If you haven’t heard, The Motion is “kind of a big deal.”

The members of the band themselves — frontman Mark McKee, bassist Chris Rafetto, drummer Mike McKee and recently added guitarist George Hage — take a more modest stance.

“We have little groups of fans from Campbell [University], from [N.C.] State, but we don’t have a huge clique that follows us around. People come to see us if they like us,” Mark said.

Brothers Mark, 19, and Mike, 22, share a lifetime of inside jokes along with their gift of music and develop entire conversations based on obscure hypothetical situations or terrible puns. Chris, 18, joked that when he first joined the group, he “had no idea what they were talking about half the time.” Chris said he is only “starting to catch on now.”

“He’s still not quite there,” Mike said, laughing.

This oddball sense of humor and good-natured attitude rubs off on their music — an eclectic spin on alternative rock that blends the spirit of Foo Fighters with the clever lyrics of Relient K and chill vibe of the Goo Goo Dolls.

All of the guys individually have been members of various minor groups over the years, but didn’t get serious about a long-term band until recently.

Chris attributes the root of their serious attitude about The Motion to their producer.

“It was Ted [Comerford]. Actually having a real, big-time producer was a big thing,” Chris said.

Mike said that when Ted Comerford came along, they knew The Motion would take a “real commitment.”

“He really worked with us on our arrangements and he was brutally honest,” Mark said. “But bands need that.”

Comerford, according to Chris, told the band in pure honesty if the songs were working.

“Yeah, he would sit on his couch and we’d play, and he’d look at us and press a button to cut us off,” Chris said. “And he’d just shake his head and say, ÔThat’s not going to work.'”

After playing countless live shows since its inception in 2003, the Raleigh-based group now prepares for the release of its first album, The Arrival EP, due out May 13.

The Motion recorded The Arrival EP locally at Low Watt studio. As for the recording process — the band’s first — it was “redundant.”

“It was hell,” said Chris. “Ten consecutive days, 10 to 12 hours a day, of playing the same five songs.”

Mark compared the process to riding on a long car trip with your family, “You don’t hate it, but…”

The time commitment involved in promoting and practicing for a band hasn’t lessened for the boys of The Motion since completing the recording process.

“Like anything else you’re passionate about, the commitment — and its interference with other things you might want to do — comes with the territory,” Mike said.

For these boys, the support of family is important.

“Our families are the most supportive element [for The Motion]. They have a lot of faith in us, not giving us handouts, but helping out when we need it,” Mike said. “They understand that [The Motion] is a huge priority but they want us to be smart about it.”

Their families want them to be able to provide for themselves too.

“We all want to do music [as a profession],” Mike said. “But you have to be able to make money at the same time.”

To that end, Chris is studying mass communication at Campbell University; Mike will graduate from Campbell with a Spanish degree in May; and Mark has taken a “temporary hiatus” from college to teach guitar lessons part-time.

Mark, Mike and Chris also bring in cash flow by combining their talents into another endeavor — The Buzz, a ’90s Top-40 cover band. By playing various paid gigs as The Buzz, the trio makes more money to put towards recording and production costs of The Arrival EP. Despite The Motion’s fan base, the guys don’t advertise The Buzz as a side project.

“The entire band [The Buzz] is completely different from The Motion. In The Motion, I’m the frontman,” Mark said. “In The Buzz, it’s Chris. We even dress different[ly] — notice the ’90s flannel.”

The boys try to keep the two bands separate.

“See, here we have two slices of pizza,” Mike said, pulling apart two pieces of pizza. “Both are pieces of pizza, both cheese pizza. But,” — as he shakes parmesan cheese on one slice and points to it — “this one’s The Motion. It’s got a little something extra, a little pizzazz. The other piece isn’t bad, just run of the mill.”

Focused primarily on promotion of The Arrival EP — with several tour dates throughout the Southeast scheduled in the next month — The Motion may not have too much time for side projects like The Buzz in the near future.

Although the band’s first album represents a monumental milestone, these guys refuse to plateau.

“We never know what’s gonna happen; that’s what makes me want to keep going and get better musically,” Mark said. “Sure, we’re happy where we are now and you can never get worse, but there’s that challenge.”

The Motion’s next plan is to add a tour in Asia to its belt.

“We go on tour in Japan,” Mike said. “They love us there.”