Interview with Matt Graham

The following is a transcript from an interview with Matt Graham, the lead bassist and singer of MattstaGraham. The band, based in Tucson, Arizona, is on the last leg of their Canadian Tour- opening for punk-rock classics "The Buzzcocks" and "The Descendants."  

Yellow Paint, the band's third and most recent LP, brings all of the best qualities of their past works together with a fresh coat of flair. The production of the album feels like a pair of your favourite Etnies from that one year at summer camp; comfortable and familiar with enough grip on the bottom to rip around town in. 

Graham, 33, has been a staple in Tucson's local music scene since high school, working with a variety of bands and artists like Nica Spritz, Isaac Cabrera of The Winter Without You, Taylor Carroll of Cement Shoes, and Trevor Hedges of Sundressed. Producing, leading, playing bass, and singing fall within his spectrum of talent- a talent that comes from a fiery desire to create music. 

MattstaGraham's high energy performance and compositions of their modern pop-punk hits Caffeine and Got the Autism show a glimpse into a genre all too forgotten in the mix of yesteryear. Where Green Day meets High School Musical, MattstaGraham brings their fans into the throes of the early 2000's. Nostalgia, campy lyrics, and catchy chords all work together to showcase the raw talent coming out of Tucson. 

Throughout our almost forty minute conversation, it was clear to me that pop-punk is still alive and well in Matt Graham's hands. 

Q: So, how's Edmonton so far? 

A: We just got here- it's pretty flat, but the venue's really cool though- Midway Music Hall, I believe. Yeah, it's a really large club. 

Q: Is it much different than the Burt Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg?

A: Haha, yeah. You guys had like the most theatre-looking theatre I've ever seen in my life. Like three balconies. 

Q: That classic Chicago style- very out of place in Manitoba. It’s a very historic looking building. Did check out the old green room and all that stuff upstairs? 

A: I was kind of locked in our green room. I was pretty much doing my my day job, like all day that day; I work remote, so it's nice to be able to like double dip a little bit. 

Q: Is that your main gig?

A: Yeah, I do a little bit of software development and a little bit of social media for a software development company. It keeps me busy; keeps me working, keeps me busy. Allows me to do this. 

Q: That's awesome. Is that where you get your social media background then? Because your Instagram and your TikTok are, pretty popping-

A: Well, the social media on my side came first. You know, I like to think that like the MattstaGraham social media was my resume’ to getting this job. And I just got really lucky and I was able to put myself through a coding school- a coding bootcamp, - a six-month program. I was able to secure a nice little seat for myself. So, all in all, with music and my other career I honestly got incredibly lucky. 

Q: Does everybody else have a day job?

A: Yeah- everybody here has a day job. We're not racking in the big bucks. Basically, I'm, I'm able to pay them what I like to call a slow-the-bleeding-fee. Because it's honestly not really enough right now to like keep people on their feet.

I'm hoping that once we start earning a little more that we're able to like, actually pay them. I’m like, your bills are going to be paid, you're going to be fed, and you're not going to have to like, worry about missing work, you know?

And I really hope for that, but as of right now though, we're still up and comers, we still got a lot to do- and prove ourselves.

Q: How did you guys get hooked up with the tour? 

A:  So that's all our agent Jason Parent. Honestly, we just again, got lucky, and got a really good agent. Jason Parent with Sound Talent- he is the man. He’s brought up a lot of bands that like I used to listen to- I want to say like Wonder years- And like right now he’s got Arm’s Length and Belmont, and f**king Citizen- He has Citizen. 

It’s funny because like when I wanted to like shop for agents, my thing was always like, “I want somebody like Jason Parent” who was just going to go to bat for you and like do all these things or whatever. And then we ended up getting him, so it was nice. It was really nice. 

Q: You sound like a lucky guy.

A: I do not take it for granted. You know, I want to say that I worked hard and earned all of this and stuff, but I mean, and it was hard work. But there's a saying that luck is where experience meets opportunity. I fully believe that that's what happened. You know; I was in the right room enough times and here I am. 

Q: What have been some major inspirations for you guys with this last album and the records before?

A: Honestly, I never know how to answer this question because I like all types of music- which I know everyone has the friend who's like “I like everything-“and then you put something on, they're like “Oh no, I hate that.” But I mean, I'll go from pop records- I really like Casey Musgraves’ Golden Hour. I'll go from like that to grind core- like the Locust or something in a day. I just love everything on the spectrum. Everything has something that I like.

But when it comes to [making] music, it really just comes down to: I try to write the songs that I don't hear that I want to hear. Does that make sense? 

Q: You write it for you and nobody else. I like that.  Am I wrong to assume that you have a little inspiration from Green Day?

A: Oh, not at all. Mike Dirnt is one of the reasons that I love bass so much- That dude, I think he's been on record to say that he calls himself a lead bassist- He plays lead bass, you know? And it’s that's so true, because like he has all these intricate bass lines and songs.

And it's one of the things that makes Green Day Green Day, you know? The guitars are ripping power chords- K.I.S.S. method- Keep it simple, stupid, right? The thing that set them apart for me- and I feel like for so many other bands- is that Mike Dirnt has interesting bass lines and they stand out.

He is one of the guys that made me want to play bass. 

Q: Do you have any other bassists that you really enjoy? 

A: Oh, um, I mean like Mark Hoppus is a really obvious one, right? [They’re all] mostly pop punk, I want to say- I want to say Anti-Flag, but like RIP to that band after what's his nuts, did some unspeakable things. But I mean, that bass player, [Chris Barker] was another one of those guys that inspired me to pick up a bass guitar. 

Q: The energy you guys have is really solid. Do you choreograph any of your stage movements or does it kind of go with the flow? 

A: Thank you, I try to keep it as fun as possible.  I try to recognize that you can either perform the music or you can play the show, you know? And I want to bring something to the live show that people can't really get from just listening to the record, you know?

So I try to keep it up. As for choreography, it's funny because we never start doing it, but we'll notice maybe a couple shows in that one person's doing this one thing on this part [of a song] every single time, and we just start talking amongst ourselves like “Oh shit- what if we did this during that part?” And we’re like oh yeah- hell yeah, let’s try it! We don't really “plan it-plan it” but when we see like there's a standout moment, we’re like “Oh we should try that. It comes up pretty organically. 

Q: Absolutely; watching your flow on stage was awe inspiring. I had to ask because you and Nica were dancing a lot on stage, and I saw her playing the keys, then getting up on the elevated drum stage, and then sharing the mic with Isaac, and I was wondering if it was practiced or if it was planned at all. You flow very well together on stage.

A: Honestly, and I hate to abuse the word lucky here, but I'm just very fortunate to have people who get the gig, who like just naturally know what to do- like natural show people, you know?

You can teach it, but some people just got it- and they got it. 

Q: How did you all five of you meet?

A: A little bit of everywhere. Tucson is full of local music. I met Isaac first, right when I got out of high school. We both played in bands at different schools and we were aware of each other, but we never really hung out because we ran in different circles.

So, when we finally met, we were just like “Oh dude, like I'm a fan of you- and I'm a fan of you!” And then we became super close from there on out. As for Nica, I produced some of her solo stuff. And I actually produced Isaac's stuff too. 

Taylor and I played shows together in different bands, and then when both bands imploded, we were like “Do you wanna start one together?” And we were like, “Sure, f**k yeah!” And I guess it was the same thing with Ian- he was kind of the guy that everybody hired in Tucson.

I never wanted to hire him just because he was playing in some of my friends' bands and I didn't want do that to them and be like “I'm just gonna like steal the guy.” But then he stopped playing in those friend’s bands and I was like “Oh, well I don't really feel bad now.”

Q: What other bands have you been in? Anything on record? 

A: Nothing super noteworthy. I was in a band called Sundressed for a really long time, and I did some cool stuff with them from like 2019 to 2022.  

Then before that, Taylor and I were in this band called Cement Shoes that I really liked- It was just grimy skate punk. I think those are kind of the two that really stand out to me. 

Q: Do you have any plans to do anything with them or are those totally dissolved?

A: I mean, Sundressed is operating on their own. They're doing great. As long as Trevor [Hedges] is doing Sundressed, Sundressed is going to keep going forward. I’m happy for everything in their future. 

With Cement Shoes, we tend to get together every so often 'cause we're all still really good friends.

We actually did record some of our old demos that we're just going to share with our friends and put out and just be like “here's the stuff that we played live but we never recorded.” I'm pretty excited for that. I think that's going to be pretty fun. 

Q: Do you have plans to put that out for the public, or is it a private thing? 

A: Good question. Let me add a caveat to that… If we ever end up finishing it, then yes, but it's stuck in limbo because we all have our own shit going on. It's kind of a shared collage of music, and we’re all busy.

Q: Caffeine is your most popular song to date, with several million listens across multiple streaming services. What do you think draws the crowd for this one? 

A: Honestly, I'm a sucker for a sing-along, you know? And when I first wrote that song, I had this idea of like, “I really want this chorus to be really beautiful and angelic in the beginning, and like an anthemic acapella, you know? And then I want it to punch you in the face.” Do you know what I mean? I wanted extreme juxtaposition and I think I achieved that. 

And far be it for an artist to ever assume they know what an audience wants. So, I like to think that it worked out the way that I planned, but truthfully, I just write songs and people tell me if they like them or not.

You can go in with all of the knowledge on how to write a good song and all the inspiration and all that stuff, but like at the end of the day, you truly just do not know what anybody wants to hear. 

Q: Do you have a favourite record on the album? Is Caffeine the one or is there a different one that you appreciate more? 

A: It changes pretty often. I think that right now I'm very partial to Shitty Jeep and Good Enough. Just because those songs kind of feel like more of an honest telling of a story. Caffeine is up there, but I really like sharing perspective- not just with songwriters, but with people in general. Sharing perspectives and telling stories is one of our biggest superpowers.

It's one of those things that like makes us all better together. 

Q: Do you still have that Shitty Jeep? 

A: I do still have the Jeep. It’s had an engine light on for like a year and a half now, and I keep trying to diagnose it but I can't figure out what the hell is wrong with it on my own. I've been like avoiding taking it to the shop and it’s probably time- but it still runs…

Actually, I think I do know what it is there. There's a leak somewhere and I don't know what it is. I think it might be a coolant leak. So the engine light's on, but it's not fatal, you know? Just as long as I'm not driving it around in the summer a whole lot, I'm probably fine.

Q: If you could upgrade, what would you get? 

A: I don't know. I’m not- but I wish I was- a big car guy. I'm very much just like; I just need a thing that gets me from A to B and I need to know how to do basic maintenance on it- so that I can save a couple bucks here and there. I just want something that drives! 

For a minute, I had a 2015 [Hyundai] Elantra. That was at the beginning of the pandemic, because funny enough: The Jeep had just shit out on me- go figure.

I just needed something quick, so unfortunately I sold some of my gear for the down payment and I went in and took on a big old bill for it. I was driving that for a while, it got me from A to B. It worked, it was a nice car, but then there was this point where I was like “I can’t justify this payment right now, I don't have enough money.” So I was like “I’m just going to get the Shitty Jeep working, sell this [Elantra] and then we’ll come back to something nice later.”

Q: In the same vein of broken-down cars, I’ve seen your Instagram Vlogs where you had an incident with your van- can you elaborate?

A: How much time do we have? [Laughs] Basically like the day before we left for tour, we went to start the van and it just started sputtering, you know, like that ticking sound? Almost like a battery was dead- so it started doing that and we were like, f**k, we need a new battery.

I blame myself for this because we replaced the battery.

 We jumped it and limped it over to an AutoZone. And I believe verbatim, I said “thank God it's just a battery,” and  “Thank God it happened here.”

Famous last words. So we get it set, we’re doing fine, we have a new battery, and then we get to Canada. Then, somewhere in Le Bay or Sherbrooke, it died again. I took the blame for it because I left something in the cigarette lighter overnight- I forgot to take out our little Bluetooth thing that hooks up to the radio. I f**ked up. We had to like limp it again and we got one of those car jumpers- not a battery charger but a jumper.

We were able to limp it for the next couple of shows. But then in Quebec City, it was like we can’t jump this more than a couple meters down the road. So, we luckily had AAA- Up here you have CAA- and they came to us and tried to jump it, but they were like “No, that’s definitely and alternator.”

And it’s funny because we’re a bunch of Americans, right? French is not really one of our second languages- in our country specifically. We know a couple of phrases to get around but we don’t really know. I learned “Parlez-vous Anglais” just to get around, but that’s it. We were calling shops and nobody spoke English. Eventually, the van ended up getting taken to a garage and the trailer ended up getting taken to the show, and we were like “Well, let’s figure this out tomorrow.”

The next day we had a show in Ottawa; we played it by ear. Luckily, the garage that it got taken to was able to replace it the next day. They said they could replace the alternator and have us on the road by 11:30. Great.

So we got- again, my favourite word- lucky. We go super lucky, took the drive to Ottawa, and made it literally just in time to sound check- two minutes before a song. It was like a movie moment. 

Q: That’s intense. Did you guys get to drive around with the Buzzcocks or Descendants when you were waiting?

A: Yeah, they’re wonderful people. On top of that, honestly, the Descendants has been really taking care of us. Their tour manager has done so much stuff for us- He’s f**king incredible. We’re kind of strapped for cash out here- we’re getting alternators, battery jumpers, digital tire pressure gauges and shit like that. 

There was a venue where he took us aside and was like “Hey we’ll eat the cost of their merch cut, just give them cash.” The Descendants and Buzzcocks camp has been incredible.

Q: What’s the green room like for you guys? Do you have any pre-show rituals? 

A: The green room situation here is pretty cool. It’s like a separate kind of mobile building to side. It's nice, there's a shower, there's a fridge, we're kind of in our own room. WIFI’s good, so I get to get some work done. It's pretty cool. 

As for pre-show rituals, we always do a chant with all of our hands together that’s based on whatever went wrong the day before. So, on the day in Quebec City, it was “Alternator! Alternator!” The other day, our In-ear-monitors weren’t working, so we said “I-E-M! I-E-M!” It’s nice because it takes the worst part of our day and makes it kind of light.

In the moment, we get to feel bad about it and feel our feelings and stuff, but at the end of the day we get to turn it into a positive.

We make jokes about it and just remember that this one situation today may have sucked, but like it's all about getting up there and playing the show. If it wasn’t all worth it for that, we wouldn’t be doing it.

  

Q: I noticed there’s quite a bit of self-deprecating humour sprinkled throughout your songs- can you attest to that?

A: If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? I don't really I take myself very seriously as a person because, you know, what makes my ego so f**king sacred? And if it gets a chuckle out of people, I'm happy to entertain.

Q: You had an anecdote during your set before the song Can I be VIP about people trying to get in to shows for free. 

A: I get people to chant it and then I tell them, this song is about all of the friends in Tucson who never came to a show, but whenever things started working out for me, they were like “Hey man, that’s really cool that you’re playing with my favourite band. Can I get on the guest list?” And I said “No, f**k you.”

That’s the song. It doesn’t happen all the time or anything, it’s not everybody, but the song is very specifically about somebody. There was a band I was in in 2014- I got a really big show, we had so much fun- I was playing bass in the band, and someone who I used to play with in a band who wasn’t a good band member- you know, flaky- they commented on something about the show and were like ‘That’s cool man, do you need a bass player (wink wink)’ And I was like get out of here, man- we have one. 

I carried that torch because this guy pissed me off- still years later. They say lightning, lightning strikes the tallest tree.

Q: You’ve mentioned before that the band name comes from your Instagram handle. Are there any alternative names that you think would describe you better? MattChat? 

A: [Laughs] Truthfully, in the Tucson music scene, I am notoriously bad at naming bands. I think the only band name that I ever liked was Cement Shoes. I came up with that, but after that, literally every band name I come up with is garbage.

So, there weren't really any runners up. When we met [at the Winnipeg concert] I gave you some of the backstory; I’m an aging musician- I’m 33 now- and I was hoping that it sticks with me for a while. 

At some point I said I’m sick of chasing this as a career, I’m sick of hitching my hopes and whatnot on this. This thing has always been close enough to see but far enough to not reach, and I made a promise; I redefined what success would be for me, and instead of it being a need to pay my bills and whatnot, I changed it to the need to be able to keep doing it. Whether that be for myself, whether that means I tour or put songs out for more people- whether that be for friends or a bunch of people- I just need and want to have this in my life. [It] Doesn’t have to be a career- just has to be a part of my life. 

And at the time I was like I don't think anyone's gonna care [about the name]. I don’t care that much. I mean, I do, but I don't, you know? 

Q: On Spotify you have close to 100K monthly listeners- do you follow the numbers?

A: That’s not nothing, you know, that is not nothing. I follow the numbers more closely for releases, but truthfully a number is a number and it doesn’t really affect your reality. 

So, if I’m looking at the monthly Spotify listeners and it’s 99,001 one day, and then 98,001 the next day, I don’t want to get hung up on that. What’s that going to do for me except make me go “Oh no, the number went down?” How has my life been affected otherwise?

I’m very much like “Trust the process, forget about the numbers.” Numbers come second- or third- maybe even fifth.

Honestly, it's hard to not get swept up in that because as I'm opening these shows, I'm also thinking about how I have to win over big rooms of people. I’m not going to say that that pressure doesn't exist, you know? People really like Yellow Paint, and that makes me really happy. But, I'm not going to say that there's no pressure on us- like the next one better not suck. 

And that's just human, right? It's human to feel those things. But I’m fortunately in a position where I can feel this way. I’m still kind of running the rat race, but not quite as much as some of my peers, and I’m fortunate enough to where I now have a big enough team full of really cool industry players that allow me to just go “Okay, let’s write a f**king good record.” I’ll make my social content, it’ll be fine, and if the video doesn’t go viral, it doesn’t mean my career is ending. I have the team. 

Now, I just need to stay consistent. When it comes to the social media game, the consistency thing is key- but it’s hard, you know, when you start seeing things finally looking up and then it dies for a bit and you’re like “Where’d that go?”

It’s the ebbs and flows of life. You’re not going to always be on top; you’re not always going to be on the bottom- but social media attaches a value to that. It’s hard to look at, you know, so I save my own mental health- I do what I have to do, then worry about it later.

Q: You’re playing Edmonton this evening- What’s the chant tonight? 

A: I don’t know- we had a smooth ride in. Whenever we have a smooth ride in, we pick some arbitrary fast-food place and chant to it… You know what? I’m going to make [the chant] Chili’s, because we’re finally somewhere with a Chili’s. It’s a long running inside joke- there’s no reason for it. 

Q: Do you have plans for a tour of just MattstaGraham?

Matt: Not right now, no. We’re trying to get as many of these opening slots as possible just because we have the strong online presence, but we need to kind of show up for it, right? Like before people start realizing like “Oh this is a band for sure.”

And we're seeing that at shows- there were actually a fair amount of people in Winnipeg that like came out specifically for us. And I had to like talk to them and be like, “Well, you should stick around because like without Buzzcocks and Descendants, like there is no MattstaGraham- These guys are legends, you should try to catch their set.” 

And it was weird telling somebody that they should stick around for Descendants and Buzzcocks. You know what I mean? 

Q: You mentioned during your set that you owe your career to the Buzzcocks and Descendants- can you elaborate on that?

A: I mean, what can I say? Buzzcocks and Descendants are two punk rock legacy acts, right? Without them, obviously there wouldn’t be pop-punk. These guys walked so that I could run, and I have to respect that.

Written by Chase Winter