The Classic Crime – Matt MacDonald
Interview by Daisy Marietta
The Classic Crime, based out of Seattle, just celebrated 10 years as a band with a unique new record and a cross-country tour.
Daisy Marietta: You just returned home from tour with Emery. What was that experience like for you?
Matt MacDonald: We love touring with Emery. On the bus, they are constantly scheming entrepreneurial ideas, so it’s inspiring for us, as we’ve been going it alone in the indie realm for a few years. It’s nice to tour with like-minded people in regards to our worldview too, not to mention it seems like our bands share fans, so the whole thing makes sense on a number of levels.
DM: You just released a new album, What Was Done, Volume 1. Please tell us what the recording process was like and what inspired it.
MM: We wanted to celebrate our 10-year anniversary with an acoustic record… but when we raised 3 times the amount we needed to make the album, it became much more than just an acoustic record. We’ve dubbed it a “Revisitation” because it includes a lot of re-arrangements, not just stripped down versions of the song… mostly inspired by us messing around in the studio with rhythms, piano parts, string arrangements, and whatever else we could think of. It became much more than an acoustic record, but we’re happy with it.
DM: Since your album is in celebration of a decade that you have been together as a band, we’d love to hear about some of your recent favorite moments, live or otherwise.
MM: One time we played a radio show for 20,000 people with Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Alien Ant Farm, Buck Cherry, Bullet For My Valentine, and Godsmack. The next morning we woke up in the van in a Wal-Mart parking lot and the whole thing felt like a dream. Sharing the stage on Warped Tour 2008 with Katy Perry was pretty funny too.
DM: What music inspires you guys personally? Who are artists that have an influence on you and your music?
MM: I haven’t listened to much music lately, which is normal whenever I’m putting out an album… but lyrically I’d say I’ve been most inspired by bands like Thrice, Brand New, Bright Eyes, U2, and more recently Arcade Fire.
DM: Who would you work with/feature in your dream collaboration?
MM: It would be fantastic if Chris Martin and Ben Gibbard wanted to make an album with me…. or if I fronted a Danny Elfman project.
DM: Your fans are very loyal to you and it seems that you guys always go out of your way to reach out to them and answer their fan mail; what inspires you to do so?
MM: It’s pretty simple. Without them we can’t make music, so we’re grateful for their support and encouragement. We try to answer as much as we can, and we read everything sent to us. We hope our connection with them grows over the years.
DM: What would you say has been the most difficult part of your career for you all personally and collectively?
MM: Realizing we weren’t going to be the massive band we set out to be.
DM: How did you, or do you continue to, overcome these struggles?
MM: We ate some humble pie and counted our blessings, realized we were actually really lucky to be doing this. The perspective shift helped us enjoy our present blessings more, once we gave up the longing for more success.
DM: What is the ‘highlight’ of your career so far?
MM: Honestly, going independent was scary. But when we raised our goal for Phoenix (our first indie release) overnight, it blew our minds. It had to be the most encouraging thing that’s happened to us as a band, since getting signed originally.
DM: What is the one dream the moment at which point either personally or collectively you would be able to say yes I’ve achieved this, I’m living my dreams?
MM: A few things we haven’t done are touring in Europe or Asia… we’ve been to Australia, but it’s always been our dream to tour European and Asian countries. If that happens, we’ve definitely “made it.”
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