Michael Michael Motorcycle Photo credit: William Wayland
When Michael Michael Motorcycle guitarist/vocalist Michael Pannone is not on the road or in the studio, he’s a boat worker. In that field, there is a term called “holystoning” which means to scour a ship with a soft piece of sandstone. In many instances, these are large ships and finishing the job is a herculean task.
When the harmony-drenched, indie-Americana band decided to record its new EP, the quartet faced a similarly formidable job. Michael Michael Motorcycle wanted artistic autonomy and to be cost efficient, so the Northern California-based group decided to record the aptly-titled Holystoning at its rehearsal space. The five-song collection finds MMM delving deeper into its all-hands-on-deck creativity, and emerging triumphantly from the challenging task of DIY recording.
Pannone remarks,
“Doing manual labor can be Zen-like, and, before you know it, you finish the project. Recording ourselves felt daunting, but we focused on individual tasks, and one day we looked up and we were done. This EP is the most mature version of the band. There’s less individuation, and it feels like the culmination of what we’ve been working so hard to achieve as artists.”
Michael Michael Motorcycle is known for its shimmering guitars, strong backbeat drums, catchy but kinetic basslines, and its folksy three-part-harmony interlace. The band’s distinct Americana invites comparisons to Tom Petty, My Morning Jacket, CSNY, Neil Young, and Fleet Foxes. MMM is proudly too soft to be a hard rock band, and too hard rock to be a soft rock band. These attributes, plus its nuanced musicianship and finely-crafted tunes, have enabled MMM to thrive in a variety of musical settings. MMM has won over crowds at small sweaty clubs with punk bands, at the prestigious Noise Pop Festival, and at corporate gigs, performing its originals for companies like Levi’s and The Transamerica Pyramid. Since its inception in 2018, Michael Michael Motorcycle has released one LP and three EPs, and the group has toured California, New England, old England, and Ireland.
In addition to Pannone, Michael Michael Motorcycle is rounded out by bassist/vocalist Jono Clay, drummer/vocalist Greg Moye, and guitarist Jesse Cobb. “Motorcycle is the sound of the four of us. Everyone in the band is a songwriter, and we’ve kind of gone in the reverse direction of the Beatles,” Pannone shares with a good-natured laugh. “They started off as a unit, and as they got older, each member proved to be capable songwriters. Our band started off with me as the primary songwriter but we’ve become a unit.”
In Motorcycle lore, the story goes that the band formed after a chance meeting between Pannone, Clay, and Moye at The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma on June 2, 2018. Pannone was there performing as a solo version of Michael Michael Motorcycle. Clay and Moye were on the bill, performing in their band Lender. Clay offered his services as a bassist, numbers were exchanged, and the band has been together ever since, adding Cobb on guitar in 2022.
Clay and Moye had been playing together since they were 14 years old. The pair have that rare rhythm section lock, and a natural ability to sing. “Through them I understood the power of harmony. After the first couple of practices with them singing along with me, I just felt like giving my life to the service of our harmony singing. It came naturally and it was so unique,” Pannone recalls.
The unofficial fifth member of the band is producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Isaac Civitello who owns the recording studio The Barn, in Middlebury, Connecticut. Civitello advised MMM in setting up its rehearsal spot for recording. Civitello mixed and mastered Holystoning. Additional recording took place at Tiny Telephone Studios (Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, St. Vincent) with the production, engineering, and mixing talents of Marika Christine.
The EP opens with “Mr. Fantastic,” a swirl of clean-toned guitars, organ, and that trademark MMM harmony interlace. This is a raw deal-themed song with a buoyant and glistening groove that recalls an indie-rock, fast and loose take on Graceland era Paul Simon. MMM cleverly tuck a tongue-in-cheek mob narrative within the bright and poppy “Omerta,” a song that vibes arty new wave with its angular groove and splashes of pastel guitar chords.
The emotional centerpiece of the EP is “Out To The Mystic,” a song that feels like a rocket ship voyage through unexpected twists and turns, spanning gentle folk, meaty riffage, and chaotic segues before the song gently lands back on earth. It is a tribute to rock n’ roll’s power to soothe during times of pain and loss. The balmy “Mixed Company” has a dreamy sophistication with its impressionistic jazz-esque chords, its cosmic Americana vocal harmonies, and its paired down, almost tropical percussion. The trippy folk of “Hot Lunch” features a patchwork of relationship themes and vignettes, like a stream of conscious poetic exercise that gently soars up into the stratosphere.
About the EP, Pannone shared the following with The Big Takeover:
“We’re very excited to be releasing Holystoning, our 5th ‘studio’ release, this EP is near and dear especially because so much of the recording process was done outside of a professional studio setting, with most of the instruments and vocals being recorded and engineered by us out of our San Rafael headquarters. Holystoning is the 4th EP we’ve released since 2020, following 2023’s Madder, 2022’s Fantasy Fest 2036 and 2020’s Scam Likely. Holystoning sonically and lyrically document where we are as a band 7 years into playing together, and at the midpoint of what’s been a wild decade – the EP plays out like a roller coaster heading down the first drop. special thanks to Isaac Civitello of the Barn recording studio and Marika Christine of Tiny Telephone.”
August 15th // San Francisco, CA // The Faight
August 16th // San Francisco, CA // Salesforce Park
September 18th // Fairfax, CA // Peri’s
October 4th // Richmond, CA // The Sailing Goat
November 21st // Santa Cruz, CA // The Crepe Place
November 22nd // Big Sur, CA // The Fernwood
January 25th 2026 // Mill Valley, CA // Sweetwater
February 20th 2026 // Sausalito, CA // Travis Marina
