Through complete coincidence, Matt & Kim have managed to make their way from a one bedroom apartment to touring across the country.The unconventional two-piece punk/dance duo from Brooklyn, N.Y. will be visiting The Spanish Moon on Wednesday. The couple has been dating for six years and has been playing music since 2004.”It was by accident,” said Matt Johnson, frontman and keyboardist for the band. “I found this keyboard. It was so old, and I thought it looked pretty cool. I figured I should learn how to play it.”Kim Schifino picked up the drums when a friend showed her how to play.”Kim was really into drumming,” Johnson said. “When drummers would play she would be really interested in it and always watch them.”Schifino still plays on the same hand-me-down drums she learned on, which has its origins with the Blue Man Group.Soon after they picked up their respective instruments, a friend of the couple discovered their musical ability and talked them into playing their first show.”We put together three songs, and we didn’t have a band name,” Johnson said. “We might just have had good friends who were nice to us, but everyone seemed to enjoy our first show.”By happenstance, Matt & Kim were formed and were asked by other bands to play at their shows. “It was the same way when we went on our first tour,” Johnson said. “We had no idea what we were doing. It was all an accident.”Wednesday won’t be the band’s first visit to Baton Rouge. They have played shows at the Spanish Moon three times, most recently at F Yeah Fest last June.Johnson said they were able to make good money off the band “pretty early on,” but paying the bills wasn’t so easy before the creation of the musical pair.Johnson did freelance film jobs, and Schifino was a nanny. “Freelance film work is stressful as hell,” Johnson said. “And Kim was basically raising a 2-year-old and newborn. She’d come home completely beat.”The couple still lives in the one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn they had before the creation of the band, and they still share a cell phone.”We shared a twin bed for four years,” Johnson said. “We just got a full. It’s one step into adulthood. But we still don’t have health insurance.”Luckily, things have started to look up for the duo. Their newest album, “Grand,” was released in January and is No. 3 on Rolling Stones’ College Radio Top 10 Albums.”I think it’s awesome,” Johnson said. “Everything was by accident. Some bands set goals, but we never look at things like that.”Johnson said “every step forward” is an accomplishment.”To be on some sort of chart, that’s a success,” he said. “I’m very appreciative. It blows my mind.”Matt Markerson, former University student and fan of Matt & Kim, plans to attend the show Wednesday. He said he has all of the band’s releases.”Their album ‘Grand’ is my favorite one,” Markerson said. “It’s more evolved from the last one.”Markerson appreciates the band’s unique sound and performance style.”It’s a good change of pace from the crap you hear on the radio,” he said. “I just hope I get to hear the song ‘Daylight.'”Doors will open Wednesday at 8 p.m., and the show will start at 10 p.m. Tickets are $12.—-Contact Ashley Norsworthy at [email protected]
Matt & Kim to play Spanish Moon
March 2, 2009