About a week before their show in Richmond this past October, Matt And Kim's Matt Johnson awoke with a hangover in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rather than bemoaning his physical distress, though, he celebrated the glorious hangover, achieved through a night of spectacular adventures. There is a delightful optimism in the way he refers to these events. In many ways, this insight pertains to the musical approach taken by Matt and Kim. Johnson and collaborator Kim Schifino have acquired a significant level of success. The duo, which hails from Brooklyn, has widened their audience greatly while still appealing to the stalwarts of the independent music community. Along the way, Matt and Kim have remained determined to maintain a level of integrity that is as DIY-centric today as it was when they first started in 2004.
Matt And Kim have been known to perform in unconventional spaces. Whether that happens to be art spaces, basements or other non-venues, this tendency has proven vital to the relationship the group developed with the city of Richmond. On one of Matt and Kim’s first tours in 2006, they performed at the Oregon Hill basement venue The Bonezone. It was an unassuming Monday and the two had no clue as to what would come of the show. To their surprise, the audience’s eager anticipation was contagious, and Johnson would forever associate the city’s energy with constantly being ready to “get wild.” Brass Monkeys were poured down the throats of both, spilling across their instruments. In between songs, Johnson and Schifino shared glances of ecstatic appreciation. Johnson remembers the night as one of the greatest the duo has shared in any town on all of the tours they have embarked on.
Since then, Matt and Kim have returned to Richmond to perform at the Bike Lot, as part of the Slaughterama festivities. During their set, the group exuded a new level of achievement since their last visit. The choir of voices rising from the pavement only excited the band more and more. It proved to be one of the more vigorous and entertaining sets to have taken place during a Slaughterama event over the years of its existence. The moment was yet another testament to the group’s free-spirited dynamic, making the party happen regardless of the venue and the expectation.
After these performances, the group prepared to release a follow-up to their self-titled debut. A lot was at stake considering the positive responses to singles “Yea Yeah” and “5K.” Johnson and Schifino departed for Johnson's childhood home in Vermont to record Grand. The drive behind each tune was both exciting and terrifying for them. Freedom to incorporate new instrumentation into their sound was exhilarating for Johnson, but constantly raised questions of how the two could recreate any of it in a live environment. Johnson eventually had to decide that it was best to let the songs be what they were going to be and figure out the live dynamics when it came time to worry about it.
The tour leading up to the release of Grand put Matt and Kim into bigger venues than they were accustomed. Johnson revealed that these rooms terrified the two of them. There was always a sense of reckless abandon in the basements of houses and art spaces, but their initial shows in these larger places were difficult for them. “The turnouts were lower than expected and the response wasn’t there yet. After years spent in what could be considered non-venues, it challenged us to retain the feel of the past while acknowledging new hurdles in front us,” Johnson recalls. It made the release of Grand appear to be much more of a make or break release than originally perceived.
That’s when the music video for “Daylight” was released, and everything changed for the group. The childlike exuberance of “Daylight” was in many ways what the mainstream needed. While taking cues from their unapologetic love of Top 40 Hip-Hop, and continuing to stay true to what made listeners fall in love with them on earlier tracks, Matt And Kim created what would be the first of many successes for them.
“Daylight” continued to prosper, but the bigger splash was made with the music video for Grand's second single, “Lessons Learned.” The video was a further testament to their creative freedom. At the start of the video, the two climb out of a van in the midst of Times Square. As they walk through the New York City landmark in the middle of February, they begin to strip out of their clothes. At the moment when they are completely naked, Matt and Kim stare at the possibilities around them. Their liberation is perfectly portrayed in this instance.
The music video received critical accolades as well as awards from MTV. Along with these successes, the two considered offers from major labels. However, Matt and Kim didn’t see the point of jumping up to a major. They had accomplished a tremendous amount on Fader Magazine’s record label. Johnson remarks that being a part of Fader Label allows them to be who they want to be, rather than adhering to someone else’s wishes of who they think they should be. Besides, what are the chances that a major label would let a band release a video like the one for “Lessons Learned” without a lot of red tape to get around?
After all was said and done, the story takes us to Matt and Kim’s new record, Sidewalks. After everything that had happened to them, the next studio experience was an intimidating as well as exciting prospect. “As opposed to just recording in my bedroom, we would actually be able to go into a recording studio and really set aside time to accomplish what we wanted to do,” Johnson said of the first few sessions that would become Sidewalks. Matt and Kim had decided on working with Ben Allen for the new release. Allen’s production credits include Animal Collective’s insanely popular Merriweather Post Pavillion, as well as Deerhunter’s recent release
Comparing the sparse arrangements of their self-titled release to the way Matt and Kim branched out on Grand, it seemed clear that the evolution of instrumentation would continue on Sidewalks. “In writing these songs, we wanted to continue expanding on certain things,” Johnson recalled. "It wouldn’t make sense to not keep pushing things as far as new instruments were concerned. If we had let that get in the way, I doubt Grand would have been rewarding as it was." The band incorporated live strings and horn sections into several of the tracks on Sidewalks, and worked on developing an atmospheric feel to their tunes.
This can also be seen in the way their lyrics are littered with stream of consciousness imagery. In “Cameras,” Johnson recounts a scenic route by describing red hoodies, black pants and brown backpacks, with the East River reflecting these adventures. Johnson prides the group on embarking into the unknown with a deft sense of intrigue leading their paths. “We don’t write love or breakup songs," he says. "I feel like enough people do that already, and what’s the point really? I try to focus on the positive, and maybe that’s the reccurring theme of a Matt and Kim record. We just want to focus on where we came from. And that may lend itself more to a stream of consciousness feel.”
A noticeable change in their sound on Sidewalks is the group's comfort with songs in a slower tempo. This may come as an unexpected departure, but it suits the context of this new material. Since Grand, Matt and Kim have traveled the world and accumulated mounds of new experiences. In all of the moments spread out across the globe, they found comfort expressing themselves in ways they may have not considered on their first two releases. This is seen in cuts like “Where You’re Coming From” and “Good for Great.” In each track, Johnson establishes a nuanced understanding in his keyboarding prowess that compliments Schifino’s organic and electronic drumming. The two components help support Johnson’s confident melody and approach to lyricism. The final product is yet another collection of Matt and Kim recordings that are sure to please.
They even decided to include a new recording of their classic tune “Silver Tiles” on Sidewalks. This decision seems like an even greater acknowledgement of their DIY aesthetic. “Silver Tiles” often acted as a closing anthem for the band’s early sets. Whether that was in a basement like the Bonezone or a showcase at South By Southwest, this song was the last musical taste left to linger with audiences for years. With the group’s growing success and a highly anticipated new album on its way, it's appropriate to imagine the songs on Sidewalks becoming anthems for new and old fans alike.
As the interview began, Johnson made quite the declaration in regards to Matt and Kim. “Matt and Kim are going to be whatever the hell Matt and Kim want to be.” At the end of every day, it's clear that they accomplish this victoriously.