The History Of Pure Motive
Pure Motive is an alternative rock band formed in 2008 in Durban, South Africa, and now based in Cornwall, UK.
2008 - 2022
Pure Motive performing at The Winston, Durban, South Africa, 2009. Shane Layden (guitar, vocals), Tanya Blanche Layden (guitar), Shirley Myburgh (bass) and Warren Bernard (drums).
On the 30th of March, 2008, Shane began working on the recording of a song called "Dull Without You." Tanya created artwork for the song. The then recently married couple uploaded the project to MySpace on the 28th April 2008 under the name Pure Motive. (There were rumours that Martin Richard-Thomas III provided the drum beats and that Prof. Philip Shanya played the bass.)
Shane and Tanya decided to form a new band and so they invited a friend, Shirley Myburgh, who had played with Tanya previously, to play the bass. They developed a language of "sho" which further promoted creativity, even while chimply speaking. They invited a friend of Shane's, Warren Bernard, to be the drummer and his inventive beats were just what the group was looking for.
Pure Motive practised for a few months before playing their first gig at The Winston (performing after a band from Port Shepstone called Outbreak) on the 21st November, 2009. Recording of a rough demo version of "Death Becomes Us" (written by Tanya) commenced on the 7th of December, 2009, and the song was uploaded to MySpace on the 17th of December, 2009. By the 3rd of February, 2010, the demo had been played 1000 times. The band's second (and final) gig, a hastily arranged affair, took place at The Winston on the 29th January, 2010.
Various circumstances led to the stalling of a potentially legendary act. Shane and Tanya had a baby son. Warren moved to Australia and back. Attempts were made to continue, but it was not the same. Following two final practise sessions with Warren, a rough version of "Moonflow" was uploaded to MySpace on the 29th June, 2010, titled "Moonflow (Demo 2010)." Shirley called it quits. Warren called it quits. During 2011 a demo version of a song called "Hold You in the Sun" was recorded and uploaded to MySpace on the 29th December, 2011, (and then to SoundCloud on the 27th of January, 2012,) as a Pure Motive project (Tanya played the bass and Shane worked on the rest).
On Monday, the 7th of May 2012, Matthew Erskine joined the band on drums and then on Friday, the 18th of May 2012, Craig Laing joined on bass. This new phase was short-lived, amounting to a few practise jams before Shane and Tanya decided to move overseas. In November 2012, Shane and Tanya moved to the United Kingdom and a few months later they settled in Plymouth, England.
Shane had his heart set on reforming the band overseas. He worked on a demo version of "Moonflow" (uploaded on the 27th of July, 2014, to the Pure Motive MySpace page) and then later a song called "Dreaming of Dunes" together with a music video (uploaded to Pure Motive's YouTube Channel on the 10th of April, 2017,) but these were really just solo works which he later decided to remove. In the end he felt nothing could possibly compare to what might have been with the original band back in Durban.
And so, let it be known that Chane, Chanya, Chirley and Chwarren did in fact once live the dream, for a little while, together, as Pure Motive.
2022 - Present
The move to the UK meant starting from absolute scratch, but Shane and Tanya managed to stick together through a decade of difficulty; full of heartbreak, tension and setbacks, while also being wonderful years full of adventure and discovery during which they enjoyed exploring and making the most of their family time together with their growing son, Corgan. Eventually, they found their way to Cornwall.
In late 2022, Tanya bought a new guitar to replace the one she sold when leaving South Africa. Shane and Tanya began discussing the possibility of reigniting the Pure Motive. And so it was, in the Spring of 2023, they started practising their old songs. “Moonflow” was an easy one to get them back into it. “I Know Ledge” with its weirdly warping power chords reminded them of the fun of playing in the original PM lineup with Shirley and Warren. But, it was “Machine Song” that made them certain that they still had something magical to offer an unsuspecting world's ears. As each song took shape they posted short video clips (filmed by Corgan) to Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. Song by song, they pieced together the original setlist. There was the adrenaline rush of relearning “Reach Out Quickly” and excitement in the manic screaming harmonic bursts in the midst of the massive “Death Becomes Us” riffage. “Careless” required patience, meaningfulness and lots of care to regain control of. Tanya and Shane were keen to find a drummer and bass player and had someone special in mind as the former, but he declined their request. The pair decided that they would edit their own drum and bass tracks and continue as a duo. By Autumn, they began working their way through “Payphone” and were now practising through their newly acquired tube guitar amplifiers, tweaking their sound, in the final stages of their preparation for the third gig and whatever might lie beyond.
Pure Motive's first practise in the U.K., 30 March 2023.