intelligent electronic rock from Colorado (and relocating to Boston)
read the interview // visit their myspace
Matt kicks a soccer ball back and forth with a young boy whose name I can't remember, and Isom later signs the ball for the boy's friend, whose name I can remember. They look about the age I was when I was still into Neopets, which admittedly gives you sort of a wide age range to work with. They ask Isom if they can have his phone number, and Isom says sure. "Really?" "Yeah! Really!" The two admire all the bands' signatures they've collected on their soccer ball and hang out for awhile watching while I wield a tape recorder in Matt's and Isom's faces.
Can I just tell you how nervous I was for this interview? The answer is "incredibly." The last time I did a live interview with a band, the tape recorder broke down in the middle (actually, it was, like, seven minutes from the beginning) and I didn't even notice until I got home. Well, that was the second-to-last time, because we ended up just doing another interview. So with Matt and Isom, a band I enjoy and respect incredibly but had never met before, rosaries were literally said in the name of this interview. And when I called Isom and found out they were running late because of "maaaajor gear issues," a voice on my left shoulder whispered memories of the sonic melt of the tape recorder all over again.
Of course, what happened with The Color of Money's interview ended up being a blessing, because what was an interview with two of the members became an interview with all four, and the timing and content was probably a million times better than the first time around. And I don't know how we would have done this interview with Matt and Isom if we'd actually done it the hour before the show. First of all, it was just long. Plus, I had the chance to actually watch their set first, and then just hang out and talk with Isom for a little during the show. And then of course, when someone is wiped out tired and relying on cans of Monster to keep lucid, he will say anything. ;-)
"(Matt) This is a terrible analogy--" "(Isom) You're an analogy king, dude." "I'm really good at analogies. Like really good. Don't use this one though. So, it's like being married, but not ever having sex." "What?" "That's a terrible analogy. And don't use it. But let me explain. If you have that relationship with someone but never have that next step of meaningful, I think that's the difference." "But it's like the sex came when the song came." "Don't put that in there. Put it in, I don't care. But that just has the next step of meaningfulness to it. Instead of being like, 'Let's hug.'"
"(Isom) We want people to have Thanksgiving dinner at our shows." "(Matt) Literally have Thanksgiving dinner." "Like, we have our own stains on our sofa and our own moldy cottage cheese but it's, like, ours, you know? We're still working towards that too, but that's what we want to do."
"Matt has looked, like, twenty-three since he was about fourteen, and he looks pretty much like exactly the same. And I was, like, this [gestures] tall." "You still look like that."
"(Isom) August Jesus Depression...well you get a milkshake, a Volkswagen and, uh..." "(Matt) You find some butter, and you get some whipped mayonnaise..."
After I fully transcribed the tape, it came out to be 5,062 words. I'm lucky, because I've gotten to read (and hear and see) every last bit of that. For the rest of you, I hope I've picked the right parts to show you. Or maybe someday you can ask me to see the rest. Or, even better, you can come to one of Matt and Isom's shows (Wichita, Texas, California, Denver, Colorado Springs coming up this month), watch them play, and then talk to them yourself. You will definitely enjoy it.
"We want to hang out with you guys. I want to get to know you guys as much as possible because we're the same kind of people that come to our shows and we just want to be friends with them. Be a big family. That's what we want to be."
By the way, next November, I am willing to bring the yams and pie if anyone else can take care of the t[of]urkey.
Can I just tell you how nervous I was for this interview? The answer is "incredibly." The last time I did a live interview with a band, the tape recorder broke down in the middle (actually, it was, like, seven minutes from the beginning) and I didn't even notice until I got home. Well, that was the second-to-last time, because we ended up just doing another interview. So with Matt and Isom, a band I enjoy and respect incredibly but had never met before, rosaries were literally said in the name of this interview. And when I called Isom and found out they were running late because of "maaaajor gear issues," a voice on my left shoulder whispered memories of the sonic melt of the tape recorder all over again.
Of course, what happened with The Color of Money's interview ended up being a blessing, because what was an interview with two of the members became an interview with all four, and the timing and content was probably a million times better than the first time around. And I don't know how we would have done this interview with Matt and Isom if we'd actually done it the hour before the show. First of all, it was just long. Plus, I had the chance to actually watch their set first, and then just hang out and talk with Isom for a little during the show. And then of course, when someone is wiped out tired and relying on cans of Monster to keep lucid, he will say anything. ;-)
"(Matt) This is a terrible analogy--" "(Isom) You're an analogy king, dude." "I'm really good at analogies. Like really good. Don't use this one though. So, it's like being married, but not ever having sex." "What?" "That's a terrible analogy. And don't use it. But let me explain. If you have that relationship with someone but never have that next step of meaningful, I think that's the difference." "But it's like the sex came when the song came." "Don't put that in there. Put it in, I don't care. But that just has the next step of meaningfulness to it. Instead of being like, 'Let's hug.'"
"(Isom) We want people to have Thanksgiving dinner at our shows." "(Matt) Literally have Thanksgiving dinner." "Like, we have our own stains on our sofa and our own moldy cottage cheese but it's, like, ours, you know? We're still working towards that too, but that's what we want to do."
"Matt has looked, like, twenty-three since he was about fourteen, and he looks pretty much like exactly the same. And I was, like, this [gestures] tall." "You still look like that."
"(Isom) August Jesus Depression...well you get a milkshake, a Volkswagen and, uh..." "(Matt) You find some butter, and you get some whipped mayonnaise..."
After I fully transcribed the tape, it came out to be 5,062 words. I'm lucky, because I've gotten to read (and hear and see) every last bit of that. For the rest of you, I hope I've picked the right parts to show you. Or maybe someday you can ask me to see the rest. Or, even better, you can come to one of Matt and Isom's shows (Wichita, Texas, California, Denver, Colorado Springs coming up this month), watch them play, and then talk to them yourself. You will definitely enjoy it.
"We want to hang out with you guys. I want to get to know you guys as much as possible because we're the same kind of people that come to our shows and we just want to be friends with them. Be a big family. That's what we want to be."
By the way, next November, I am willing to bring the yams and pie if anyone else can take care of the t[of]urkey.
