MATT EBERT - JOYCE MANOR
Name: Matt Ebert
Band: Joyce Manor
Duties: Bass/Vocals
Ahhhhhh, Joyce Manor. I don’t even know where to begin! I honestly forgot where I may have first found out about this band. Having played/seen bands that were on the label 6131, I was honestly surprised to come across Joyce Manor. In comparison to other bands on that label, they were a band whose material didn’t make you want to hardcore dance or destroy all humanity. I ordered their S/T and when I received it, I was honestly blown away. I’ve always said they’ve reminded me of Pixies/Jawbreaker/Big Kids….but hey that’s just me! I think I had that LP on constant repeat for a month or so. Anyways, my personal encounter with this band started when I was looking up their tour dates and I saw they had an off date. I asked them if they would like to play a house show and they agreed. On June 8, 2011, the band finally rolled into town. Matt texted me saying, “we’re at some shitty coffee shop using wifi. you know of any cool record stores in town before we go to the show?” – or something along those lines. I knew at that point we would have a rad time. I bought a 30 pack of PBR and zoomed off to the Naylair. Upon arriving, I introduced them to the dudes who make all Naylair shows possible and we didn’t waste any time in enjoying our company by watching Matilda (VHS) before the show and killing the beer haha. The show went great and everyone seemed to have a rad time. We later went to Taco Cabana (24 hr Mexican food chain for people who are usually not sober and hungry) and had some margaritas and burritos/tacos/etc. We bought more beer and headed back to the Naylair. Again we ended watching another 90’s classic - Baby’s Day Out (another VHS). When the movie ended, everyone pretty much had passed out. The journey began with watching a movie drinking beer and ended with a movie drinking beer haha. If anything, me rambling on this little experience is just to show that Joyce Manor are just some down to earth/rad/humble dudes who are down to have a good time. Plus, that their partying habits take absolutely nothing away from the music. If anything, I would recommend you crack open your favorite beer with some of your best friends while listening to their stuff. Enough talking – here’s an interview I did with Matt Ebert/bassist+vocalist.
Goofy:
Best costume you’ve ever worn for Halloween?
A couple years ago I dressed as a pedophile. I had a really fucked up looking track suit and carried around a teddy bear. There’s actually a picture of me wearing the costume on our record insert I believe.
High school was ___________
Where I met people who still mean a lot to me
Favorite Sylvester Stallone movie?
Over the Top
Have you ever had a celebrity crush?
The first one that comes to mind is Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde
Legos or Hot Wheels?
Driving hot wheels through lego tunnels
If you had to pick a favorite female vocalist, who would it be?
Of active musicians, I would say Aimee Argote (Des Ark). Of all-time, I would say Nina Simone
Would you rather run full speed into a cactus or get smacked in the face with a bag of heavy gold coins?
Gold Coins. The pain would be more concentrated, but at least I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the day picking needles out of my a$$
Favorite Dischord band?
Probably Rites of Spring.
If you could wear only one sports jersey for the rest of your life (given that you enjoy sports), which team would it be?
LA Kings
CAKE. The food or the band?
Neither!
If you had a DJ name what would it be?
DJ Aunt Beru
Personal:
What got you into playing music?
I’ve been interested in music my entire life, but it may have been when I was around nine that I started playing piano. My older sister had the sheet music for November Rain and I remember wanting to learn it really bad, haha.
What was the first song you learned on bass?
I think it may have been Stickin’ In My Eye by NOFX. I was really into NOFX tabs.
What’s Long Beach’s music scene like? Any pro’s/con’s you’re willing to dish out?
Since we don’t really play in Long Beach, I’ll give my thoughts on Los Angeles as a whole. It’s tough. Houses here don’t have basements, so living room shows often result in noise complaints and houses never do shows for long. The city seems to really crack down on any places doing shows, so it’s really difficult for DIY venues to last in the area. Also, because the city is so large, I think it often makes it hard for kids to find out about shows. It’s sad, but I have a long term goal of making our city a place where bands actually want to come through. I am working on a comprehensive show listings website that I hope will at least spread awareness about DIY shows in people’s respective areas. All that said, we have some great shows here and through all the bullshit and red tape, kids here support touring bands and love to get stoked.
Name the last place you were at that would like to never return to.
THE NAYLAIR. (just kidding!)
Based on our Matilda/Baby’s Big Day Out session at The Naylair, you know your movies well. What are some of your favorite movies?
Well, Matilda for one! I like all the Coen brothers movies a lot. I love the Wayne’s World, Back to the Future, and Vacation movies. I love Miyazaki films, especially Spirited Away. Other favorites include The Abyss, Children of Men, and This is England. Tonight, however, I’ll be watching the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence classic Life.
Do you have any favorite movie soundtracks?
My favorite soundtrack is for Fantastic Planet. It’s a really great French animated film from the ‘70s with this super funky avant-garde jazz soundtrack.
Music and literature go hand in hand for some musicians. Do you have any favorite authors?
Haruki Murakami is my favorite. The way he writes about mundane life in modern-day Japan is beautiful. His stories are always full of magical realism- animals coming to life and shit. It’s great.
Reach into your pockets, what do you have in them? If you didn’t find anything, what do you usually never leave home without?
Keys, change, and a couple guitar picks in my left pocket, phone in my right. Wallet in the back left pocket. It’s a constant that never ever changes!
What are your top five albums of 2011?
Mannnn, I can’t remember what came out! The new Des Ark is probably my number one. The new DNF record might not get released until 2012, but I’ve been playing it since June and it’s incredible. It’s going to come out on Chris Colohan’s label whenever its pressed, so watch for it! The Touche Amore dudes did a great job. Oh! Also the new Four Eyes 7” is really great. And the new Ampere!
What have you learned from playing music? Musicians usually talk about how it has given them some type of life-changing direction that a corporate job or another pastime usually could not offer, but what has it done for you as a person?
If nothing else, it’s given me something to do. Playing music has given me the opportunity to travel a lot and meet a bunch of awesome people, some of whom have become good friends. I’m not really a social person, so I can only imagine what kind of a boring dick I’d be right now if I wasn’t doing what I’m doing!
If you could be a merch guy for any band, who would it be?
The Weakerthans
Joyce Manor
How did Joyce Manor get its name?
It’s an apartment in Long Beach. Lame, huh?
When did the band start?
The band started in late 2008, but I didn’t join the band until late 2009.
How many different lineups have there been in the band, if any at all?
The band started out with just Chase and Barry playing acoustically. After a while they became full band and played a lot of house shows and were fueled by Joose. Kurt and I joined the band at around the same time and our sound changed quite a bit after that.
On a scale of 1-10 how much does the band like to party?
Somewhere in the neighborhood of an 8-8.5. We don’t fuck around with cocaine because it’s for human scum.
Joyce Manor’s discography is composed of: Summer Vacation/Joyce Manor split, S/T, and the Big Kids/Joyce Manor split. Am I missing anything?
We also have a demo called “Constant Headache”, which is our first release. If you really wanna dig deep, there is an acoustic tape from before I joined the band. The cover had pancakes on it.
What differences have you noticed in the way the band operates from when you guys first started and where you guys are at now? Is there anything that you guys mainly worry about now?
We definitely have a better idea of what we are doing now. We figured out how drunk we can get before we play without blowing it, and we have definitely become tighter. In many ways we haven’t progressed a bit. We still tour in a minivan and we still can barely keep our shit in tune. It’s important to not worry too much. Writing your second album is definitely scarier than writing your first, but at the end of the day you can’t worry about what people expect of you. I know that WE like our next record, and that is what’s important to us.
Your debut LP on 6131 is such a fucking rad album. Back and forth: pure fun and smiles. When making this album was there any particular theme or concept?
Thanks a lot, dude! Lyrically, I think there is definitely a unifying theme. Musically, we were all listening to a lot of early Weezer and we definitely had Pinkerton in mind during the recording. It sounds nothing like Pinkerton, but I think it came out alright!
All songs usually hold a place in a band member’s heart, but does any Joyce Manor song strike a chord internally/hits you hard when you listen to it or play it live?
The song “Derailed” definitely has that effect on me. I have been in bands with Barry for the last seven years, and that song has been around for about four or five of them. Derailed has gone through so many different incarnations and has been played in various bands by so many good friends, it has become a really special song for me.
How did you guys link up with Big Kids on the split you did with them? Do both bands have any type of extensive history together?
We are friends- I love those dudes and we play together every time they are down here and vice versa. We first met them when they were down here for the first time last summer. They r freex
On the BK/JM split you guys did a cover of the Murder City Devils “Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum”. How did you guys end up deciding on that song?
Barry adapted the song and brought it to practice one day. We are down with covers but we wanted it to sound like a Joyce Manor song at the same time. A lot of people don’t even know its a cover and I like that.
Does the band have any other songs in mind that you all would like to cover in the future or was doing a cover just a one-time occurrence for the split?
We have talked about cover songs many times, but we aren’t very good at covers. They take a lot of work and aren’t that fun. We have talked about covering The Promise by When in Rome, and Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus. Thats the one from Silence of the Lambs. but who knows? We probably never will.
You guys recently signed with Asian Man Records. Congrats! I read that you guys are also going to hit up Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden to record some new songs. What are your thoughts on all of this?
Thanks! We are fucking STOKED! Asian Man was my absolute favorite label when I was like 13, and to be able to work with Mike Park is a bit of a dream come true. Jack has done some amazing work and I am very excited to see what he does with the record. We have some cool ideas and while it’s a tiny departure from the last record, I think it sounds like a really logical 2nd Joyce Manor LP.
You guys are going to hit up Jack in November. While the news is recent, do you guys have any tentative idea by when you think the music will be done for everyone to hear?
I am guessing the record should probably be out by February or March. You never really know how pressing plant stuff is gonna be, but I think three month is usually plenty.
Any plans to go overseas anytime soon?
We are still trying to figure out next year’s tour plans, but we really want to get to Europe next year. It’s all tentative, but hopefully!
I think I flooded you with enough questions. Thanks a bunch Matt. Any last words, shout outs, raps, goofy things, random questions….say them all. Thanks dude!
Thanks dude! Woulda been a real crappy Saturday night without ya.
end.
I’m not going to add much in this little ending segment. All I have to say is that at one point of my life during the summer of 11’, listening to their S/T got me pumped to make it through the day. Good dudes/good music. I can’t wait to hear the new album! Buy their goods and make sure to catch them at a show!
Booyah.
Chris
