Line-up

• Dom Main – Vocals/Keyboards
• Jamie Wesley – Guitars
• James Kerr – Bass
• Will Soutter – Drums

Sunlight on the Sand EP and 2008 tour

Motion Theory formed at Durham University

Durham University

The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

 in March 2008. Two band members, Will and Jamie, originally played in a school band together in Macclesfield, near Manchester. In May 2008 Motion Theory recorded a six-track EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Sunlight on the Sand which was released for free download.

During the summer of 2008, they gained a local following in the North East of England through a number of live performances in University and in venues in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Durham, including supporting Frank Turner

Frank Turner

Frank Turner is an English folk/punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Winchester. Initially the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, Turner embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. To date, Turner has released four solo albums, two rarities...

 at the annual Jam by the Lake Festival in Durham in July 2008.

In September 2008 they completed a short tour of the UK playing venues in Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Congleton, Macclesfield, Newcastle and Durham.

Featherhead album and 2009 tour

In 2009 they recorded their debut album featherhead and embarked on a more extensive tour of England in June/August/September, including supporting The Holloways

The Holloways

The Holloways are a four-piece indie-rock band from North London.-Formation:David Jackson and Bryn Fowler established the beginnings of the band, finding Rob Skipper at a local live music venue. They would meet later to jam together, playing in future drummer Dave Danger's room...

 in Durham at the Jam By The Lake festival and playing Newcastle, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Cumbria, Macclesfield, Stockport, Bristol, Crewe (supporting The Telegraphs), Congleton and Halifax. The album and tour received positive reviews across the country.

Featherhead was released online on 10 August 2009 and on CD on 10 September 2009. On 14 September it was awarded "Unsigned Album of the Week" by Manchester Music. Also in September 2009 the three songs Motion Theory entered to the UK Songwriting Contest were awarded semi-finalist positions. These were: September and Sunlight on the Sand from the debut EP and the title track featherhead from the debut album.

In October 2009 Room Thirteen described featherhead as "a set of songs that work well in all sorts of situations", and that the band "brings you alternative progressive rock at its best" but in the same month, Sphere Magazine concluded "[t]here is nothing wholly original on display." In November Subba-Cultcha said "There are some clear influences on the album – namely Incubus and Muse".

In November 2009, Motion Theory were added to the Crossover genre section on prog-rock community Progarchives.com (which contains bands like The Moody Blues

The Moody Blues

The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....

, Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

, Supertramp

Supertramp

Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...

) where they were described as follows: "With hints of classical music, Radiohead, Rush, Led Zeppelin, but also Japan and many others, their sound is very eclectic, yet modern progressive."

2010 - Regional Recognition

In January 2010 The Manchester Evening News interviewed Motion Theory and commented "The band's self-funded album 'featherhead', released late last year, announced their arrival as Manchester's reigning head boys of cerebral heavy rock - combining the dense, almost industrial textures of Nine Inch Nails with the expansive, anthemic rock dynamics of Muse and Radiohead."
In 2010 Motion Theory had headline shows at The Roadhouse, Manchester in January, The Box, Crewe in April and supported alt-rock touring band eaststrikewest at Moho Live, Manchester in July.

The Dutch Progressive Rock Page reviewed the album featherhead in March 2010 and concluded "Motion Theory have far more ideas than any band their age and experience should, by right, possess.".

In April 2010 Motion Theory appeared on This is the Cat Radio in Crewe (2 April) and Macclesfield's Silk 106.9 FM Radio (8 April).

Two more Motion Theory songs, All I Need and I Love the Smell of the Universe in the Morning from the album featherhead were awarded semi-finalist positions in the UK Songwriting Contest in May 2010.

In July 2010 Motion Theory were spotted by a Jar Music scout and invited to play at The Cavern Club Liverpool in an industry showcase event. This led to entry into the Breakout Festival semifinal on 30 September, also at the Cavern Club. From there Motion Theory progressed to the Regional Final at the O2 Academy, Liverpool, where the band was runner-up..

2011 - It's not as dark as that, Friend - EP

In 2011 Motion Theory wrote and recorded a new five track EP It's not as dark as that, Friend and promoted it with a number of gigs across the North West of England as well as local radio interviews. The EP launch event at the Manchester Roadhouse on 9th July was dubbed Gig of the Week by the Manchester Evening News.

In the month after release Sea of Tranquility reviewed It's not as dark as that, Friend and said "The music here is a bit more mellow than Featherhead, but still unquestionably the work of the same band. I'm often reminded of acts like Marillion (Somewhere Else or Happiness is the Road era), Radiohead, and Muse, but Motion Theory does have their own sound... generally a terrific EP". and Room Thirteen commented "Motion Theory's sound is unmistakably British; vocally as well as instrumentally the Manchester mob have a distinctive charm".. The BBC played the opening track Let's pave over the Sea on Introducing Stoke on 29th July 2011, then played Sure it's chaos but it's Ours on 9th September and Dead Reckoning on 28th October 2011.

On 31st August 2011 Manchester Music gave It's not as dark as that, Friend 5 stars and awarded it "Unsigned Record of the Month".