Below, you can read our interview with Graveyard Club, and listen to their latest single, Diamond City (and other songs). Check out our full music review of Diamond City, HERE.
Q: Matthew & Michael, you guys started making music together back in 2013. How did you meet, and when was the moment you knew the music needed to be made together?
A: Matt: We are both teachers and used to work at the same school. After getting to know each other a little bit, we discovered we loved a lot of the same bands and both really liked the writing of Ray Bradbury. We decided to try some stuff together and things naturally evolved from there.
Q: How did you find Cory & Amanda? Were you looking, or was it totally organic/coincidence?
A: Matt: It was a good intersection of both, actually. Originally we weren’t sure if Graveyard Club was the type of project that would ever play live. After being offered a last minute spot opening for Cayucas, we were scrambling to find a drummer and a bass player. We spoke with a good friend of ours and he mentioned that one of his friends (Cory) heard our demos and liked them a lot and was a drummer, so it was perfect timing. We had our friend fill in on bass that first show and played with Amanda a couple weeks later – things immediately clicked and we became a more proper “band”.
Q: What musical acts have most profoundly inspired your own music?
A: Matt: Bright Eyes, New Order, the Cure, Dead Man’s Bones.
A: Mike: Radiohead, Bright Eyes, old Modest Mouse, Paul Simon
Q: If you could describe your sound in one single sentence, what would it be?
A: Matt: If New Order and 80’s Bruce Springsteen wrote songs together about sad ghosts.
Q: Minneapolis/St. Paul seems to be hemorrhaging great “electronic” styles of music right now…why do you think that is? What’s the deal? Is it the water up there?
A: Matt: haha, I think Minneapolis is somewhat isolated from the rest of the country. For others it might be a “fly over” place, but the local people here are really loyal to it. There is a lot of support for the arts here and a large community has developed because of it. For that reason there are a lot of bands, and cool stuff happening.
Q: When you are writing a song, what comes first, the music or the lyrics?
A: Matt: 95% of the time it’s the music. I might have fragments or parts of verses floating in my head, but it takes the music to help collect it all and organize it.
Q: What is your ultimate venue? Meaning: when you play this particular venue…you’ll know you’ve made it?
A: Matt: the Mainroom at First Avenue here in Minneapolis would be the top of my list. We’ve played the smaller stage (7th Street Entry) many times and loved it, but that Mainroom is still calling out to me.
A: Mike: Red Rocks in Denver
Q: In some unspecified amount of time, your musical career explodes in the best of ways. What does that look like for all of you?
A: Matt: A lot of high fives. We are all super passionate about doing this so that would be a dream come true for us.
Q: You get to collaborate with anyone of your choosing. Who is it?
A: Matt: Bernard Sumner
A: Mike: Roy Orbison
Q: Your favorite album of all time? (Yup, you gotta choose one. It’s not impossible…just pretend there’s a gun to your head!)
A: Matt: Bright Eyes “I’m Wide Awake its Morning”
A: Mike: Radiohead “Kid A”
Q: Your favorite song of all time? (Again, only one!)
A: Matt: Beach Boys “God Only Knows”
A: Mike: Paul Simon “Graceland”
Q: What would you like fans to know about you that they’re most likely unaware of?
A: Matt: I still watch Full House.
Listen to Diamond City (and other songs) by Graveyard Club:
<< Go to our full music review of: Diamond City by Graveyard Club
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