PSXE Exclusive Interview: Matt & Kim

Matt & Kim

We at PSXE always like to seek out unique and intriguing interviews, so when we were approached by EA's new Artwerk studio to chat with one of their new additions, we quickly agreed. For those of you who are unaware, Artwerk is out to nab plenty of fresh talent for the sake of future video game music; you may recall our interview with Bang Camaro. Well, another group has just signed on; EA calls them a "main priority band", and you're lookin' at 'em: Matt & Kim.

For these two, perhaps the words "spontaneity" and "creativity" would be most suitable. Before we get started, we suggest checking out their Daylight music video; it's a catchy and refreshing beat, and part of what they like to call "dance/punk." We'll provide you with more links to their material at the end of the interview, but in the meantime, let's see what Matt has to say in response to our questions.

PSXE: Could you provide us with a little background? How did you two get started?

"Kim and I met at college at Pratt [Pratt Institute] art school in Brooklyn. We were together and dating for three years before we even started playing music. Doing that was a total accident; she was given a drum set that she had never played and I found this really cool keyboard, which I hadn't ever played (but I did play guitar and bass in previous bands). We figured it'd be more fun to learn them together.

A friend of ours who has a band asked us to play a show with them, and we weren't even a band! But it worked out, and then we started to work on like three songs. We wanted to come up with a name for ourselves but we couldn't, so just our first names stuck. Either we did really well [in our performances] or we just have very nice friends, but we got a really positive response and all we were was a little basement band. I just love the spontaneity of everything, and seeing everyone at all the venues we play at."

Matt & Kim

PSXE: Your sound is really unique; how would you define your music? What genre might it fall into?

"We struggled with that genre thing for a while and we finally landed on 'dance/punk.' We've actually been lucky to not get pinned into playing one style of music, because we've been able to play with all sorts of bands at all sorts of shows. Anywhere people are willing to go and get crazy and have fun; that's where we are. We were in Toronto last week and I was just walking around looking at this crazy venue we were playing at, and some people came up and said they had come from like ten hours away (or more) to come see us!

But we're really just about being ourselves. We're the two people you see; we're Matt & Kim, and we just like to interact with the audience when we're playing."

PSXE: How did EA's Artwerk studio discover you?

"I think there was an inherent connection through our manager and the people who work at EA, and we're really into doing things that aren't like the most conventional methods. Our label is Fader [Fader Label] and their record side is actually really small, but we were just looking for help on the publishing side. We heard about these people at EA who are into all kinds of new media forms and forward-thinking, and that was a completely different thing. Coming at things from a whole new direction perks our ears up the most.

So we went to EA in LA and we actually went to this weird secret floor and it seemed like they were making this military game of some kind; there was even a big elaborate layout in the middle of the room for what I think must've been one of the levels in the game. Then we got to visit the audio and sound booth."