First off, why don't you introduce yourself?
I'm Matt and I sing in Letter Kills.
Why don't you tell me a little bit about the band?
We're a rock band from southern California and that's about it. We've been together for about a year and a half now and we have been touring the whole time. Our record comes out July 20th.
If you had to describe the band in three words, what would they be?
Rock and roll.
That's the first time I've heard that. That's good.
Yep!
How did the band get its name?
Actually, a couple of us went to church together in southern California and the pastor was speaking a passage from Bible and we heard it at the same time. It was just one of those where we knew it was the right name.
How would you describe your music?
Beautiful train wreck.
How would you describe your stage show?
The same thing. Beautiful train wreck.
What's one of your favorite songs to perform live at a show?
I would have to say that "Whatever it Takes" is one of my favorites.
You're currently on tour with Sugarcult. How is that going?
It's going really good, actually. We're only a few shows into the tour, after a few being cancelled, but things are going good. Kids have been really responsive and all. Kids always make the shows what they are, you know? Without the kids it's just music, so it's not really anything else. So, it's really cool that the kids have been really responsive and it's really good.
Do you have any favorite city?
That's kind of asking who's your favorite child you have or something. I don't know. They're all good.
If you were to tour with any artist, who would it be and why?
I'm going to speak personally on this, because all of us think totally different on this. But if I personally could tour with someone, it would be...like a band that's out now?
Past or present.
Past or present, okay. Well, I would be stoked to tour with old bands..like when Johnny Cash was alive. I'm really into Frank Sinatra, so I like all the old stuff. But I mean, we'd like to tour with bands that were rock and roll bands, and they weren't just what MTV is. If it was like it was before, we would like to tour with anybody, because it was great. People loved music.
Speaking of MTV, a lot of people feel that groups that play on MTV are sell outs. What do you think of that?
I think that's just a cop out [laughs a little]. You only get so many reasons to hate somebody. Honestly, because a band is a band, it doesn't matter where they're at. If you like the band beforehand, you should like the band afterwards, because it's the same band, same people, same everything, so I really don't care about stuff like that.
If you could pick any one singer/band to remake one of your songs, who would it be, what song would it be and why?
Wow. I would want...[thinks hard]. Wow, that's a good question. I don't know. I would want,just for the sake of curiosity, I would want the Counting Crows to cover "Time Marches On."
If you weren't doing music in any way, what do you think you'd be doing?
I don't know. I would be..I don't know. I would be climbing trees and stuff. I'd probably still be a kid. I still am, but my life would be totally different, so I have no clue what I would be doing.
Are there any bands that you think should get some recognition?
Lots of bands deserve recognition, but lots of bands don't [laughs a little]. There's a band that broke up not too long ago called 238. They were an awesome band that didn't get very much recognition. I don't know.
If you could give the aspiring bands/singers any tips on the music industry, what would they be, and why?
Probably it would be just to play what comes out. Don't sit down and say, "OK, this is going to be a hard song and this is going to be a soft song." Just write what you feel and write as it comes out and play that. Whatever happens is meant to happen and just do it. Don't stress about trying to get signed or trying to get a record or trying to record. Just do anything. Keep writing music and keep playing music. As long as you're doing that, the right people will find you. And maybe if it's 10 kids spread out around the whole world that hear a song you wrote and get it and understand who you are and what you're doing, then that's what it's about.
Last but not least, do you have a message to your fans?
Probably just enjoy life. Quite whining about it everyday [laughs]. Just have fun and love each other. That's it.
Thanks for your time and good luck with your career!
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