How Motionless in White’s Chris Motionless Learned to Scream

Motionless in White frontman Chris Motionless is the latest guest on Loudwire’s “How I Learned to Scream” video series.

The shapeshifting group just released their sixth album, Scoring the End of the World, which hit No. 12 on the Billboard 200, making it Motionless in White’s highest charting debut week since Reincarnate hit No. 9 in 2014.

For as much as the band’s music continues to evolve and, perhaps, gets a bit further removed from some of the overt extremity in their early career, everything is still instantly identifiable as Motionless in White. As a singer, Motionless still showcases a tremendous amount of diversity, especially with all of the grit and distortion he throws on his clean voice, which has roots in some of the more gruff vocal styles popularized in hard rock.

Taking it back to his childhood, Motionless singled out Shai Hulud and AFI as some of the earliest examples of aggressive vocals he ever heard. As far as trying out any sort of aggressive vocals himself, his first attempt came trying to replicate Jonathan Davis‘ performance on Korn‘s “Blind” from the Woodstock ’99 DVD he was obsessed with.

Imitation is where it usually begins for any vocalist and, as they continue to practice, eventually they’re able to form their own style after taking cues from a number of singers.

But what did his parents think as he made use of the family living room while the house was empty? Neither of them really had an understanding of the music and the harsh vocals, but supported him nonetheless, even if his dad would make fun of the music and dub it as “kill your mother, kill your father” music.

Further along in the episode, Motionless recalls screaming in his first band — New Car Smell — and offers tips on how cupping the microphone can be a useful tool at times as well as some tips for keeping the voice fresh amid the demands of heavy touring.

Watch the full ‘How I Learned to Scream’ episode directly below.

Get your copy of Motionless in White’s new album, Scoring the End of the World, right here and view all of their upcoming tour dates at the band’s website. Follow Motionless in White on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify.