On Wednesday, Oct. 17, Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim will perform at Syracuse University’s Schine Underground. On Tuesday, Oct. 16, they performed at Cornell’s Risley Hall for the Fanclub Collective’s biggest show of the semester. The real-life couple is celebrated for their exuberant live performances where they frequently shirk raised stages for dirty basement floors, and play inches away from the sweaty, dancing crowd.
Their giddy energy isn’t just saved for their live show, either. Keyboardist and singer Matt Johnson stresses that their so-called ’schtick’ — the laughs, the jokes, the banter, the smiles — is 100% authentic and totally honest. The Matt and Kim live performance is who they really are, and it’s easy to believe him.
“It’s something that I find to be most important in performance, and in general,” Matt says. “It’s frustrating, going to shows every single night, because there’s so much of someone deciding that this is ‘the way’ to perform, like ‘we don’t care,’ or ‘we’re bored!’ If I see someone who is bored, why am I going to be into it?
“It’s funny, because there are only a handful of bands that I like to go see, and I feel like it’s because people aren’t that excited to go see music. Because sometimes… it’s really draining,” Matt continues. “I like art, but when you go to a museum, you can get this classic syndrome called museum legs. You just get worn out. If the performer isn’t giving out their own energy, then what’s the point? You can tell if they’re being honest or not, on a basic level.”
The Williamsburg-based band has toured tirelessly for the past three years, and this winter, they’re taking a break from the road to record their second full-length album. Their debut, Matt & Kim, which spawned the sugar-rush anthems “Yea Yeah” and “5K,” was recorded in just one week, due to extreme financial constraints. But now, Matt says, they’re taking their time to explore new ideas and sounds.
Matt and Kim plan to return to his hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont, where they will spend a full month working on their follow-up record. “Yesterday we worked on new songs, and it was really fun,” Matt says. “And we’re really excited to make something that sounds different. Although I still can’t pinpoint what I would want it to sound like, partially, I would love all the songs to sound… like a really good mixtape, where all of the songs sound different, quality-wise and stylistically.”
Matt and Kim met at the Pratt Institute as art students (Matt studied film; Kim was as an illustration major). They’re close friends with promotional machine Todd P, who booked one of their first shows. They performed in an art gallery basement under the moniker “Kimberly and Matthew” (they hadn’t settled on a bandname yet, so Todd chose one for them). “They were like, ‘You should play this show,’ even though we said, ‘We only play in our bedroom!’” Matt laughs. “We played three songs, but it was really positive.”
Since then, Matt and Kim’s punk and new wave-inflected dance tunes have become a reliable fixture on the local Brooklyn concert scene — they’ve even been called “the ultimate party band.” “[Brooklyn] is a place to make things happen. It’s a place to carry out ideas,” Matt said. “It puts a fire under you… The more you do in New York, the more people know about you everywhere else. It’s such a hub.”
Part of Matt and Kim’s grassroots success is attributed to the fact that they perform in small alternative venues — basements, kitchens, lofts, galleries — anywhere they can set up their drum kit and keyboard. “There are all of these spaces that you can play live music in, but the amount that are utilized are so few,” Matt says.
But as Matt and Kim’s popularity grows, they’ve taken to larger stages and moved out of the basement. This summer, they performed at Lollapalooza and Coney Island’s Siren Festival.
“I don’t think it matters where we play. Whether it’s a basement or Lollapalooza, it translates the same way — you can still see people smile or dance,” explains Matt. “But it doesn’t feel quite the same, like the barricade keeping people 30 feet away. That’s why it makes you want to play differently, because you’re not inside the crowd. But if you play like you are, well, then it’s no problem.”
Stay abreast of Matt & Kim’s plans over at their MySpace.
See our photos of the happy couple at Risley Hall here.