By Delia Paunescu
As the Gym Class Heroes were preparing for their show at the Adams Playhouse, drummer Matt McGinley, 25, who along with front man Travis McCoy founded the band in his freshman year of high school, took time away to chat with the B Section.
The Chronicle: Hey there, Matt. How’s it going?
It’s fun being at a college. I feel like I can do college things. My friend Steve came out on tour with us and we played frisbe yesterday and it really made me feel like I was getting the college experience. Earlier today me and my drum tech Patrick we did shot guns with the beer. I’d never done one before and we did it today. I did it for the first time at college so it was really cool.
D: So I take it you didn’t go to college?MM: No I did. I should rewind. I started Gym class heroes when I was in ninth grade with travis and then after I graduated high school I went to college. I went for music but I stopped.That’s Patrick, that’s the guy I did the shotguns with. I was telling her about the shotguns earlier.But I stopped that. I kept doing Gym Class while I was going to college. I went to Oneonta State. Right around the time we recorded “The Papercut Chronicles” which was I guess our first big release, we had the opportunity to get signed to Fueled By Ramen and I kinda had to either get signed or not get signed. So I chose to drop out of school and get signed. And that was good.I remember my mom was really like ‘Why are you doing this?’ but I really felt like we had something. I don’t think either Travis or I were ever really fixated on success for the band. But we always really believed in the music we were doing and we felt like we were making honest music our friends liked first and foremost. That gave us the confirmation that what we were doing was acceptable
D: How does your mom feel today?MM: My mom’s excited – more excited than I am about half the stuff that’s happening. For me, winning awards and getting that sort of gratification is cool but I would much rather play shows than win awards. But for my mom, on the other hand, when she sees all this stuff or reads about it in the paper or online or her friends at work tell her about how they saw her son on the Jay Leno show or conan or whatever, I think it’s really cool for her. I’m excited about that but not as excited as she is. I think she feels that sometimes you just have to let your kid do what they’re gonna do and hope it turns out for the best, and I think that in this situation it did.
D: Well congratulations on your VMA win.MM: Thanks, it’s pretty cool
D: You talked about how you liked playing live shows better. Can you tell me why, or what you get out of it?MM: It’s a really interesting lifestyle that we all lead now and it’s sort of in an accidental kind of was because I’m a musician and I’m a good musician but I’m not a model. We do photo shoots all the time. I can play my drums for 18,000 people and feel so comfortable but when it comes to having to get up and give a presentation in class for like 10 people I get mad nervous. I think that we wear a lot of different hats in the career that we’re doing. For me as a performer, playing shows is what I am most comfortable doing. We have been playing together for so long and I feel like every show gets better. I’m sure that tonight we’ll sound better tonight than we did last night because there are just things that you hear and you tightened up screws every night. For us, playing together for so long, we’ve gotten really comfortable on stage.
D: Obviously you guys have had amazing success. I was looking at your tour schedule and you’ve played all over the world at this point,, and after you finish this you’re going on to a new tour. How is that going, how do you feel about it? Obviously you started in the band when you were in ninth grade.MM: It’s definitely come a long ways, maybe farther than any of us would have imagined but we mainly took every thing we did one step at a time. Even when we first signed to a label we were getting attention from not only small labels like Fueled by Ramen but also bigger major labels. It almost feels like the fork in the road of our career. We could have said “we can do this route or do this route to either instant stardom, or possibly success, or possibly failure.” More than we wanted overnight success and instant gratification, we wanted to build our career and develop ourselves as artists. We wanted to get in a van and just go out on tour and that was something that was important to us. I think that taking that road allowed us to take everything slowly. So by the time that we’re being handed a Moon Man there’s all these other steps that we’ve climbed to get to that point. I feel we definitely made a good decision going with the team that we went with in our early days.
D: Can you tell me a little bit about Fueled by Ramen and the impact that it has had on you?MM: Fueled by Ramen always appealed to us. Out of all the labels that were scouting us, that label appealed to us the most. It was odd because for us at the time it was like, ‘What are we doing on this label?’ We were like the black sheep in the midst of all these rock bands. For us it was a similar mindset and we had the same ethic as a lot of these bands that just wanted to get in a van and go out on tour and play small shows and build with their fans all across the country. That was where us and Fall Out Boy really connected. Especially Fall Out Boy is a band we owe a lot to because they were like big brothers in that aspect and they showed us the ropes of touring and how to do things and how to not do things. The thing about Fueled By Ramen is that whereas some labels will find a formula that works and grab up a bunch of bands that sound like that and just see what sticks. Fueled By Ramen is a label that is pretty picky about who they sign. So instead of having a long list of bands on the label, they have maybe 10 or 15 bands on the label and at the time they had like five active bands- it was awesome- and we felt that we could get a lot of attention at that label and not get overlooked. When you sign with that label, it’s almost like instant comradery. We’ve been fortunate to have clicked with a lot of the bands that are on the label as well, so it’s been a really family-like atmosphere for us. Now we’re signed by Atlantic Records and it’s bigger, but I still consider Fueled By Ramen as our record label. Even though we kinda jumped into the major leagues we’re still just as much a part of Fueled By Ramen than we ever were.
D: I wanted to talk to you about your second album “As Cruel as School Children.” I’ve noticed a slight difference in style as compared to “The Papercut Chronicles.” How did you go into doing “As Cruel as School Children” as opposed to “The Papercut Chronicles”?MM: Basically we were just like ‘What is going to make us insanely popular?’ And then we just did that.
D: And it worked.MM: And it worked. Nah I’m just kidding. I think that “As Cruel by School Children” was awesome for us because even “The Papercut Chronicles” was out on Fueled By Ramen and our merch guy actually loaned us $500 to go record that in a local studio and we did it when we were all broke school kids and shit. So when it came to “As Cruel by School Children” it was like ‘We can finally go into a real studio and spend a decent amount of time and have producers.’For us that was really our first chance to making a big-leagues kind of album and it was our first chance at making a really polished album. The sound is a result of having a lot more time to spend on the product and on making really good music and having people to work with to bounce ideas off of. Patrick was really a big hand in that album as was Sam Holander, Dave Cats and a couple of other producers, and it was really cool for us. Instead of spending four days on it we got to spend three months on it. It’s a much bigger sonically sounding album. That being said, we’re all really eager to put out a new album and the stuff that we’re writing wouldn’t be able to go on “As Cruel as School Children”; it doesn’t fit that mold. What we want to do with every record is go in a different direction. We don’t want to make the same album twice. A lot of band that find out that something works will stick to that formula, stick to that comfort zone. But for us, we’ve never really had that comfort zone. With the music we do, its so ambiguous and all over the place that we never really got boxed in to this certain category. For us I feel that we could put out an album that’s one style and people wouldn’t be surprised. I feel like people don’t really know what to expect from us so we kinda use that to our advantage. I’m really excited for the new stuff though. It’s going to be a lot more organic, a lot more natural.
D: Are we going to hear some new stuff tonight?MM: No, you are not. You are not allowed to.
D: Ok, I just wanted to check. I wanted to know how you chose Supertramp and “You don’t have to take your clothes off.” How did that creative process come about?MM: The thing about “Cupid’s Chokehold” was that it was never really intended to be a single at all. That song we wrote in our friend’s bedroom and it was super spontaneous. We recorded it at this really low budget studio and we never really intended it to be a hit. “Clothes Off” on the other hand was a song that we were really feeling that song and thought it could be awesome. So we had already slayed it to drop it as the second single after “The Queen and I.” But in between “The Queen and I” and “Clothes Off” “Cupid’s Chokehold” kind of emerged its greasy little head and blew up really big in a couple of months. That was a little bit weird for us because people all of a sudden started wanting to hear it on late shows. I can remember when we were doing Jimmy Kimmel and we planned on playing “The Queen and I” and they said ‘You guys are playing “Cupid’s” now.’ I thought that’s from the old album why are we playing that? And we were like no. and so we didn’t. We went ahead and played “The Queen and I.” But we kind of realized that we were gonna have to make the decision to either have this thing blow up unofficially or put our own stamp on it and release it with the video. And so that’s what we did. That song kind of happened as an accident. We were just listening to it at rehearsal and one of us jumped in and we were rearranging it and …. I don’t know what I was talking about. I don’t think I was going anywhere.
D: I noticed that that happened with “Hey There Delilah” which came off the Plain White T’s old album. How do bands feel about that when fans take control?MM: I love it. Honestly, I feel like it’s the most honest way for a hit song to come about. Because there’s so many artists that can put out an album that will dominate the radio even though that song might not be quality at all it’s riding on the fact and it’s so and so that’s releasing the song. When a song blows up because kids are demanding that it be played, I feel like that’s the most honest way for a song to blossom. As far as “Cupid’s” being an old song, at first we were like ‘No, we want to push the new stuff’ but at the end of the day it’s just another Gym Class Heroes’ song. I don’t care if somebody likes the first song we ever wrote. If they like that song and they get something out of it I think it’d be selfish to try and hinder a song’s success or shun something just because it’s not the most current.
D: What do you think you would be doing if Gym Class Heroes hadn’t become what it is right now?MM: I think I’d probably be painting fences of begging spare change off people. I never thought that I was cut out for anything other than music so I really think that if I wasn’t doing something in this band, I’d probably be doing maybe something in the music industry. But this band being something that I’m part of creating feels a lot more gratifying. In the grand scope of my life, I think I can be a lot more happy doing this than working for someone else’s dream. This is my dream and it feels good to be a part of establishing its success.
D: Tell me where Gym Class Heroes are going?MM: We’re going to Pace University. No, I think we’re going somewhere and we’re gonna go there in a big way.
D: Where would you like it to go?MM: I’m pretty sure I can speak for all of us when I say we really want to have longevity and have a long-term career. Not something like Korn who are still releasing albums and it’s like ‘Maybe you should have stopped two or three albums ago. I don’t know.’ But for us, if we ever start releasing garbage, I just want someone to let us know and we will stop. But I look at artists like Billy Joel and Paul Simon and even current artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers and that makes me excited to be 10 albums deep in material and still putting out progressively interesting music. I really think if any band can do it, Gym Class Herpes can do it.
D: what are you listening to right now that you’re really responding to?MM: it’s cool that we’re on Long Island cause I’m listening to Bayside a little bit, who are from Long Island. I’m listening to the Amy Winehouse record a little bit. It’s good. Might be working with her producer on a couple tracks. Maybe. I’m listening to The Format. Some of their stuff is really good. I’m also listening to Speech, who is from “Arrested Development” who is also on our album on the song “Writer’s Block.” He has a full-length album that’s really good. Actually, the same producer, Sam Hollander, who did our record did his record. It’s really really awesome. Hip hop today is so serious and angry and arrrrgh and so beat-driven but Speech is one of those dudes that’s still having fun with and you can actually listen to it with a girl and still be happy. It’s not like 50 cent and Ja Rule.
D: How do you like being at Hofstra?MM: Well, the shotgunning was cool. I assumed that there would be a horticulture major at this school because there’s so many gardens and flowers. It seems like the type of place I wish I’d went to college at because I feel like it’s nice.
D: What is one thing that you really want your fans to know?MM: I think our fans are really cool. I think they get it for the most part. They get a lot of the humor. One thing I’ve always liked about Travis’ lyrics since the beginning is that he doesn’t really take himself too seriously. There’s a lot of elements of humor in the music and I feel like kids get that. I feel like the type of kids that come to the show are there to have fun and have a good time. And there’s no animosity in the crowd.I feel like that’s the most beautiful thing about our fan base is that you can go to the balcony and look down at the crowd and not really see a scene or a type of gym class fan. You can see some 27-year-old straight thug next to a 16-year-old emo chick. I feel like that’s a beautiful thing, that we can be a part of the machine that brings people together like that. It’s an honest way of bringing people together. I just want our fans to know that I love ’em. Yep.
D: What is one really shameless thing you love about being as popular as you are?MM: you get free stuff…a lot of it. The thing about that is that it’s weird because the more successful you get and the more money you get, the less you have to pay for things. And this is true. It’s what’s wrong with the world and it’s not fair but it’s true. Because when we did the VMA’s, they give you gift bags and my dreams came true. My dreams all came true when I opened their gift bag. D: What was in there?MM: a several day vacation back to the Palms casino. I wish it could have been somewhere else because I don’t really like Las Vegas. Rock Band, which is like Guitar Hero, but with a whole band. They give you drums, bass, guitar, turntables. A bunch of jewelry, some weird male products like to take care of yourself-which is important. Lots of clothes and other sweet stuff. The amount of stuff they give you is so expensive that you’re supposed to claim it on you income tax too. It’s kind of ridiculous.
D: How were the VMA’s for you?MM: It was strange. I’ve never been to a VMA’s before so
I don’t really have a good sense of comparison but it was kind of confusing. We did the performance and we did the ceremonies and the red carpets.
D: But you were in the suites.MM: Yeah. A part of me longed for the more traditional format. I’ve been watching the VMA’s [for a long time]. I can remember Kurt Cobain playing and a lot of really pretty historic performances were on there and I kind of wanted to be part of that. And in a way I still think I was but it was definitely confusing. When I watched [them] later I was just like ‘Oh, she was there?’ and then the whole Kid Rock-Tommy Lee BS, I had no idea that went on.
D: Cause you guys weren’t in the main ballroom.MM: No, we shared a suite with our label-mates like Panic [at the Disco] and Fall Out Boy. But I think we gave a great performance. I feel like out of all of our televised performances, that was our best in terms of the sound quality. So I do think that MTV did do a couple of things right. And they definitelydid right by giving us a Moon Man.It was funny because weeks and weeks before I didn’t want to get too excited. I mean, I thought we might have a chance in the category that Fall Out Boy weren’t in. That category I was always like, ‘Yeah, whatever. We ain’t got an icicles chance in hell in that one.’ Even several weeks earlier, we were doing an MTV Japan interview and they asked ‘Are you going to the VMA’s?’ and Travis was like, ‘Of course we’re going to the VMA’s. We’ve got to pick up our Moon Man.” And I just thought that was really funny cause he called it like a month before it happened. So we had a really good time at the VMA’s.Did you watch them?
D: Yeah, I watch them every year.MM: Did you get excited when we won?D: You know what? I’m not even saying this because it’s you, but I really thought you were going to win. I didn’t think anyone else had a chance.MM: Really? You didn’t think Amy Winehouse had a chance?D: I mean…not really.
D: Is there anything else that I didn’t ask that you would like to put out there?MM: You know I would but I just wouldn’t know what to say. That’s a question that we get asked every interview and we all generally look at each other like, ‘You got anything?’ ‘Nah, me neither.’
D: You know what, it’s a journalism staple.MM: It is. I bet it makes you feel like a journalist. Not that you’re not.
D: You know what made me feel like a journalist? Buying that [voice recorder].MM: Oh yeah. This thing is nice. Everyone should buy this model if they want to be taken seriously. Half the people we do interviews with don’t have anything nearly this nice.
D: I’ll have them put it in the newsletter.Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. Have a great show tonight.
Gym Class Heroes’ drummer Matt McGinley loves fans, Hofstra and free stuff. (buzznet.com)