Matt & Kim

All Music Guide:

Keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino create the giddy, punky pop music of Matt & Kim. The two came together in 2004 while attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and sessions for their debut album began two years later after a spring tour with Meneguar. Featuring vocals from both members, the self-titled album was released by the iHEARTCOMIX label in fall 2006, and several festival appearances (including stints at Lollapalooza and the Siren Music Festival) kept the band's profile high in 2007. Matt & Kim continued touring throughout the following years, taking a brief break to record material for their sophomore album, Grand, which appeared in early 2009 on their new label home of Fader and cracked the Billboard 200 at number 165. Sidewalks followed one year later and, helped by a video that saw the pair stripping down to their birthday suits in the streets of New York City, charted much higher, peaking at number 30. Their fourth album, Lightning, was self-produced by the band again and saw the light of day in November of 2012.

Wikipedia:

Matt & Kim are an indie pop duo/couple residing in Brooklyn, New York. The group formed in 2004 and is composed of Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums). They are known for their DIY attitude toward music.

History [edit]

Matt & Kim [edit]

Matt and Kim are a duo that released their first album, Matt & Kim, on October 26, 2006. The album sold modestly, primarily at live shows. Many indie fans praised their music, and the two gained popularity through their many outgoing tours.

Grand [edit]

Following the success of their first album, the duo signed with FADER Label and their second album, "Grand", recorded in Matt's childhood bedroom at his parent's home in Vermont, was released on January 20, 2009.

A video for one of the album's highlights, "Lessons Learned", in which the duo strips nude in Times Square, was shot during a very cold winter day in February 2009. The clip became a viral success, being bounced off of YouTube temporarily, which only heightened awareness. By September 13, 2009 though, "Lessons Learned" had won the Breakthrough Video award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Sidewalks [edit]

On November 2, 2010, the duo released their third album, Sidewalks. Co-produced by Ben Allen, Oliver Strauss and Matt, the album as a whole adopted a more refined, yet dense hip-hop influence in comparison to the previous two, while still maintaining the upbeat and party-esque style they are known for. Matt & Kim headlined two US tours in support, Fall 2010 and again during May/June 2011. As well, they played numerous global festivals including Australia's Big Day Out, Japan's Fuji and V in the UK. In addition, they toured through many US colleges, worked extensively through Europe and South America and In Fall 2011, they supported Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance on select dates.

Although not officially released as a single, the song "Good for Great" received significant airplay in some markets, and was ranked #65 on Boston station WFNX's Top 101 of 2011 list.

Lightning [edit]

On June 22, 2012, Matt & Kim issued a brand new track, "Let's Go" as a digital single, meanwhile, the band put finishing touches on their fourth full length album, Lightning, released on October 2, 2012. So far, their single, "Let's Go", has peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. On June 25, 2012, the duo uploaded a video to their youtube channel featuring ball handler Pat the Roc performing basketball tricks as "Let's Go" plays in full. Then on September 4, 2012, the duo released a lyric video for another new song on the album, "Now"'. On October 1, 2012, "Overexposed", "Not That Bad", "Much Too Late", "Ten Dollars I Found", "Tonight", "It's Alright", "I Said" and "I Wonder" were released on youtube as official first listens. Matt & Kim premiered their official music video for "Let's Go" via the Funny or Die website. in November.

The full length album got a digital/cd/vinyl release on October 2, 2012 and the band began their official US Fall Lightning Tour the very next day in Burlington, VT.

On February 25, 2013, the "It's Alright" music video was released, featuring Matt & Kim in a choreographed dance routine in bed.

On Tour [edit]

Matt and Kim have announced an upcoming Winter 2013 US tour with Passion Pit, commencing February 5.

In other media [edit]

In 2009, their song "Daylight" was featured in a Bacardi commercial, a Mars Bar commercial, and the second episode of Community. Their song "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare" was featured in the Community pilot. "Daylight" was used on the ending credits in Season 6 of the TV series Entourage and in the season 5 finale of the TV show Skins. Their song "AM/FM Sound" was featured in the episode of Chuck, "Chuck Versus the Gobbler". The band welcomes sponsorship deals, as it offers them opportunities to get their music played and heard, and has helped them keep their ticket prices low, but Kim maintains “There’s things we just won’t do. But if we use a product, we have no problem telling people”. On August 26, 2009, Matt & Kim played the song "Daylight" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The track is featured on NBA Live 10, and as a remixed version featuring De La Soul on FIFA 10. "Daylight" is also on the Need for Speed: Nitro soundtrack. The song also appeared in the game The Sims 3: World Adventures; re-recorded into Simlish, the gibberish language used in the game. Their song "Cameras" was used in an advertisement for Tune Up in which they were also featured. "Cameras" was also used in the trailer for the Morgan Spurlock film The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and appears on its soundtrack album. Recently, their song "Don't Slow Down" has been used in the commercial for the new MTV show "Underemployed" and earlier it was in the first episode of the third Gossip Girl season. Their song "Let's Go" was also used in the promo for the TV show "The Mindy Project". On October 1, 2012 Matt and Kim performed the single "Let's Go" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.