liveDaily Interview:
Matt Thiessen of Relient K
Don Zulaica
- January 27, 2005
Relient K released its first self-titled album on Gotee records in 2000, and followed that debut with "The Anatomy of The Tongue in Cheek" in 2001 and "Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, But Three Do" in 2003.
"Mmhmm,"
the latest release from the Canton, OH quartet (guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist
Matt Thiessen, guitarist/vocalist Matt Hoopes, bassist Brian Pittman and drummer
Dave Douglas), features all sorts of interesting rock feels and dynamics,
channeling influences from punk bands like MXPX and songwriters like Ben Folds.
Thiessen, Hoopes, and Pittman grew up as causal friends, and attended the
same church. In the fall of 1997, during their sophomore/freshman year of
high school, they all began playing guitars for their youth group worship
on Wednesday nights. Eventually, the three formed Relient K with drummer Todd
Frascone, who was replaced by Dave Douglas in 2000.
Thiessen spoke with liveDaily while preparing for the start of a February tour.
liveDaily: Should I believe your press bio? Did you really want to be an astronaut before a rock star?
Matt Thiessen: [laughs] That was just one of those little lines. You know, how kids want to be a fireman, astronaut or something like that. Although, when I was six, I told my grandma that I wanted to be a scientist because I wanted to invent stuff. I kind of got over that pretty quick, although I think every Christmas from then until I was like 14, I got some sort of science-oriented Christmas present from my grandma. She never let that one go.
Did something in that translate over into being analytical as a songwriter, or taking up keyboards?
Probably. I like to create things, and when I do that, I guess I try to think things through quite a bit.
You were into a lot of punk bands early on, yet you started out playing keyboards.
In Relient K, I've always played guitar, though recently I've been able to break out a piano on stage. But yeah, I started playing piano when I was seven, and took lessons. I was actually into ragtime, Scott Joplin, "The Sting" soundtrack and all that stuff. When I was a sophomore in high school, I got into the whole pop/punk deal, and that became a major influence for our band. Other influences came in later--like Simon & Garfunkel, Ben Folds and The Beach Boys--that got mixed in with the pop-punk and rock stuff.
Did Ben Folds open a door for you? He's got a punk thing going, jumping on the piano, and then he can really play well and write songs.
Exactly. That's the one thing I can't do, is I can't play up to his level. But yeah, besides being able to play all this crazy stuff, he then writes a song like "Brick" that's just simple and melodic ... that was a huge influence. I've actually got a side project that's influenced by Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds, which I started before Relient K's first record came out.
Has that side project ever come out? What's it called?
It's always been in limbo, but I'm actually putting songs out on compilations and stuff. It's called Matt Thiessen and The Earthquakes, which is kind of a cheesy name because it's a solo project. The name is a joke.
And you picked up guitar later. Be honest, was that to meet girls?
No, it wasn't. I was 14 and busing tables at an Amish restaurant, and I was bored. I was like, "Man, I need a hobby. Guitar would be kind of cool." This was back during the whole grunge phase--Silverchair, Nirvana--and those songs were really easy to play, so I taught myself how to play guitar. And I was able to write songs on guitar a couple months later. That was a big catapult to start Relient K.
On "Mmhmm," "The One I'm Waiting For" is full of so many interesting and unorthodox changes and dynamics, where is that coming from?
It's weird, that song started out--and this is really dumb, but that "Hey, hey, hey!" in the beginning ... I wrote that before I wrote the song. And I thought, "I need something to go around that. So the verse progressions were fast, and I didn't want the rest of the song to go that way, so I went in a different directions for the pre-chorus and chorus. I guess, because I wasn't really thinking about it, I don't think of it as a weird arrangement.
How is "Mmhmm" different from your previous albums?
It's kind of cheesy and cliche to talk about "maturing as a band," but that's what happens when you grow up. The first three records were a gradual growing-up process, and figuring out what we do and don't like about our own music. For this fourth record, we had a trying year ... because we have the best job in the world, touring around the country playing music, but at the same time there were some things going on that weren't the best experiences we could have hoped for. So, all of that stuff, going into recording, made it more of a serious record for us.
What are the tour plans now?
On February 4 we're going out with May and Name Taken for about a month. Then we're working on trying to get together with some other bands during the spring, then we'll do some Warped Tour dates in the summer, and maybe some other festivals.
[Note: The following tour itinerary has been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.
February
2005
5 - Orlando, FL - The Social
6 - Tampa, FL - The Masquerade
8 - Birmingham, AL - B & A Warehouse
9 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theatre
11 - Houston, TX - Meridian
12 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
13 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
14 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club
15 - Oklahoma City, OK - Coca Cola Bricktown Event Center
17 - Scottsdale, AZ - The Venue
18 - Tucson, AZ - The Rock
19 - Hollywood, CA - The Avalon
20 - San Diego, CA - Ground Zero
24 - Las Vegas, NV - Jillian's
25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
26 - Denver, CO - Aztlan Theatre