Despite their simple name of Matt and Kim, which is just the two band member’s first names, Matt Johnson [keyboards and vocal] and Kim Schifino [drums and vocals] exemplify their straightforward title. With lightning fast keyboards and blazing drums, Matt and Kim bring the energy to each show that they put on. As Kim would say, “[we would describe our music as] dance punk.” And this mentality of danceable, up tempo, punkish music is definitely what the Brooklyn, NY twosome brought to the stage of the Majestic Theater on September 11th in Madison, WI.
The concert transformed a somber day in American history into one that allowed people to look past the travesties of 9/11 and look forward to a more positive future. At the concert Matt would explain how he was present in New York during the terrible terrorist attack and how he wanted everyone to look forward to a better tomorrow. And certainly everyone in the crowd was able to look beyond the past and enjoy an amazing concert. These words would evoke the masses to mosh, dance, and rock out to the high energy tunes that Matt and Kim pump out of their amps.
“A dance party,” is how Matt describes the atmosphere of their live shows. People of all ages came in swarms to sell out the magnificent Madison venue. If one would glance across the crowd they would see a cornucopia of diverse men and women bobbing along to the keyboard and drum dance attack that is a Matt and Kim show. Along with playing their own tunes, Matt and Kim will spice up the show with live covers of some of their favorite tunes like Dead Prez’s “Hip-Hop” and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Jump on It” as transitions between songs. Matt and Kim are both huge fans of mainstream music and hip-hop. Kim said that Andre 3000 is one of her biggest inspirations and Matt would go onto explain the two’s infatuation with hip-hop and rap music saying, “A lot of hip-hop is the most groundbreaking and forward thinking music. I think that a lot of the contemporary stuff is really pushing the envelope.”
Matt and Kim first meet at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 2004 which would spark the beginning of the two’s band according to Matt. Yet, if you would ask either of them how they met, neither have a good recognition of how the two came to know each other. Although they have only been performing for less than half a decade, they two have certainly developed fame in the music industry.
The upbringing of the two’s band is probably one like no other. Oddly enough, both Matt and Kim didn’t know how to play their respective instruments before they formed the band. “I always wanted to play drums and my friend gave me a hand-me-down set. And Matt had this keyboard that he found in his friends garage like when he was fifteen,” said Kim. But the two would later be able to develop a unique style that seems to breathe of teen angst and livelihood. “The [liveliness of the] music itself came from [us] playing parties, lofts, and art spaces, and basements [when we first began],” said Matt. Along with their unique up-tempo and dance friendly music, both would also develop a peculiar writing technique for creating song lyrics. “I like our lyrics to be a little loose so you can get out of it what you want out of it,” said Matt, “we have this system know where we will listen to a song we wrote, Kim will kind of go through and free word associate and just like write sentences and stuff like that and lines that just comes to mind. And then I’ll come through and just choose through lines that I like and will fill in that blanks and add things and what not. And the song will kind of write itself.”
Although many might not know that it is Matt and Kim playing, a recent Bacardi Superior Mojito commercial includes a mere thirty second sample of Matt and Kim’s hit song “Daylight” off of their 2009 CD “Grand”. “Well that was just a music supervisor who put our music in a commercial and Bacardi really wanted it,” said Kim. And since the release of that commercial, the band has for sure seen and outright affect of this catchy advertisement. “It’s crazy that its only thirty seconds of our song, and it’s really impressive the amount of people that must have Googled out Bacardi Mojito commercial song that drew people our way [to our music],” said Matt.
Along with the popularity of their albums and the rise of the fame with their hit song in a commercial, the buzz around Matt and Kim allowed them to play their first appearance on a nationally syndicated late night television show. On August 26, 2009 the two played a televised performance of their hit song “Daylight” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “[It was] terrifying,” said Kim. “We’ve gotten used to playing live shows, but doing our first late night appearance was like playing that first show all over again,” said Matt, “the things that I used to play so well I was like, oh no what comes next [in the song].”
The popularity of the song “Daylight” would also bring their hit song into the hip-hop world. Recently, De La Soul, one of hip-hop’s legendary all-star bands would remix their song for the upcoming soundtrack to the video game NBA Live 2010. “The song came out awesome and we are definitely honored to have legendary hip-hop artists just refer to a song that we have written,” said Matt.
Inch by inch, Matt and Kim have been making a name for themselves in the music world. With their hit single “Daylight”, raging concerts, and ear friendly tunes their popularity has surely begun to reach the masses. They have been nationally televised, remixed, and curiously searched for on the internet to find out who plays that one song that is on that Bacardi commercial. A positive band that makes any witness of their concert coming back for more. You know that a band is great when after the show they will hop into the crowd and dance with and hug patrons who just witnessed, as many have said, one of the most exciting and sweaty concerts that they have ever been too.
No comments:
Post a Comment