Rock My Monkey: Hello, you’re listening to the Rock My Monkey netcast on RockMyMonkey.com. Today we are speaking with Matt from the band, The Classic Crime. How are you doing today, Matt?
Matt MacDonald: I’m doing wonderful. Thanks for having me.
Rock My Monkey: To start things off, why don’t you tell me how the band got started, and how long has the band been together?
Matt MacDonald: Well, we’re all from Washington. A couple of the guys were in a band in high school in Wenatchee, Justin and Skip. They kind of moved across the mountains to go to school in the Shoreline Community College, which is in Shoreline, Washington. And they met our bass player there, and they started writing some new songs. They put an ad in The Stranger, which is the free weekly newspaper in Seattle, for a ‘rock vocalist wanted.’ I remember it. I answered that ad, and I’ve been with them ever since. That was February of 2003. So a little over four years.
Rock My Monkey: What song on this cd do you think has the chance of being your Ace Of Spades, the song that fans demand for decades to come?
Matt MacDonald: (laughs) I can only hope that we’re around for decades to come. But I don’t know. I really have no clue what’s good, because I’ve heard different things from different people. I’m my own worst critic. I don’t generally like to listen to anything that we record. So I don’t know. I’m thinking probably “Seattle”, because our Seattle fans can relate to it, so I imagine they might latch onto that. But just reading our comments on our forum and our MySpace, we’re getting mixed reviews as far as what people’s favorite song is. So I really have no idea.
Rock My Monkey: This new cd is acoustic, but what does the band sound like when you’re all plugged in?
Matt MacDonald: We’re a lot more high energy than the acoustic cd, for sure. I can’t really define the sound. We blend a lot of genres. We try not to stick to one. We try not to be too narrow with our music, because we have so many different influences and we like so many different bands, and I think it kind of shows in our music. We have very different songs. So I mean, yeah, we’re definitely more high energy. We’re more intense. Yeah. (chuckles) That’s about all I can say.
Rock My Monkey: Why go acoustic so soon in the band’s career?
Matt MacDonald: As we traveled the last two years, just touring the country, we kind of wrote songs on the road with acoustic guitars. We would listen to a lot of folk music, and listen to a lot of-we went through a phase where on the road we were just listening to a lot of really chill, really earthy, organic music, and it kind of really influenced our writing, I think. We don’t think that that’s the direction we’re going as a band musically. But we did like the songs grouped together. We just figured it would be a good idea to tide people over between full length records, to give them something kind of different and special. Something new as opposed to waiting one or two years and not really putting anything out. I think that’s a big mistake by a lot of labels is the big down time between records that bands have nowadays. If you look at bands like Led Zeppelin and classic rock bands, they came out with records sometimes every six months or a year. Bands that just went into the studio and became studio bands because they didn’t want to tour anymore back then, they put out new music all the time. That’s kind of the band that I would like to be, but obviously the industry demands that we tour a lot, because it’s not the same anymore. We’re always writing music, and we love to write new music and record new music, so hopefully we can just get as much out there as we can, and people in general will enjoy it.
Rock My Monkey: You guys recently had a show in Seattle to kind of celebrate the release of the cd. A show I tried to make, but ended up getting into a car wreck on the way there instead.
Matt MacDonald: Yeah. I heard about that.
Rock My Monkey: I heard somewhere that that was actually filmed for a DVD. Is that true?
Matt MacDonald: You know, I don’t think we actually filmed it. We actually recorded it for-we got 24 tracks, live tracks of all the songs, so we have audio, but not video. At least I don’t know of anybody that got video. I listened to some of the songs that were recorded, and hopefully we’ll be able to mix some of those down and cut out all the unnecessary parts and try to make something, something that we can slap on a cd or a future release, or something like that. It sounds pretty good, I guess. We’re just, hopefully we can use that show to give some added value to something we’re putting out later on.
Rock My Monkey: What do you think makes The Classic Crime unique in the alternative rock scene, and what do you guys offer fans that you feel no other band does today?
Matt MacDonald: Wow. (laughs) I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to answer that and still, you know-it’s kind of hard to answer that and not sound arrogant. I don’t want to put any other bands down. We’re in an industry where we have a lot of friends. I feel like we’re all striving towards the same thing. I think like what we said before, we’re a band that doesn’t try to stick to one genre, or try to kind of just be in one niche market. We try to broaden our accessibility with different styles in our songwriting. If you listen to our record from front to back, you’ll hear a lot of different songs, songs that could be from different bands in different genres. That’s kind of, that’s what we strive to do. People who listen to us, a wide variety of styles, and so they can-I think it’s a good thing, because you get, it’s more interesting for longer. You can’t get bored as easy with a band that’s going to give you a lot of different looks. I think that’s what makes us a little bit different from other bands.
Rock My Monkey: What do you think Matt Bayles brought to the cd as a producer that would not have been there otherwise?
Matt MacDonald: He’s very well known in the indie rock scene. The production on our last record, the full length Albatross, was very big rock. Big, big mainstream kind of sounding rock record. Matt brought a lot of natural, organic sounds to the EP that we wouldn’t have maybe have with a big rock producer, you know? Where they polish everything up and quantiz everything and tune everything so it’s perfect, and almost mechanical. We wanted to put out something that was organic that felt like you were watching it and listening to it live, and that’s what it sounded like, that we were actually there in the room when you played it. We’re really happy with the production because that’s kind of what came out. The drums are real, the vocals are not very tuned (chuckles), they sound kind of live. And we were happy to do that, because we hadn’t had an opportunity to do anything like that.
Rock My Monkey: How did you guys get the attention of Tooth And Nail Records, and why did you feel that they were the right label for this band?
Matt MacDonald: Well, we had management. They discovered us through a clothing sponsor that we had, and through PureVolume.com. We were an indie band back then that tried to pay for our promotion spots on sites. We were very ‘do it yourself.’ Our management found us and started shopping us to labels. We went down to L.A., and we had a huge showcase for a bunch of major labels, and we blew it (laughs) and our bass player kind of threw his bass across the stage accidentally because the strap broke. So we had to play three songs without bass, and it just sounded like garbage. It was kind of awkward. Needless to say we didn’t get signed to a major label. But Tooth And Nail was still coming to the table, and still excited about our band. They didn’t seem like they were afraid of their own shadow, or afraid of any of our faults. We were a very young band, and under experienced. We hadn’t toured a lot. They were more interested with developing our band into a band that was, that those faults weren’t apparent, and trying to make us more noteworthy, and not really wanting us to be everything more off the bat. So they were just really excited about our music, and really excited about adding us to their roster. It was one of those things where it made sense, because we don’t want to be a flash in the pan or a flavor of the week. We want to develop a career and develop a real relationship with our fan base, and one that’s lasting. I didn’t really get that vibe from any of the majors that were looking at us. We played some other showcases and it just didn’t work out. I mean, not to say that we wouldn’t have signed if they would have offered us a lot of money, but I’m really glad that they didn’t, because we’re really happy with Tooth And Nail and how they’ve continued to help us develop into a better band.
Rock My Monkey: There’s a slight bit of controversy, and you guys have actually made it very clear on your website that although some of the band members, although you are on a Christian label-a label that’s known to be a Christian label-and some of the band members are Christian, that you do not like the tag of being a ‘Christian band.’
Matt MacDonald: Yeah.
Rock My Monkey: For the people that may not go to your website but are only reading this interview, could you give like a brief reason as to what the difference between the two are? A band like, say, As I Lay Dying, who is on a non-Christian label and is very Christian, and you guys being on a ‘Christian label’ and not being a ‘Christian band.’
Matt MacDonald: Well, the people that are giving the label that title as Christian label have been, I think, ill-informed, or they’ve just come to that conclusion themselves. But if you ask the owner of the label, Brandon, Tooth And Nail, he’ll tell you, is a mainstream label. Are a lot of the bands, do they have Christian members? Yes, because Brandon himself is a Christian, and tends to have sympathy for people in that same, that have the same belief system. But a lot of the bands are not, and a lot of the bands don’t even have any Christian members, or anything like that. And I think there’s been a lot of controversy, and it’s mostly between the fans of the label, because Christian music fans are very exclusive in general, and they’ll only listen to music that is sold at a Christian bookstore, or comes from a Christian label. And they’ve labeled Tooth And Nail as this, so they’ll only purchase music from Tooth And Nail. And so when we say, ‘No, I’m sorry, we’re not that exclusive band. We’re a band for everybody,’ sometimes, yeah, there is some controversy with that, because they go ‘What do you mean you’re not a Christian band? You’re on Tooth And Nail,’ blah, blah, blah. And so we’ve had to fight kind of the stigma behind that, and a bit of what comes along with signing to Tooth And Nail, and the expectations people have for us, you know, as almost religious leaders. So we totally deny the label completely as far as ‘Christian band’ goes, because we’re not somebody’s religious leaders, we’re not-we’re not that. We’re human, and we actually don’t follow religion, per se, which is the act of following rules. And some of us are Christian. I was raised by a Christian family, but I have a very bad taste in my mouth as far as religion goes. So we feel like the Christian rock industry is very religious in that it’s very exclusive, and follows only certain rules. And we’re a band that’s very accepting of everybody and everything and we want to reach as many people as possible. That’s one reason. And another reason is we generally just don’t like Christian rock music, and so we don’t want to identify with it because we don’t think it’s good, in general. There are exceptions, but we don’t want to be named one of those exceptions. We want to be a band whose art can stand up against the mainstream and can be validated by mainstream critics or fans.
Rock My Monkey: Is there any plans for a video single for this release?
Matt MacDonald: Yes, actually. We’re going to do a video for the song, Seattle, and it’s actually a whole weird idea for the video. It’s going to be animated. We’re all going to be drawn in. It’s actually something that this media group offered us, and we thought it was a really cool idea, because not a lot of people do animated music videos. Yeah, they did a storyline for us, and we thought it was cool, so yeah, that’s in production right now, actually.
Rock My Monkey: Okay. Now is there going to be like a storyline, or is basically going to be a cartoon of you guys playing the acoustic show?
Matt MacDonald: No, it’s actually just going to be-it’s going to be a storyline a bit. It’s kind of like about a tidal wave that hits Seattle. I don’t know. It’s not really too specific. Once it comes out I think it’ll turn out to be a cool thing. I’m not actually sure exactly what’s going to go down yet, but I know that from what I’ve seen from the storyboards and everything, it should be really good.
Rock My Monkey: Any idea when people might be able to see that?
Matt MacDonald: I’m not sure. I think it’ll probably come out within the next couple months. I’d say probably by the end of December.
Rock My Monkey: Seeing as you have a song called Seattle, seeing as that’s going to be the first video single, and seeing as you’re from Seattle, what would you say is the best thing about Seattle?
Matt MacDonald: The best thing about Seattle. You know, there’s a lot of cool things. I think it’s the people. I think it’s probably our fans and our friends who’ve supported us for a long time. That’s what makes home, our home Seattle seem so cool, because home is where your heart is, I guess. So that would be the cheesy answer. (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: What are the chances of the band doing a full coast to coast tour of the U.S. anytime soon?
Matt MacDonald: We’re currently writing and demoing our new record that we’re trying to record. So basically we’re going to be busy working on that and trying to find a producer, and basically just trying to manufacture and put all the songs together that we want, and make it happen. So we’ll be off the road for at least until the new year, and then we’ll probably start touring right out, right out the get go from when we get done with the record and we’re out of the studio.
Rock My Monkey: So there’s not really going to be any touring done for the acoustic EP, then?
Matt MacDonald: As of right now, no. We’ve had some offers to do some things, but we really feel it’s important to focus on our next full length. We did a Seattle show. We might do some Northwest shows. I’m not really sure. We don’t really have anything set up to really tour this EP hard, and make it a priority. It was just kind of something that we wanted to do on the side that we felt was cool and we thought people would like it, but we’re really trying to focus on our next album right now.
Rock My Monkey: What is the most personal on the cd for you, and why?
Matt MacDonald: I would probably say the song called “Drink In My Hand”. I think a lot of people can relate to it. But I think it’s just about being on the road and being away from somebody you love and being apart for so long and kind of the mindset that you fall into when you’re just faced with the monotony of day to day life on the road, life in the van. You start to go a little bit crazy, and I don’t know, not necessarily be domesticated anymore. I think a lot of people can relate to that just being apart from loved ones, and how that feels. That’s probably the most personal song.
Rock My Monkey: Now is the time in the interview I like to call The Lightening Round. I’m going to name something in popular news and popular culture, and you sum up your thoughts in one short sentence. Ready?
Matt MacDonald: Okay.
Rock My Monkey: Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Matt MacDonald: You know, I didn’t watch the debates, so I don’t know much about-I watched the Democratic debates, and I don’t really know much about Ron Paul. I know a little bit about Giuliani, but can’t really say much about Ron Paul.
Rock My Monkey: The NBC show Heroes.
Matt MacDonald: Love it. I’m addicted. (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: The iPhone.
Matt MacDonald: I hope to get one for Christmas. It looks really awesome.
Rock My Monkey: President Bush.
Matt MacDonald: (laughs) One sentence? No, I think it’s time for a new president.
Rock My Monkey: Fox News.
Matt MacDonald: Fox News is entertaining to watch.
Rock My Monkey: Recording Industry Association Of America.
Matt MacDonald: They, my opinion of them is that they’re pretty, pretty pissed off at the way things are going. (laughs) And I feel kind of bad for them.
Rock My Monkey: I do have one final question. Every year we do choose one final question that we ask every single band from classic rock legends to the most extreme death metal bands at the end of every interview, partially to stump people, but also to see who wusses out and won’t answer. This year I’m asking people to look into their crystal ball and predict what political figure, world leader, musician, celebrity, anybody world wide famous, who do you think might die before the end of the year?
Matt MacDonald: Might die? You know, I’m going to have to go with-I can pick a musician, too, huh?
Rock My Monkey: Musician, world leader, anybody world wide famous.
Matt MacDonald: Who’s going to die? (laughs) Hillary Clinton.
Rock My Monkey: Interesting answer.
Matt MacDonald: I’m going to say by assassination.
Rock My Monkey: Wow. Interesting. I thank you very much for doing the interview. Anybody that’s listening to the audio version can go to RockMyMonkey.com for the full featured version with clickable links, readable text, and many more wonderful features. I’m asking people to click on the album cover above and below this interview to purchase Seattle Sessions by The Classic Crime. And I do hope to see you guys up on tour in the Northwest sometime soon, hopefully without a car wreck on the way. I thank you very much for your time.
Matt MacDonald: Thanks so much, Mark. Thanks for having me.
