Andy's Newsletter ✌️ “We Weren’t Trying to Be a Band.”
YR WEEKEND STARTS NOW
When was the first time you heard Matt and Kim?
Was it in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part with their song “Come Together Now”? Or maybe it was their song “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare” in the pilot episode of the TV sitcom Community. Or was it their song “Daylight” — also in Community, and 90210, and Skins. Or maybe you heard “Daylight” in the 2009 Bacardi commercial or the opening credits of the movie Dirty Grandpa?
I’m not going to be able to list the full degree of licensing success this band has had but I will say this: They deserve it, all of it. Honestly, I’ve never wanted success so badly for a band — I love them so much!
I’ve been a fan of Matt and Kim (aka Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino) for 20 years now, since the early days back when we were students at Pratt Institute, which was why I was so excited to interview them for Pratt’s alumni magazine, where I initially describe the band like this:
“A fun and frenetic pop punk band whose anthemic melodies energized and inspired young, sweaty crowds in DIY venues all around Pratt. When performing, their exuberance was palpable, Kim furiously drumming and grinning while Matt smashed chords on a keyboard singing at the top of his lungs.”
Read my interview with Matt and Kim here.
Is this is the kind of thing I may paywall in the future? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The first time I heard Matt and Kim, man, I can’t quite recall, but it was most definitely at a Todd P show and most likely at a loft party somewhere on the Southside of Williamsburg. But what I do very much remember about their show is how energetic and engaging they were and thinking, wow, these two are really going for it!
Their songs were fast and furious with barely a breath between them. And that was kind of rare to see.
This was 2004 and it wasn’t exactly cool to have fun or, like, be genuinely into something. Lots of indie pop and cooler than cool vibes, ya know? So to see Matt and Kim thrashing through a song they wrote earlier that day for the fun of it was refreshing, inspiring, and, yeah, super super fun.
A quick reminder of 2004 vibes?
The Arcade Fire released Funeral, that salty popsicle of a lullaby… Joanna Newsom’s The Milk-Eyed Mender, Rejoicing in the Hands by Devendra Banhart, Green Day’s American Idiot… all released in the year of our Lord, 2004. In a word, the vibes were low key. Indie rock, baroque pop.
I mean, c’mon: “Wake Me When September Ends” has nearly 1 billion streams on Spotify and if the popularity of that song tells us anything about 2004 it’s this: even Green Day, who Rolling Stone once compared to Bevis and Butthead, were feeling soft, consolable, pumpkin spicey...
But wait, you say — what about Usher? Yes, thank you. 2024 also gave us Usher’s “Yeah!” with Ludacris and Lil Jon on the album Confessions, which I’d say inspired Matt and Kim a helluva lot more than any of those other limp, crybaby albums.
But I digress.
Let’s get back to the now! Read my interview with Matt and Kim and you’ll learn that they've started a new project currently called PG-14. And I’m excited to see what’s next!
They’ve done so much and had such an incredible journey with their fans… For me, their third studio album, Sidewalks, holds a very special place in my heart. Some of those songs still give me the tingles — getting teary-eyed walking through the streets of Williamsburg blasting “Silver Tiles” as loud as my headphones will go.
The build of the drums, the kick holding the beat, booming and booming, then Matt’s vocals… Drum fills between stanzas, sticks on the tambourine, an anthemic chorus that anyone and everyone sings along to, swirling, rising keys over bubbling synths… a vibe that I think best and truly captures the radical, emotional wetlands of youth when feelings are bigger than ever, some nights last forever, and there’s seemingly nothing you can’t accomplish with a little help from your friends.
If you do nothing else with Matt and Kim, just watch this damn video, ok?
It’s a time capsule, a peak through the curtain at a time before social media and pretense: No bullshit, no spectators, no shame. In some absurdly well-lit venue, the crowd surrounds the band singing and dancing, wide-eyed with shit-eating grins, unabashedly enjoying this moment, this song, as profound as it is simple. There’s a shared energy that’s nothing short of primal or primitive, which is to say, pure and wholesome.
At some point Matt breaks rock star character to acknowledge the moment, and share what everyone else is thinking: “This is fucking incredible!”
And it is incredible, a collective joy cooked up from the songs of this infectiously fun duo who have been so genuine in their music and performances that they couldn’t even come up with a name for their band, because it’s not about that. It’s not about posturing and fitting in. It’s not about “starting” a band.
It’s about having fun with your friends, singing about what matters to you and banging on drums because it feels good. What I’ve learned from Matt and Kim is really quite simple: do you. Follow your instincts and discover your own joy.
Maybe you’re familiar with the quote by the American restaurateur and author Will Guidara? “People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
That’s the secret to success. That’s what really matters. That’s Matt and Kim.
Today’s curated playlist ✌️ Andy’s 5 favorite Matt and Kim songs
Pics or it didn't happen
Here I am in full on-the-road party mode with Kim and Matt somewhere near Austin, Texas on one of those SXSW runs — I’m guessing 2008? But goddamn I love this pic by my dear friend Tod Seelie.
Time for a shout out!
Three things you should know about my friend Tod Seelie:
He bike kill’d this year, and every year.
He’s got a fantastic photography book called BRIGHT NIGHTS that makes an excellent gift for any fun-loving, creative New Yorker.
And if you’re looking for a bit more on Tod and his photography, listen to my interview with him on KPISS.fm
Solid. You should write about the tour going to Austin.
Good stuff. Love Matt and Kim!