How did you guys first meet up and become friends?
Will: Well, I actually first met Matt on the first day of college, my old band had gotten signed to a management deal and I needed a partner and some other members, and I met Matt on the first day of college.
Matt: We sat down, we were wearing the same thing, everybody thought we were brothers so it was going to be a good fit.
When was the moment that you decided you two should form a band together?
Will: It was right there, what happened was I had signed up with this band For The Foxes, and I was just going out at that point just as myself, I had no one to go with and I was doing acoustic and I just said, "Hey man, do you want to just come? I have no idea what it's going to be like." And so, we just drove and we played 2 or 3 shows with For The Foxes as no one, just as music.
Matt: I played a half assed version of a drum set with a high ride and a snare kick and that was just about it, just kind of played along with what I heard with the songs, just kind of learned them on the spot.
Tell me about the recording process behind your latest EP "Celebrity" and what were the inspirations behind some of the songs on the release?
Matt: The recording process for the "Celebrity" EP was much different than I think either of us have ever done, we've never really gone into a studio with bits and pieces of songs and kind of molded everything together into fully composed songs and the album eventually as soon as we got in there, but we had also never worked with somebody that was quite as experienced and talented as Christian Medice, and I think he did alot more for us and helped us reach that next level that we were looking for.
Will: Yeah I mean, honest to god if you're reading this Christian, I love you dude. Our record would be so screwed without you. We knew we wanted to be a pop band and we have these songs, but we had no idea how to go about it and he was like, "Alright, here is what we're going to do." and we did it, he gave it to us and thanks brother!
How is the music on this release different sonically compared to your previous work?
Will: I think speaking sonically, it's alot more electronic and that we're not playing alot of instruments on the actual record, a lot more MIDI, synthetic instruments. When we came together, it was kind of by accident so those were the songs we were making that were kind of left over from our old band. Our demo collection, "A Little Bit Better Than Yesterday" were songs we kind of had left over and by the time came to make our first record, we knew we wanted to be a pop band so it really felt like the right move.
Earlier this year, you shot a music video for "Celebrity", can you take us behind the shooting of the video and the concept behind it?
Will: We have a joke in our band, and it's every time we do a video shoot something monumentally terrible happens and without fail, it happened again! If you've seen the video, it's a big party scene and we staged a party and then it kind of turned into an actual party. Drinks are flowing and everyone's doing their thing, attitudes and egos get real big. Long story short, there we some disagreements between members of this band and the neighbors, some fists were thrown, policemen were called.
Matt: I really wish I could tell you about the situation, but it just kind of happened. To this day, I have no idea. At the end of the day, it was ridiculous and couldn't expect anything less from a CMA video shoot.
Speaking of videos, Matt you have your own YouTube channel where you release cover videos of songs, can you tell us how the idea for that came about?
Matt: Honestly that idea just came one day I decided that I wanted not just to be a drummer anymore and I wanted to show people that I could do a little bit of vocals, and if you look back at the first videos, it's nothing pretty, it's just 15 year old me jumping around like an asshole. It became so much more than I ever expected and it does alot for our band, it creates alot of controversy with fans on YouTube. But honestly, for those of you that hate on it, we love it, you're buzzing us up more so keep it going, keep talking shit! (Laughter)
Will: When I first met Matt, I saw the YouTube channel and I watched his videos and I was like, "Eek!" but we were young kids back then, we were still kind of odd but I'm so proud of the way his channel has really developed, it actually has turned into something people want to be a part of and people like. I think you definitely stepped your shit up a whole lot dude, and for the fans that don't necessarily agree with what I'm doing or what Matt's doing or don't like the screamo covers or don't like the pop music, we set out from Day 1 to play the music that we wanted to play, not what you wanted to play, and if you don't like it, I'm sure they're some other bands that you can go check out, but I appreciate you taking the time to check us out at one point.
What new CD's that came out recently have you been listening to in your spare time?
Will: I really like the new Owl City record, the new Pierce The Veil record is awesome, the new Eve 6 record is great, but as far as singles go, every single one off the new Taylor Swift record is so awesome. I'm a Top 40 nut.
Matt: I'm very, very into the new Carly Rae Jepsen record. It didn't really do as well as I thought it was going to but I loved that record. I think every song on that record is sick, I get alot of influence from production from that album. Obviously, the new Pierce The Veil record is probably my favorite record of the year.
What does the rest of the year hold for you guys, are you planning to play any more shows or release any holiday songs around Christmas time?
Will: Yeah, I'm not sure how much of this we're actually allowed to talk about, cause we're not sure if it's confirmed yet, but it looks like we're going to be on the west coast after Christmas with some of our good buddies, I really can't say who yet. But that's what it looks like we're going to be doing. We're also talking about maybe doing a re-recording of our Christmas song that we did last year.
Lastly, what do you have to say to your fans that have supported you along the way and have gotten you to the point where you are now?
Matt: We're absolutely nothing without all the people that are standing downstairs screaming right now. A day like today, especially when we're playing a hometown crowd, it's completely surreal for us. I never would've thought that I would walk outside of my own show and see a line down the street. It's incredible, we can't believe that you guys care about it that much and we can't thank you enough!
Will: You know it sounds cheesy, when I was little and watched people get asked this question I was always like, "That's such a stereotypical answer or such a typical answer." And now that we're a little bit further, it's like that's all you can say is "Thank you so much." I get the jitters, I went to do guest vocals on This Is All Now's set and I get so excited that you guys are so excited, and I sing like shit, but you don't care, and I don't care, and we're all having a good time. I guess what I'm trying to say is you guys are awesome and thank you so much!
Thanks once again to Will and Matt for being so gracious with their time to do this interview! I can honestly say that these guys aren't just friends of mine, they're almost like family to me and feel like brothers because they've been nothing but super nice, classy, and professional anytime I run into them! To check out their music, simply go to their Facebook page right here and 'Like' it as well! You can follow them on Twitter as well right over here. To check out Matt's YouTube channel and to subscribe to it, simply click here.
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