July 2, 2005
The Starting Line – Matt Watts & Tom Gryskiewiez

This interview done with Melissa of 4AM Magazine.

C = Cath, Mel = Melissa, M = Matt, T = Tom

C: For the record, state your name and what you do in the band.
M: I’m Matt and I play guitar in The Starting Line.
T: I’m Tom, I play drums in The Starting Line.

Mel: Ok, how did your band start?
M: Mike and I had attempted to start a band awhile back and we were looking for a singer. We actually found Kenny online, through AOL. We looked through the AOL member directory and sent out a ton of emails and he was the only person that responded. And Tom we just met through mutual friends. I don’t know, we started playing with the inclination of trying to play 1 show or something like that, and it just went a whole lot further.

C: How have fans responded to the new CD “Based on a True Story”?
M: Overall they’ve liked it. It’s definitely a lot more mature than the last one and we have some fans saying like, “You know, I love the old CD better”. But I mean, I think they just need to give this one a chance. We’re the type of band that never wants to put out the same record twice and that’s something I respect that a lot of bands do. Hopefully the fans will respect it. If they don’t like it right now they just need to give it a few more listens and hopefully they will appreciate it for what it is.

Mel: What’s your favorite song off the new album?
M: I like “Ready” and “Inspired By The $” because of what they mean.
T: Probably my two favorites as well.

C: Is there any question you guys are sick of being asked?
Mel: We probably already asked it.
T: Usually how the band formed.
M: Yea.
T: Every person asks that.
Mel: Sorry!
T: No no, it’s ok.
M: Lots of people still don’t know about it.
T: Yea yea, a lot of people don’t know.

Mel: So if you could put together your own tour, who would be on it and would you headline it?
T: Probably wouldn’t headline it.
M: Definitely wouldn’t headline it. It would be like the type of show that we would just want to watch every night. I would say it would be us, Jimmy Eat World, Blink, Jay Z for Tom…
T: Yea… I’d like him to be there *laughs*
M: And Kanye.
T: Yea, that would be a good tour.
M: And us… We’d play for like 20 minutes before doors open.
Mel: *laughs* No ones there.

C: If you could choose any animal to be The Starting Line’s mascot, what would you choose and why?
M: Probably a sloth.
T: Cuz we’re lazy as shit.
M: Basically all we do all day is sit here like this *leans head on the wall of the bus w/ a blank expression on face* and we talk about how we want to go out and do stuff, but we’re not productive enough to get off the bus and leave because it’s so nice on here. Definitely a sloth.
Mel: You wake up, you eat, you perform, then you sit.
M: Yea, that’s basically it.

C: How has this years Warped tour differed to you from past years?
M: Uhm... Cuz its almost like Ozzfest. It’s just so many heavier bands, and there’s not as many old school pop punk bands. Like, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph used to dominate the Warped Tour. NOFX and Lagwagon and Pennywise and stuff like that. And it’s really not like that anymore. This year it’s more like My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, which is still awesome…
T: It’s a lot of young bands.
M: Yea, it’s a lot of younger bands. But it’s cool. I mean, I don’t know if the ‘torch is getting passed’ or what, but the same amount of kids are coming out. Kids are really into all the bands so that’s a good thing.

Mel: What’s the freakiest things your fans do and what’s the coolest?
M: The freakiest fans probably made us voodoo dolls once.
T: Yea, they were pretty freaky people.
M: Yea.
Mel: I’d be freaked out too.
C: Were they like, dolls of you guys?
M: Yea! But apparently… They said they weren’t voodoo dolls, they just thought they were cool little dolls.
T: They were really crappy looking like, dirty looking dolls.
M: Yea, but like when we first got them we were like, “Oh shit these girls totally gave us voodoo dolls. We’re fucked”.
T: They follow us everywhere too.
M: Yea, yea, they do.
Mel: They are gonna laugh if they read this.
C: *laughs* like, “Daaamn! They remember us! Yes!”.
M: Some girls drove from Ohio to Pennsylvania - the far side of Pennsylvania which is probably like an 8 hour drive - to show up at Kenny’s house. Just to you know, show up and say hi. Uhm, that was creepy… And like, cool fans like… I like it when we’re at a signing or the merch booth and kids will wait in line, they just want to come up, they don’t want to get anything signed, and they just want to say like, “your music means a lot to me” and that’s basically it. I think that’s a really cool thing.

C: If you could switch places with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?
T: Switch places huh… I think I’d like to be Jay Z for a day I think *laughs* I gotta be honest with that one.
M: Yea, that’s pretty cool.
T: Just to enjoy a day. Some good food, some good drinks…
Mel: With Beyonce?
T: Yea... Beyonce’s nice, big butt. Yea.
M: I’d say Ron Jeremy *laughs*
T: Hugh Hefner would have been a better one.
M: Ohh yeaaa yea.

Mel: So what are your hobbies other than music?
M: Uhm, riding the couch… sitting on it like this *leans head on the wall of the bus w/ a blank expression on face* and not moving.
T: Playstation. That’s like our -
M: Yea, on off days we pretty much just go to the mall and movies and hang out like normal people. Uh, we like to booze it up every once in a while… go dancing…

C: If The Starting Line were to break up, which one of you would be the cause of it?
M: I don’t know.
T: The cause of it…
M: I don’t feel like I can answer that because that might jinx our bands future. So I’m gonna pass on that one.

Mel: If you were on Survivor, which member of your band would win and why?
M: Well uhm... Kenny definitely wouldn’t win.
*Kenny opens the door to the back of the bus to get something*
T: Kenny wouldn’t win at all.
M: Because that kid doesn’t win anything.
T: Haha, he’s not making any noise.
*Kenny closes the door with this goofy look on his face*
M: Uhm, I would say Mike would win, cuz he’s pretty tough. He’s a tough dude.
T: But… Survivor? I don’t think any of us would win.
M: We’d all vote ourselves off, so we can go home and sit on the couch.
T: Too much work.

C: What are your plans for after Warped Tour?
M: After Warped we’re going to Australia & Japan with MXPX. Then, we’re doing a small headlining tour and we’re going out for 2 months with Fall Out Boy.

Mel: What product do you wish was invented?
M: Oh, there’s so many of them.
T: The hover board.
M: The hover board, definitely the hover board.
Mel: I want sunscreen wipes because then like, you don’t have to get your hands all dirty.
M: I think they make them now!
Mel: Are you serious?
C: Haha, you’re like “They stole that idea from me!”.
Mel: My idea!
M: Remote control road cases so our roadies don’t have to move stuff. Uhm, I’m trying to think of what else. There’s so many. I’m actually writing a book of all inventions that I wish were made, that I’m too lazy to patent myself. Yea, me and Brian Diaz. He’s Motion City’s tour manager. We get drunk every once in awhile and we call each other and talk about all these things that should be invented.
Mel: Oh… Ok.
M: *laughs* Too much information.

C: Ok, so going back in time a bit here… In the “Best of Me” music video, you chose to have a disturbing man in spandex playing DDR. Why?
T: We thought it was funny.
M: Yea… I blame it on Drive-Thru. Solely on Drive-Thru, it was their idea.
C: Really?
M: Yea… That’s our friend Vince, he’s awesome. But, it was the label’s idea, and we didn’t say no.

Mel: What’s the hardest part about being on tour and what keeps you guys motivated?
T: Being away from our family and friends is probably the hardest part of being on tour for me.
M: But, we have our friends on the road with us so you know, it balances out.

C: What’s been the most memorable show you guys have played? Like, what stands out in your mind?
M: For me it was uh, we played the Trocadero with The Juliana Theory probably 4 years ago and it was the first time we’d ever played there. That was like a venue in Philadelphia that I always used to go to growing up, and I always wanted to play there. And it’s the first show my parents ever saw me play at. And like, they didn’t really support what we were doing for so long… well not “so long”, but for like 2 years, and then they came to that show and they finally got it. So, that was definitely my most memorable show.
T: See, I don’t remember shit because I’m…
M: Space cadet.
T: I party a little too much. But I liked 50 cent, Game and Snoop Dogg. That was pretty amazing.

Mel: What do you guys want to have accomplished when you reach the finish line?
M: Pun intended. *laughs* I just want to continue putting out records that you know, challenge who we are and push this genre’s envelope. I want to stay true to who we are, but I never want to put out the same record twice and I don’t want to sacrifice any of our credibility.
T: that was a good answer, I don’t know if I can add to that *laughs*.

C: Lets say you aren’t in The Starting Line. What are you doing instead?
T: I’ll just be honest, I don’t know.
M: Like if the band were to break up, or if The Starting Line never existed? C: If it was never around.
M: I would be a civil engineer because that’s what I went to college for. We got signed my second semester of senior year.
Mel: Where did you go to college?
M: University of Hartford. It was miserable.
T: I don’t know.
Mel: The guy from Motion City Soundtrack said that he’d be delivering pizza.
T: I wasn’t doing much better than that.

Mel: What’s your favorite breakfast food?
T: I think pancakes, eggs… and bacon. Yea that’s a good breakfast… *laughs* maybe and some toast on the side.
M: I like French toast.
T: French toast is good too. Breakfast burritos are pretty fun too.

C: I don’t think I have any more questions.
Mel: Me either.
C: Well, is there anything else you’d like to say?
Mel: Oh no! I do have one more question. What’s the last piece of good advice someone gave you?
M: Uhm.. I’ve got nothin’ here. *laughs*
T: good advice…
M: Let me think for a minute. No like…
C: Or maybe the last piece of bad advice you were given? Advice at all?
M: There’s a quote from Batman… *everyone laughs* It was awesome. I forget what it is.
T: You’re not going to remember either.
M: Uhm, I forget what it is. But Batman has an awesome quote in there.
T: ‘Lifes like a garden, dig it.’
M: yea *laughs*
T: Or something like that *everyone laughs* That’s the funniest I’ve got.

Mel: So do you guys have any last words or anything?
C: Closing statements?
T: Uhmm, Rockafella lives.
M: Dimes up… Uhm, thank you.