“I Just Bang” with Matt & Kim

By Paul Hentschl | August 31, 2009

Life on the road can be tough, just ask Matt & Kim.  Spending roughly three-fourths of the last four years relentlessly touring, they have experienced the rigors of world-wide touring. The road can drive many professional musicians crazy, but this Electro Pop-Punk Couple has been able to remain staggeringly upbeat. After wandering around the hot pavement that’s normally J and K streets, looking for a non-existent press tent, I had a chance to sit down for a few minutes with the bubbly couple in the air conditioned sanctuary that was their tour bus.

Kim– Glad you were able to find us! We just got here and we’ve spent the last hour trying to find the press tent.

Matt– It’s just too hot out there, so we just came back to the bus.

Paul– Ha, I feel your pain. It is pretty miserable out there.

Kim– Well, we left New York in the horrible heat so…I don’t know, I just wasn’t expecting it here.

Paul– How many stops did you make on your way out here?

Kim– four.

Matt– Umm… Columbus, St. Louis, Norman, L.A. and here.

Paul-You just performed on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, how was that?

Kim– Nerve racking.

Matt– You know…there was no perfection that happened but everyone made it through

alive, there was no casualties.

Kim– I was actually surprised. The day after that show I stayed away from the internet because I didn’t want to see what people were saying, but I started peaking around today and it seemed like everyone really liked it. I don’t know why but there was a lot of focus on my sneakers.

Paul– Was that your debut late night appearance?

Matt– The first of many, hopefully.

Paul– How many more stops do you have after San Diego?

Kim– Thirty (Kim replied with the same unknowing inflection)

Matt– A bunch! We’ll be on the road for about another month. Then we’ll be home for a month, and then we go to Europe for a month and a half. This will be the first Thanksgiving that I won’t get to spend with my family. That’s the one holiday that we really focus on, but my folks get it.

Kim– Have you told your parents yet?

Matt– Yeah, my mom saw my tour schedule before I did, so she kind of told me.

Paul– You don’t really get much of a break until December?

Kim– We never do… we always say that we want to spend as much time at home as we do on the road. Things keep coming up and the time at home just keeps getting cut, and you’re like, ok, so we’re home for a week. We probably shouldn’t even buy groceries because they will just end up going bad.

Matt– Theoretically, if we were letting it all go we’d be back in Australia right at the beginning of January. It’s the beginning of their summer and that’s when they want us to come back, but we just can’t do it.

Kim- He says that now, but watch, in 2 months you’re going to see those dates up on our site.

Paul– How long have you been consistently touring like this?

Matt– Almost 4 years.

Kim– We’re on the road about 9 months out of the year.

Paul– What have been some of your more memorable shows?

Kim– Last night was awesome! We were in L.A. at the El Rey; it was a really good show. I think that part of it was that I was so nervous for the Kimmel Show, that when I got to the El Ray, I was like, I can do this.

Matt– This is my home! This is how I do it! Its places like Norman, Oklahoma on a Monday night, where cool things happen that you really wouldn’t expect. When I was in a band in high school I thought that if just one person knew my lyrics, it would just blow my mind, never mind having thousands singing and dancing along. I don’t take any of that for granted.

Paul– How old are you?

Matt– 27.

Kim– 28.

Paul– I read that you guys didn’t start playing your respective instruments until…

Matt– We started the band.

Kim– About five years ago.

Matt– Still learning!

Paul– How was it writing like that?

Matt– Well, when Kim and I would write a song, we’d write and then have to learn how to play it. So it would take us so long to learn a song. It’s not just trying to remember the parts; it’s trying to get good enough to play the parts. However, being that naive in the writing process kind of allows you to be original and do things the way you’ve been trained. I have two keyboards. I play one like a bass and one like a guitar (playing an air piano with two fingers)… you just do with what you know.

Kim– And I just bang.

Matt– Please take that out of context. That should be a big line, I just bang!

Paul– What have been some of your worst shows?

Matt– We played a show in Toronto, and normally Kim is kind of known for showing her big smile a lot when we play. I didn’t see her look up once during that show. She played the whole show with her head down trying not to vomit. She was so sick and this place was so hot, it was obviously torture.

Kim- Yeah, but then I drank a shit-ton of Pepto Bismol and Budweiser and I was much better.

Matt– Yeah, we’re going to create a new product called Pepto Bisweiser.

Paul– When you recorded your newest album “Grand”, you took the do-it-yourself route, what lead you down  that path, and how’d you end up doing it in your childhood bedroom?

Matt– It was cheap! I thought about back in the day, the high school punk rock bands that I was in that recorded in that room and how chill that situation was. Compared to recording our first album; which we did at a studio in L.A. where we didn’t have much money, we didn’t get to try many of the things we wanted to. All we got was the basics. We wanted the opposite experience. We wanted to be able to do whatever the fuck we wanted. When it came down to it, we had more than enough rope to hang ourselves with. It took us nine months to record that as opposed to our first album, which took nine days.

Kim– Also we were touring a lot during that time. So we’d get off the road for a couple of days and scramble into the studio and try to get as much done as we could.

Matt– While, ultimately, we got what we wanted, I do not foresee doing it that way again. We did learn a lot about ourselves and what Matt & Kim are all about.

Paul– What advice do you have for bands that will be trying to take the DIY approach?

Kim– Give yourself more time than you think you’re going to need.

Matt– Everything takes time, and when you start playing shows, just play five songs a show. Nobody wants to hear a band that they don’t know play for an hour-and- a- half. Leave them wanting more.

Paul– Thank you both so much for your time and best of luck with the rest of your stops!

Kim– Thanks sdentertainer.com

Matt– See you again soon, San Diego.