track “Sweat” MM’s David Stewart, Jr. explains “This song is honestly just about feeling bad ass; everything from the groove, the lyrics, the production – it’s all focused on making the listener feel like they’re on top of the world. We wanted to give a feeling of being “untouchable”: Having complete dominion over a situation, leading us to cheekily say “C’mon, AT LEAST make me sweat while I beat you!”
As for the video, Stewart adds “I’ve been directing our videos for a while now and this was one of the most fun videos we’ve done. We teamed up with director Luis Zavaleta and cinematographer Victor Ingles for a multi-day shoot in separate locations. With Victor we wanted to get the more cinematic, in studio, slow-motion visuals of the band. Luis style is much more “run and gun”. We were inspired by 90’s music videos of the Beastie Boys and wanted to replicate that old school “fish eye” lens look. We filmed at the Sepulveda Dam in LA at noon and it was hot as hell – and I forgot to bring sunscreen. Took me a long time to bring down the reds in Victor’s studio shots because I looked like a boiled shrimp the next day!”
Made up of Peruvian-American David Stewart Jr. and Mexican native Chava Ilizaliturri, Migrant Motel formed in Boston while they were studying together at Berklee College of Music. The band was very active on the East Coast of the United States playing hundreds of shows in the New England and New York areas. Seeking more opportunities and a bigger stage, the pair relocated to Los Angeles in 2018, where Stewart grew up in nearby Palmdale. The band has played multiple shows on the Los Angeles circuit and throughout the West Coast, performing in legendary venues such as the Whiskey A Go Go, the Viper Room, the Rainbow and the Troubadour. They have a flourishing fanbase in Latin America and have toured extensively in Mexico. The duo has opened for a diverse array of artists – from the legendary Café Tacuba to more recently Badflower. Migrant Motel has amassed 3.5 million cumulative streams of their music – most notably the songs “New Religion“, “Keep It Down“, and “Different Kind Of Leather“.
More live shows are in the works for later this summer and the band plans to release additional singles and an EP by years end.
Migrant Motel is:
David Stewart, JR. (Vocals/Guitar/Bass)
Chava Ilizaliturri (Drums)
Connect and Share with Migrant Motel:
Smart URL: https://onerpm.link/sweat
Official Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Official Youtube / TikTok
