Matt Pryor (musician)

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Matt Pryor
MattPryor.jpg
Pryor performing live in Boston
Background information
Birth nameMatthew Pryor
Born (1978-03-16) March 16, 1978 (age 46)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1995–present
Labels
Member of
Website thegetupkids.com

Matthew Pryor (born March 16, 1978) is an American musician who lives in Lawrence, Kansas. He is best known as a founding member and the lead vocalist of The Get Up Kids, one of the most influential acts of the second-wave emo music scene. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Matt Pryor was born in Kansas City, Missouri on March 16, 1978. He attended St Peter's Elementary and Bishop Miege High School, where he met his future wife. Pryor was raised Catholic, but described his experience with the church as "bigoted, mysoginist & homophobic." [3]

Pryor's father played accordion when he was young, but otherwise describes his family as "not particularly musical." [4] He described himself as a "young metalhead in grade school," citing Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe as early influences. [3] [1] Those bands, along with the likes of Metallica and The Misfits led him to discover the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene. Pryor was especially inspired by the DIY ethics of bands like Minor Threat, Fugazi and Descendents, which led him to get involved in the local Kansas City underground music scene. [3]

Career

Early years

Matt Pryor's first involvement with music began as a drummer & guitarist with the post-punk band Take a Joke. The band released one cassette, entitled Bicycles for Afghanistan, a reference to a chapter from Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. [3] After that was a stint with an avant-garde noise rock band named Secular Theme, reflecting later "I used the guitar more as a weapon of torture rather than something to write melodies on." [3]

After Secular Theme, Pryor began to drift more toward pop punk, joining the band Secret Decoder Ring, where he met future Get Up Kids collaborator Jim Suptic. [3] After the dissolution of that band in 1995, the Suptic recruited his childhood friend Rob Pope and Nathan Shay, who he had recently met in art school to form The Get Up Kids. [3]

The Get Up Kids (1995-2005)

After getting the attention of major labels with their first album, the Get Up Kids found widespread success and acclaim with the release of Something to Write Home About in 1999. It was around this time that he began releasing solo acoustic material under the moniker The New Amsterdams. While making music with The Get Up Kids, Pryor began to gravitate toward different sounds in his free time, listening to Steve Earle and Richard Buckner. "I wanted to try that, just to see if I could do something that wasn't so dependent on being incredibly loud." [3] Over time, the project began to grow in scope as the sound expanded on later albums, incorporating a full band, and at times a pedal steel player or string and horn sections. [3]

While touring to support the band's fourth album Guilt Show , Pryor had a breakdown in Australia brought on from the stresses from being away from his newborn first child. "My daughter was 2 years old, and my oldest son was about 3 months away from being born, and I was in a really dark headspace about leaving," he reflected years later. "I needed a break just to be at home... ultimately that's not what everyone else wanted. It was killing me." [3] After quitting the band temporarily, the group decided to disband after one final tour the following year. It was during this time that he wrote Story Like a Scar , inspired largely by the band's troubles.

The Get Up Kids breakup (2005-2009)

After the breakup of The Get Up Kids, Pryor's musical focus shifted to The New Amsterdams, which had now become a full three-piece band. Pryor had two more children, and began writing children's music. His first children's album, If You Ever See an Owl... —recorded with The New Amsterdams under the moniker The Terrible Twos—was released in 2006.

In 2008, Pryor announced that The New Amsterdams (which had by that time grown into a full band) would be going on hiatus, allowing him to pursue a solo career. The first album released under Pryor's name was Confidence Man , released later that year on Vagrant Records. [5] After a brief tour with Kevin Devine in support of the album. [6]

The Get Up Kids Reunion (2009-present)

it was announced that The Get Up Kids would be reuniting after a surprise show in their native Kansas City.

In 2009, between tours supporting the ten-year anniversary of Something to Write Home About, The Get Up Kids entered the studio with longtime producer Ed Rose to record new material, resulting in the Simple Science EP and the band's fifth album There Are Rules.

After There Are Rules, The Get Up Kids went on a brief hiatus during which time Pryor looked to exit the music industry, taking up jobs as a farmhand and working out of a Lawrence, Kansas food truck. [7] [8] [9]

Pryor's exit from the music industry was short-lived; In 2011, he formed the supergroup Lasorda with members of fun., White Whale and Kevin Devine's Goddamn Band, writing and recording their new album remotely in different studios across the country. [10] That same year, he also ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund a second solo album, entitled May Day. The project was funded, and the album was released in January 2012, along with the companion album Still, There's a Light.[ citation needed ]

In 2013, Pryor released Outroduction, a collection of B-Sides meant to serve as the final release by The New Amsterdams. [ citation needed ] In 2018, Pryor teamed up with Get Up Kids bandmate Jim Suptic and Josh Berwanger of The Anniversary to form Radar State, a punk side-project that focused on fast, stripped-down songs made while waiting for the other members of the Get Up Kids schedules to free up. [7]

Podcasting

In 2012, Pryor launched "Nothing to Write Home About," an interview podcast featuring one-on-one interviews with Pryor's musician friends. James Dewees was a regular guest on this podcast and they later announced plans to release a collaborative EP on vinyl/digital formats together. This self-titled EP was released on October 1, 2013.[ citation needed ]

In 2021, it was announced that Vagrant Records would begin releasing "Vagrant Records: 25 Years on the Streets," a retrospective podcast chronicling the history of the label from its inception to its lasting legacy, hosted and produced by Matt Pryor. [11]

Discography

with The Get Up Kids

with Reggie and the Full Effect

with The New Amsterdams

with The Terrible Twos

Solo

Music videos

With Lasorda

With James Dewees

With Radar State

Related Research Articles

<i>Something to Write Home About</i> 1999 studio album by The Get Up Kids

Something to Write Home About is the second studio album by American rock band the Get Up Kids, released on September 28, 1999, through Vagrant Records and the band's own label Heroes & Villains Records. Following the promotional tours for their debut album Four Minute Mile (1997), the band were in discussion with Mojo Records. During this period, James Dewees joined as the band's keyboardist. As negotiations with the label eventually stalled, they eventually went with Vagrant Records. They recorded their next album at Mad Hatter Studios in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, co-producing it with Chad Blinman and Alex Brahl. Described as an emo and pop-punk album, Something to Write Home About expands on the harder edge of its predecessor, with frontman Matt Pryor citing the works of the Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and Wilco as influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Get Up Kids</span> American rock band

The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Kansas City. Formed in 1995, the band was a major act in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music. Their second album Something to Write Home About remains their most widely acclaimed album, and is considered to be one of the quintessential albums of the second-wave emo movement. They are considered forefathers of the emo genre, and have been widely credited as being an influence, both by contemporaries Saves the Day and later bands such as Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday and the Wonder Years.

The New Amsterdams is an American band featuring Matthew Pryor of The Get Up Kids. In a certain sense, they represented the acoustic counter-project to The Get up Kids. In contrast to The Get Up Kids, this project features acoustic guitars, the accordion, wind instruments, strings, and mature elements of American folklore. Among the members were also numerous musicians and contributors of The Get Up Kids and other friendly bands.

<i>Four Minute Mile</i> 1997 studio album by The Get Up Kids

Four Minute Mile is the debut studio album by American rock band The Get Up Kids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggie and the Full Effect</span> American rock band

Reggie and the Full Effect is an American rock band, the solo project of James Dewees, the former keyboardist for The Get Up Kids. It has released seven full-length albums, the latest in 2018, and has toured with various associated acts in their promotion.

Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home to artists such as The 1975, Death Spells, Eels, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, CRUISR, Active Child, PJ Harvey, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, James Vincent McMorrow, Black Joe Lewis, Wake Owl, Blitzen Trapper, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Originally, Vagrant Records was mostly focused on emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, The Get Up Kids, Senses Fail, and Alkaline Trio. The label is considered one of the pre-eminent labels of the emo music scene.

<i>On a Wire</i> 2002 studio album by the Get Up Kids

On a Wire is the third studio album by American rock band the Get Up Kids on Vagrant Records. Released three years after their breakout sophomore album Something to Write Home About, On a Wire was a massive departure from the band's established sound, eschewing the brighter pop-punk that helped define emo as a genre in favor of a darker, more adult sound inspired by 70's rock bands like Led Zeppelin.

<i>Guilt Show</i> 2004 studio album by The Get Up Kids

Guilt Show is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Get Up Kids. It was released on Vagrant Records on March 2, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dewees</span> American musician (born 1976)

James Matthew Dewees is an American musician best known for his work with The Get Up Kids, Reggie and the Full Effect and My Chemical Romance. He has also been involved in other musical projects including New Found Glory, Coalesce, Leathermouth, and Death Spells.

<i>Never You Mind</i> 2000 studio album by The New Amsterdams

Never You Mind is the first album by The New Amsterdams recorded in March/April 2000 at Z'gwonth Studios in Lawrence, Kansas and released September 19, 2000 on Vagrant Records and Heroes & Villains Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Pope</span> American musician

Ryan Pope is an American musician who lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Curb Appeal Records was an American record label founded in Kansas City, Missouri by The Get Up Kids guitarist and Blackpool Lights frontman Jim Suptic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Suptic</span> American musician and entrepreneur (born 1977)

Jim Suptic is an American musician and entrepreneur, best known for being the guitarist for the rock band The Get Up Kids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Minutes (The Get Up Kids song)</span> 1999 single by the Get Up Kids

"Ten Minutes" is a song by the Get Up Kids. The single was released as part of the Sub Pop Records Singles Club. 1300 pressings were black, with only 100 pressings of the single on clear vinyl. A re-recorded version of it appears on their album Something to Write Home About. On July 2, 2005 The Get Up Kids performed for the last time before their hiatus at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, MO. "Ten Minutes" was the last song they played.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action & Action</span> 2000 single by The Get Up Kids

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<i>The Get Up Kids / Coalesce</i> 1996 EP (Split EP) by The Get Up Kids/Coalesce

Burned Bridges/I'm Giving Up on This One is a split EP between American bands The Get Up Kids and Coalesce. The album was released on colored vinyl in 1996 on Second Nature Recordings. There were 13 different pressings of the album, with each pressing on different colored vinyl. The album is unique in that each band picked one of the other band's songs to cover in their own style. The Get Up Kids covered the song "Harvest of Maturity" from Coalesce's self-titled debut album, and Coalesce covered "Second Place" from The Get Up Kids' Woodson EP. The album was recorded at Red House Studios in Eudora, Kansas and produced by Ed Rose, who would also go on to produce several other albums by both bands.

<i>There Are Rules</i> 2011 studio album by The Get Up Kids

There Are Rules is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Get Up Kids, the band's first studio album release since 2004's Guilt Show. After their initial reunion, the band decided to challenge themselves to write and record an album in only two weeks without using any digital technology. Ultimately, due to conflicting schedules, they dropped the two-week deadline and recorded over several months in 2009 and 2010. Much of the album was recorded in the same sessions as their first post-reunion release, Simple Science, the song "Keith Case" being featured on both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automatic (The Get Up Kids song)</span> 2011 single by The Get Up Kids

"Automatic" is the first single from The Get Up Kids' album There Are Rules. After the band's breakup in 2005, "Automatic" was the first single released by the band following their reformation in 2008.

<i>Outroduction</i> 2013 studio album by The New Amsterdams

Outroduction is collection of B-Sides by The New Amsterdams. It is intended to be the final release by the band, allowing Matt Pryor to continue pursuing a solo career.

<i>Kicker</i> (EP) 2018 EP by The Get Up Kids

Kicker is an EP by American rock band The Get Up Kids. It was the first release from the band in seven years, and their first release on a record label other than Vagrant Records in 19 years. It was hailed as a return to form after the band's more experimental self-released reunion album There Are Rules (2011).

References

  1. 1 2 "An Interview with Matthew Pryor of the Get up Kids". 17 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "All Things Reconsidered: The Get up Kids an overlooked predecessor to modern emo". 8 January 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fred Herron (11 August 2021). "The Mental Journey - Spirituality Adventures Feat. Matt Pryor". website (Podcast). Spirituality Adventures. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Mitch (host) (3 November 2019). "MATT PRYOR covers REGINA SPEKTOR (Blind Covers #21)". Blind Covers. Season 3. Episode 21.
  5. ↑ Matt Pryor - The Confidence Man
  6. ↑ "Live Review". inTuneMusic. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03.
  7. 1 2 Pearlman, Mischa (May 13, 2019). "The Get Up Kids Have Made Their Peace With Being Emo". Kerrang! . Wasted Talent. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  8. ↑ Cohen, Ian (April 30, 2019). "The Get Up Kids And Their Adult Problems". Stereogum. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  9. ↑ "After break, Matt Pryor back to songwriting". 16 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "After break, Matt Pryor back to songwriting".
  11. ↑ Torok, Frankie (2021-05-21). "News: Vagrant Records Announces 25 Year Anniversary Celebration with Vinyl Reissues, Podcast, and More". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
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