Gym Class Heroes performed at the House of Blues on Friday as part of the Boston University Programming Council’s SPF 2012 Event.
Max Belin: We just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, pick your brains a little, see what’s going on. So, first question, how do you feel your music has changed from “As Cruel as School Children” to now?
Eric Roberts: Drastically! I don’t know, I think throughout our record, Gym Class Heroes has a pretty signature sound. Even though our records kind of, you know, don’t really go all over the place, they aren’t quite the same either.
MB: Well, you definitely fit an interesting genre being rap-rock and hip-hop, you’re always throwing in something new . . .
ER: That term “rap-rock” always has weird connotations . . .
Matt McGinley: But I understand what you mean, our sound is rooted in hip hop with these rock elements and soul elements as well as a lot of different things.
MB: Speaking of rock, you guys have been on the Warped Tour since 2008. What was your favorite part of that experience?
MM: They serve water and it comes in a can . . . it’s such a crazy vehicle for water, you never see it in a can.
ER: You also get two free cases of beer everyday. All bands do, and it’s like what I imagine hand-outs at a soup kitchen are like. Everyone is so desperate for the beer. But you know, in all seriousness it’s a pretty rough tour. Just really long drives, it got really hot and sticky all the time. When we started it was definitely really rough; we were teaching ourselves. I see it as being in high school: we started off as freshmen and now we’re, I guess, super seniors.
MM: We’re like the creepy dudes that come back to the party. And we look around are like, “Who are all these kids?” And then we try to hook up with all the underage girls [laughs] . . . but as Eric said it’s definitely like boot camp for touring bands. We worked from the ground up with signs just trying to get people to watch us or playing for ten kids at one point in our careers . . . so it’s cool to look back and see the progress we’ve made between then and now.
MB: If there was any artist you would work with, or do a collaboration with, who would it be?
ER: I don’t know how it would go over on the record, but I think it always changes every time I’m asked. But I think currently, I would just love to work with Lenny Kilmister from Motorhead. I don’t know how he would fit on the record, but he’s one of the last living legends of rock and roll and actually just put out a record that’s really good. Their single is called “I Know How To Die”…but it’s still a fun song and I just want to crank it to eleven and jam out.
MB: So, almost going in a different direction, can you guys comment on dubstep and how it’s influencing your genre?
MM: We actually just came from an electronic festival in Australia and there was a lot of dubstep. It was like zombies jamming to music . . . but I like a lot of those artists, and it’s brand new to me just like it is to the rest of the world. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m influenced by it musically, but maybe I am subconsciously. I think artists like Skrillex, we listen to that a lot on the bus and in the dressing room and stuff.
MB: I’m sure you guys hung out with him on Warped tour?
ER: Yeah when he was like seventeen years old . . . but I think ever since the advent of dubstep, there’s been dubstep remixes for everything including metal and stuff, but I don’t see a dubstep remix of the Gym Class Heroes. I mean it can happen . . . I’m sure tomorrow, someone will go check out this track, something will come up on YouTube, which may even be good for us!
MB: What recommendations do you have for kids our age (college students) or advice for people getting into the industry?
MM: I think just networking, doing what you guys are doing now which is in here, socializing with the world-famous Gym Class Heroes [laughs], you already have your foot in the door! But I think college is a great place to get involved and sort of . . . what’s the word? Get your hands dirty?
ER: Get your feet wet, man! It was actually in college where me and Matt met. I wasn’t going to college, I was just a townie, but he went for the music industry program to SUNY Oneonta which is one of the top ones in the state of New York. I was running around town since I was sixteen and you know, at that point in time the music scene there was huge and we were playing in separate bands. Then I joined this other band called Kill The Frontman, which was a hardcore punk band. Then one day Matt just said “Yeah man we’re going, our band just got signed.” And I was like, “Oh okay Matt see you never . . . ”
MB: Call me maybe?
ER: It was really funny, I remember he gave me a copy of the CD and it wasn’t even printed.
MM: This was the Papercut Chronicles . . .
ER: And he’s like, “Listen man, we just got signed, this can’t get leaked.” And I definitely left it at the bar. I instantly lost it. But the point is, that environment definitely helps out. If I hadn’t put myself out there and played in a bunch of crappy bands, I would have never met Matt.
MM: I also think taking a risk too. You have to be willing to take a shot at your dreams, as lame as it sounds. I dropped out of school just to pursue this fleeting opportunity that I believed in. I actually went back to school and graduated from Boston University like last year. I got my degree a year ago, so I’m like alumni!
MB: When was the last time you guys were in Boston?
ER: I think in the fall, I believe. After he got signed I went off to college, the Culinary Arts School in Schenectady and then our mutual friend Brian Welch called and said, “Hey man, Matt wants to get ahold of you I think you should really call him.” And then Matt was like, “So man . . . what are you doing the rest of your life?” and I go, “Uhhh . . . nothing . . . ” I instantly stopped going to class. But, telling my parents, they thought it was the dumbest thing I could do. I was putting myself through college. I was the first kid in my family to graduate high school and go to college. So they wanted me to stay and they would ask, “Do you really think playing bass is gonna pay the bills?” And I’m like, I don’t care, I’m going.
MB: Well, I’m sure they’re all proud of you! Thank you guys so much for talking to us!
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