We’ve been cornered into a cute category, and if that’s what people like, that’s fine,” Matt says. “But personally, I would never see a band ’cause a friend told me that they were cute.” Kim adds, “I would automatically hate that band.”
The Brooklyn duo met at Pratt Institute in 2004, and started making music shortly after. “I wanted to play anything I could get my hands on,” Matt (vocals and keyboards) says.
Matt and Kim‘s first batch of songs consisted of Matt playing baritone ukulele and Kim on a drum set made from various pieces that friends gave her. They quickly found out that this instrument pairing wasn’t loud enough for performances and Matt ditched the ukulele for a keyboard.
Unfortunately, the change of instruments didn’t help Matt with his other problem. “I have no rhythm,” Matt says. “If (Kim) stops playing, it all falls apart.”
“Personally, I would never see a band ’cause a friend told me that they were cute.” -Matt
As they created a collection of songs, their friends set up shows for them in Brooklyn. At first, they played three times a week. “At that pace, I figured that we’d overdo it,” Matt says. But they haven’t slowed down since, putting out a self-titled record on iheartcomix in 2006 and touring extensively.
One of the stops on a tour was an outdoor acoustic show in Roosevelt Island, New York. Kim played a makeshift drum set consisting of a cardboard box, a tin can filled with change, and a cowbell as Matt sang with a toy keyboard in his lap. “Everybody was attentive. All we could hear is them laughing while we’re playing,” Matt says.
While cute may not be their thing, fun definitely is. Whether they’re playing apartments or warehouses for sweaty, dancing indie kids or being pelted with food and having their limbs torn apart in their music videos, they’re always smiling. “We try to be honest and do things how we normally would,” Matt says. “If we’re smiley it’s ’cause we’re having fun. We have a ton of fun, so we smile.”
– Kristine Capua