Interview with: Matt and Steve
Interviewed by: Pearl
It was a complete coincidence that I ran into them on the streets, but something in me tells me that this was meant to be! I’ve had an interesting conversation with them and that’s exactly what made this interview so special...The fact that it wasn’t really an interview! After a mind-blowing gig in a sold out Heineken Music Hall they were still full of adrenalin and full of amazing stories and fantasies which they, kind as they are, would like to share with you! Be prepared to read about some interesting stuff about a band that isn’t a typical rock band in an interview that isn’t a typical interview...
Did you enjoy playing the Heineken Music Hall?
M: Yeah, it was really cool! Amazing!
P: Where do you know the Pixies from? (They played the gig with the Pixies)
M: Where do I know the Pixies from? I kinda have always known the Pixies. They’re just one of those bands of the 90s that inspired bands that we’re into. Mayor bands like Nirvana. I’m not into all their stuff, but I’m into a lot of it! So I don’t know, I’ve known them since I was little. For you it´s probably the same right?
S: Yeah, cause they are an influence for a lot of our favourite bands, so that’s a big deal!
M: They’re just one of those bands that you should know about.
P: How is touring with them?
M: Cool! It’s really cool! The places we play in are really big which is a shock for us, cause we’ve only played in a few big places like the Leeds and Reading festival. And it’s because you’re below the Pixies, that there is a whole crowd…
P: You’re not below the Pixies!
M: Well...
P: I really believe that you’re better than the Pixies.
M: Yeah right!
P: Really.
M: Shit!! That’s kind of a compliment! Well look at you, you’re just saying that...
P: I have to admit that I didn’t really know that Pixies until today, but I really liked your show!
M: Okay cool, thank you very much!
P: Do you hang out together?
M: We haven’t really talked to them much, but Steve has talked to them right?
S: They take a lot of smokes and I smoke too, so the conversations are more like: Can I have a cigarette?
M: We’re not really hanging out together, they go straight from the venue to the hotel, so it’s not like we meet them in a passing.
P: What do you think of touring?
M: It’s wicked!
S: To me it’s the best thing of being in a band! Totally wicked!
M: I really like to sit and write songs and I like to record them. So the hardest thing about touring for me is that I’m always on the road and don’t have the chance to just shut the door and stuff. I did it today for like half an hour or an hour before we left the hotel, but it’s never the same, cause when you write at home you know the room and it is comfortable. So I love touring, but when you’re on tour you have to give something up.
P: Where do you prefer to write your songs?
M: I usually just write in my bedroom, but recently I started writing in another room, it’s really quiet and I go there every day.
P: Does that room give you some special kind of inspiration?
M: It just feels comfortable. Inspiration is just like stuff that happened and stuff you think about. That room just feels easy.
P: So what’s the funniest thing that happened to you on this tour?
M: The funniest thing that happened to me personally was probably last night at 3 am when Tom and Steve banged on the door. Me and Wayne were asleep and I got out in my pants and Steve and Tom walked in head to toe wrapped around everything in maps of Amsterdam, just like a massive map, they had maps everywhere! It was crazy! They found a lot of maps at the reception and they did that..
S: We just wanted to show Matt what we’d made actually.
P: How did you react?
M: It was more of a noise than a reaction actually.
P: Where did you go last night?
M: After we met you we went to a pub that we got recommended. We went to a supermarket and then got a metro to the hotel.
P: I’ve seen that you have a lot of gigs on your tour, how do you manage to survive?
M: I don’t know, this bit right now is the easiest bit. We have Wayne and people that are helping us with getting the equipment and it will get a lot harder when we’re just with the three of us. Then we’ll sleep on peoples floors, so we’ll see how that goes. That will be hard, but this part is easy. This Friday is the last show with the Pixies and then we’ll fly back and from that start it’ll be really hard. We use humour to survive, we’re just stupid idiots at the end of the day and we make each other laugh, that’s what keeps the spirits up between us!
S: We talk about a lot and that’s the key to a band surviving and also a bit of humour. But too being able to talk to each other and being okay with each other.
P: Do you talk about everything?
M: Yeah everything.
P: So you’re best friends?
M: Steve to me is really really close, cause we spent a lot of time with each other in difficult situations, we’re being helpful and I really need this guy!
M: You have to get that right, cause you face a lot of hard times on tour.
P: What do you think of the different music scenes in Britain?
M: Don’t know, because it’s not about how many genres there are it’s all about the genres you like. The trouble we have is that the music we’re into is not really represented in the UK. There is a massive Indie scene that is really shit music!
P: It’s not shit music!
S: Pretty much everybody in England is in a band. Like in Europe this is not the same, but a lot of these bands miss the concentration.
M: When there’s a gig in Europe it’s more special. In England you can go to a gig in every venue in every city at every night and most of these bands are just horrifying. If you would go to London you could go to a gig every night and if you would go to Leeds you can see 4/5 bands every night! But it makes it quite hard for us, cause there’s so much competition, so many bands! So the people that can do things for you are divided so many times. The problem is that the good bands don’t get noticed because there’re sooo many bands...
P: But don’t you think that the competition is good for the quality?
M: Yes that’s good if you’ve made it.
P: But you’ve made it.
M: We’ve not made it, we have a long way to go...
P: It’s a good start.
P: In Holland we don’t have such a music culture as you do in England and the bands that we have are usually really bad, have you heard any Dutch bands?
M: There’s one really nice band, they’re from Utrecht and they’re not a big band yet, but they’re really cool. We’ve played with them last time we were in Holland and after that they’ve played with us in England. It was great!
P: I just bought your ep, the most powerful ep in the universe, why is it the most powerful ep in the universe?
M: Well, because we’re big egos..Just joking. To be honest with you the name is more of a joke than a statement. A lot of people say us: So it’s the most powerful ep in the universe, and we’re like it’s a joke you know. It’s just an ep.
P: I’ve heard that you would like to make people feel like you did at a Foo Fighters gig, can you describe that specific feeling?
M: Well, that was T in the Park and I was just blown away! I love their first two albums, amazing albums! I felt really inspired, it’s just what they do and who they are.
P: You both kind of looked like Dave Grohl on stage with all that hair before your faces.
M: Really? O no..
P: So tell me, how does it feel to go from a member of the audience to a member of the band?
M: We still are members of the audience. We still go see bands that we like. So I don’t know, it’s pretty awesome really! When I was younger I remembered going to the Reading festival and I always felt deep down that I wanted to perform on that second stage. It has such a good atmosphere and the sound is so good! So it was just really cool when we got the chance to play there! Sometimes when we perform I sing really close to the mic, so that I can see the people in the crowd and then suddenly it hits me and I realize what I’m doing. It’s really great, isn’t it?!
P: Are you still capable to sing when that happens?
M: It was a bit like Awahahahwa... It’s hard but well. It’s something you usually just think about afterwards. When you get back on your feet after the show you think hang on, did I just play that?
P: If you could organize the Reading festival, what bands would be on it?
M: Cool,okay.. Torche! They’re amazing! Slayer..
P: That is really hard!
M: But that’s not why. I’m a punk rocker, but they’re obviously one of the best bands technical.
S: I’d have Nirvana, I would bring them back.
M: I’d have the Foo Fighters, short after they’ve released the first album.
P: Wouldn’t it be hard for Dave to play twice?
M: He would play twice. Maybe we could have like two dimensions, that would be awesome! Who would you have to play Steve?
S: I’d have really heavy metal bands!
M: I’d have some very predictable stuff, early Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Melvins..
P: No girl bands?
M: There are a few good girl bands,
S: Janis Joplin, P.J. Harvey, Kylie Minoque
P: If you’d be in the audience at your own festival, where would you be?
M: I’d probably be in the front.
S: Definitely!
M: If all those bands played at one festival and I wouldn’t be able to play that festival I would cry. I would literally be crying, horrible, it would be tearing!
P: Have you ever cried during a gig?
M: No, but I’ve felt very near to happen.
P: I’ve cried one time during a gig, it made me feel like a loser.
M: What gig was that?
P: The Lostprophets..
M: Wauw!! Awesome!! I wasn’t expecting that..
P: What do you think of the Lostprophets?
M: They really started off really good, but they ended up not so good. They started off really heavy and technical.
P: They’re making an album that is a lot darker.
M: they started off really really heavy and technical, but recently they’ve just released really bad stuff. You’re a big fan, I can tell!
S: She is like die hard!
M: Yeah, she’s like no no they’re going to do an album that’s darker!
P: But they really are!
M: Hahaha, I can listen to them. There are a couple of songs that I like, but I can’t remember how it goes..
S: Tudududutututududu..
P: Shinobi versus dragon ninja!
M: That was when they were good, I like that song.
P: They usually perform that at the end of the show and then they go crowd surfing.
M: Really? haha
P: Do you ever crowd surf?
M: I’ve crowd surfed as a member of the audience.
S: I haven’t done it in this band yet. You did it at...
M: No, I didn’t it was Tom.
S: But there is a picture of you.
M: Yeah, I ran into the crowd once, but I ended up on the floor.
S: The first time I’ve crowd surfed I was really rocking and kicking ass! Me and Matt did it together.
M: That was a good one!
P: I’ve always wanted to crowd surf sometime.
M: You really should! It’s cool! It’s fun!
P: I’m a bit afraid for the touching..
M: As a girl I should warn you. Boys in crowds aren’t to be trusted and they’ll take advantage you know.
P: So what things keep you busy besides music?
S: I have a dog.
P: Do you take him with you on tour?
S: No
M: Things beside music..There’s nothing else I think.
S: Even if we’re in the van driving to venues we still play the guitar.
M: And we’re all air drumming on Slayer!
P: So what is the name of your dog Steve?
S: Pig, he’s a half-blood terrier and he looks like a pig, so we call him pig. He’s the best dog ever!
M: He’s good, he’s the most handsome dog ever!
S: He’s very cool, he’s the kind of kid that enters the van of a very famous band and would just walk up and say hey. He’s like that in a dog form.
M: If Steve talks to him he just ignores him. The dog is just like; I’m not talking to you.
P: Are dogs your favourite animals?
S: Yeah, dogs and than rats. A rat is an amazing pet. I used to have a rat, his name was Smeagel.
M: Rats are amazing, but I like dogs more. They are so intelligent, really affectionate and laid back.
P: What about dinosaurs?
M: No
P: What would you do if you would live in the Dinosaur era?
M: We would start a rock band called Dinosaur pile-up and play gigs. I don’t really think about time.
S: I think that the world would be a lot more civilised. If a city gets attacked by a massive dinosaur, it would make people a lot closer, cause they would have a band and stuff.
P: Woow you’ve really thought about it!
M: I think a lot about Jurassic Park en Deep Impact things. I also think that I have to make a plan, like an escape route just in case the Dinosaurs come and Grrrrrraaaaahhhhwwwww!!! Oooeeeeaaaaaahhhh!!! If they would come here, what would you do?
P: I would play my guitar so loud that I would just blow them away.
S: Every now and then I feel a bit sad that they’re not still around.
M: Me too!
S: I want to see them so badly! Like knowing that I never will is really sad. I really want to see them!
P: We probably wouldn’t exist if they were still here.
M: That’s very true. Tyradactills were one of those, DANGEROUS!
S: Raawwwwwwwr!!
M: They were really bad.
S: They would eat a lot of people.
M: Yeah they would, they would bite you to death. Imagining being eaten by a Tyrex!
S: It just wouldn’t be like being bitten by a Tyradactill, I would rather be bitten by a Tyradactill.
M: No you wouldn’t, no you wouldn’t! If a Tyrex would bit you, you would be like.. A Tyradactill would beat you up and bite you with his massive deathly uuuhhh (shiffers)...
P: So what is Dinosaur pile-up coming up with in the future?
S: We’ve just released our new ep and in the New Year we would like to do an album.
P: Okay guys, sounds good! Thank you very much for this interview!
Shit-rock is what they call it. I prefer to say that it’s a combination of energetic punk-rock with a twist of rap and hip hop. These guys from the Orange county produce just the right formula to get the audience to go wild. After being launched over the stage quite a few times it occurred to me that I found myself on a serious rock-gig. Including serious stage diving, serious moshing and not so serious rock-stars. During the interview it became obvious that Matty isn’t supposed to be taken too seriously. Don't expect to get informed about their fantastic music and interesting influences. Prepare yourself for ultimate funny answers and unbearable nasty fantasies…
