Matchbox Twenty's Kyle Cook sounds tired. He's already missed our 10 a.m. telephone interview, then the 11 a.m. one. Now, it's about 11:30 and I've finally got him on the phone. But you can't blame the guy. The band has been on the road for so long, touring to promote their highly successful third CD, that Cook has almost forgotten where they've been.
"We've been to Australia, to Europe a couple times, maybe even three," he says, "and we've already done one United States run." Hell, even his voice sounds rumpled.
More Than You Think You Are has given them the hits "Disease" and "Unwell"; which at one point was the only rock song in the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. Why does it seem that Matchbox is the only rock voice, calling out from a forest of rap and hip-hop and bubblegum pop?
"I think a lot of it has to do maybe more with how the band is perceived," says Cook, "rather than that particular song specifically." Their three discs, with multiple singles coming off each one, has given them staying power that other bands have lacked, he says. But even then, the success of "Unwell" still has Cook scratching his head.
"It starts off with a banjo, that makes it even more odd. It's like J-Lo, banjo, then Ludacris or something. How that happens, I have no idea."
Matchbox has been on the North American leg of its arena tour since mid-September. But it's squeezing in a gig at the 1,400-seat Joint on November 12, between a 16,000-seat Fresno show and a 7,000-plus seat show in Colorado. Cook welcomes the smaller venue, both for the improved sound quality and because the audience gets to enjoy the performance more.
"You can equate it to acting to a certain degree, if you look at Broadway vs. movies. In arenas, other than the first two or three rows, people are fairly far away," he says. "There needs to be this heightened, accented sense of movement because you feel like you're playing for the people in the middle to the back who, unless they have binoculars, they're not seeing what's going on stage very well. They're not seeing the nuances; they're not seeing the facial expressions; they're not seeing the hands striking the guitar, the sticks hitting the drums."
On top of touring, Matchbox is also releasing an EP titled EP on November 11. It will have six tracks of live material that the band has been collecting for years. "Eventually you want to sift through it and find some magic in there," says Cook. "Sift through it and find some gems, and create a little EP for some of the fans who really don't get to see the shows."
EP will also have an studio track that never made it onto Mad Season, and as with every other band these days, some video—the band's recent show at LA's Troubadour. Cook says the reason is two-fold. "Art takes a lot of different forms, and the art that we make is music so it's nice to have that visual," he says. "I think a lot of it might be Atlantic's way of combating against an industry that's in a slump right now, too.
"The economy sucks right now; it's a really weird time; and the first thing to go in people's minds is entertainment. So, I think that the record companies are finding ways to collect things for their artists to keep people interested in them."
For the future, Cook would like to see Matchbox try to fill some big shoes.
"I'd like to see them do some sort of conceptual record or concept record," says Cook. "I know that we have a Wall in us. I'd love to make a Wall type of record."
But is the time right for a space-rock, Pink Floyd-type epic?
"I didn't think that the times were necessary right for a song like 'Bright Lights,' which has this 'Layla'-esque, sort of alto super guitar, super-'70s kind of vibe, and then it has that guitar solo in it," Cook replies. "It leads me back to the fact that we've established ourselves as a band that people accept, that if the song is good, people accept it, even if we reinvent ourselves to a certain degree."