Q&A with Matt and Kim (+ Photos)

WRBB’s Juliette Paige got a chance to chat with Matt from Matt and Kim to discuss the exploration of a new sound on their latest album, Almost Everyday.

Juliette: Congratulations on the soon-to-be released album, Almost Everyday, and for hitting the road again! What’s it like being on tour again?

Matt: It is so good. We have never taken a break for a whole year since we started as a band. Kim tore her ACL and meniscus on stage at a festival in Mexico and it was weird seeing how life would be like after the band. I feel like I’m retired and we should be saying, “Remember when we toured in that band and we’d travel around the world!” We took all of 2017 off and just got back on the road a few months ago. I’ve spent my entire adult life on the road, so it was definitely weird.

J: Diving deep into the new album, I had a chance to listen to it and was blown away from the risks you took, especially the number the collaborations, including Flosstradamus, Mark Hoppus (Blink-182), Tokyo Police Club, and Santigold. How did these collaborations come about?

M: We knew the live energy from a show came from people singing along. It’s not just me and Kim singing, it’s a crowd of voices singing along. We knew early on that we wanted to get more voices, then we thought it’d be cool to have our friends be that chorus of vocals behind us. It wasn’t just have distinct features or a certain voice singing a hook. There’s a song called ‘Forever,’ and Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 was singing on it. His voice is so distinct that when we would turn his vocals up, it became a Blink-182 song! Being a fan of all these people’s music, I thought it was so cool hearing them sing songs we wrote.

J: You said throughout Kim’s recovery and all the negative news in 2017 you’d see “almost everyday,” writing the album became a form of therapy of getting through all the headlines. There’s definitely some darker tones of the album, what do you say to your listeners who find this isn’t your typical “Matt and Kim” sound?

M: Musically, the sound is still upbeat and our choruses are positive in tone. But I think the overall the verses are a rally cry that we can make things better. The messages do have darker and mortality tones, but we’re also trying to say that we can makes things okay and we should embrace the things we have before they’re gone. The music is still danceable; but with everything happening in 2017, we didn’t feel like we could make the standard “Matt and Kim” song or a song about having fun with your friends.

J: The track ‘Like I Used To Be’ stood out as a rebellious and personal song where you reminisced on a time where you didn’t need much in your life. Now that you’re in your early thirties, what point in your life did you have in mind when you were writing this song?

M: We were thinking a lot about we were started the band and had no expectations whatsoever. I never thought I would make a living off of making music. We were so broke, but we were so happy making music. Now, there’s so much more politics involved and so many people to make happy. We don’t want to make mistakes or upset people. It’s nice to think about the simplicity of having no expectations and no one to disappoint. But hey! Maybe it still can be like that we should all put less pressure on ourselves no matter what we do and where we’re at.

J: After writing and creating this album, do you have any advice for people who are stick stuck in this bubble of bad news and negativity?

M: It’s hard to get out when everywhere you look there’s bad news. I don’t think the right thing to is bury your head in the sand and pretend like everything’s fine. You have to look with an arm’s length and ask yourself “Are the people around you healthy? Are you happy with what you’re doing?” and so on. If you take too many steps back and see everything that’s messed up in the world, there’s no way you can be happy. So I think as long as you make yourself happy, then that’s when you can take a few strides to make the world a better place. But I don’t know, I have no answers. I’m struggling with it too!

J: Nah, that was really awesome–thank you so much for all your words and for taking the time to chat! Be sure to check out Matt and Kim’s new album Almost Everyday.

Want to hear the full interview? Give it a listen below and make sure to keep up with Matt and Kim on their Facebook and website!

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Check out the photos below from their show at House of Blues on April 26th courtesy of WRBB’s Jason Crouse!

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Listen to Matt and Kim here: