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u&A // MATT JOHNSON OF MATT AND KIM > Because we have questions. Celebrities have answers.
Matt & Kim are a dance punk duo from Brooklyn, New York comprised of Matt Johnson on vocals and keyboards and Kim Schifino on vocals and drums. Their mix of booming beats and lively melodies has garnered them a national following as well as spots on shows Entourage and Community and the video game Sims 3. Matt spoke with Jayplay about the band's upcoming album Sidewalks, failed work-out plans and their history with Kansas tornados. Matt & Kim play at 7 p.m. tonight at the Granada.
Jayplay:
Where was Sidewalks recorded and what role does location play in your music?
Matt Johnson:
We recorded Sidewalks in Atlanta, but then we finished a lot of it back in Brooklyn. We wrote most of the songs when we were in New York. But whether you're in a recording studio in Brooklyn or Atlanta, you're in a windowless room for months at a time. I think we bleed through in our music and our environment.
JP "Daylight" achieved some pretty huge success, being picked up for everything from liquor commercials to video games. Do your feelings toward the songchange when it becomes popular?
MJ: I think that song was a difficult song to write, but we knew there was something there. We worked on it for seven months. But it's more important to me now.
JP Do you ever get tired of playing live?
JP: How do you keep the show's energy up when you're sitting at a keyboard and Kim's stationed at the drums?
MJ: I've been sick of seeing the typical band that's looking bored on stage. If you're bored on stage I'm fucking bored watching you. Bands that are real engaging are real. Wherever your music's coming from, let it be seen. Not the face you put on when you were standing in front of your full-length mirror with your guitar earlier today. We're just excited to go out and play until my back goes out or something.
MJ: To a small extent we get a little worn out. Some older songs, a song like 'Yeah Yeah' I still like playing at shows because people are into it. But as far as practicing it's like 'Ugh, we've played it like 5 bazilion times.' But I think about the Rolling Stones and how much they've played some of their songs.
JP: Did that happen once?
DID that happen once?
MJ: I had a back injury a year ago and it was a pain in the ass. "I'm too young to be feeling this old," to quote Drake.
JP Have you been jamming the new Drake lately? It's pretty good.
JP What's the most awkward show you've played?
MJ: I liked the singles, but I got the album and it felt like it was sort of rushed. I like the up tempo stuff.
MJ. Sometimes we'll do certain events like when a certain company might be having a party. It's not your fans there, but it seems like if we're having fun other people are having fun. Sometimes it's sterile but we generally joke on stage and be human. If a band tries to ignore that this is very awkward and plays to the fictional stadium audience in their head, it gets even more awkward.
MJ: Sometimes I go with a goal like exercising and it totally fails by day three. I'm like 'yeah, I'm going to be using these weights every day' and that totally doesn't happen. Even getting more than one or
JP Are there any new inspirations you discovered over the course of writing Sidewalks?
two meals in a day seems like a challenge.
I think just trying get sleep and food, the things one needs to live, is the goal.
MJ: Kim and I are huge hip hop fans and took a lot of inspiration from stuff we like that have stong beats and hooks and we go from there. We're in the position where we can make whatever type of music we want to hear. We'll put together fat beats you can stage dive to.
JP. What routines do you try to maintain on the road?
It takes two: Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino formed their dance punk duo in 2004 while attending school in Brooklyn, New York. They are currently on tour with a stop at the Granada tonight, and are releasing their next album, Sidewalks, Nov. 2.
MJ. 2006 I'm guessing. Maybe 2005. We were driving to go to Lawrence and the sky starts getting super dark. Then comes the crazy rain, and the hail comes and cars are pulling under bridges. We go inside this gas station and the news is saying that there's a half-mile tornado. We were not only in a gas station but a gas station slash fireworks stand, and we're like 'There's no way we're staying in this tin shack filled with gasoline and fireworks.' So we start driving and hit the pedal to the metal. We out-ran the tornado. But then when we got to Lawrence the power was out and the show got cancelled anyway.
JP When were you last in Lawrence?
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