It's easy to think four-piece Joyce Manor is a local band. They make their third appearance in the area this year on Sunday at Dada with Hate Your Friends, Hop Along and Fairbanks. We caught up with bassist Matt Ebert on his experiences playing in the area, an imaginary show with OFF!, and their worst onstage moment. Given the brevity of their songs (only one of their songs breaks the three-minute mark), we thought it would be fun to have a quick interview as well.
You guys have been to the Dallas-Fort Worth area multiple times over the years, including a couple of times this year. Can you remember the first time you played here? The first time we played the area was probably 18 months ago, at Rubber Gloves in Denton. I love that bar, and we ended up playing an after-show/house party. It was awesome.
On a related note, what do you like about the DFW area? The people! We have made a few good friends in the area of the last couple years and seeing them is always a highlight.
Relating even more, you guys played Dallas the same night At the Drive-In played. Have you ever seen those guys before? I never have, but a few of the other guys went over and caught about half of their set that night. I hear they still sound great, although it doesn't really seem like their hearts are in it these days.
This will be my only question about the brevity of your songs: Would you guys ever want to play with OFF! and see who can play the most songs in an hour? I'm not the competitive type, but I think they would win!
Since you guys covered "Video Killed the Radio Star," any fond memories of watching MTV as a kid? Absolutely! I was an MTV junkie from ages 5-12 or so. Green Day's "Basket Case" video was a big deal at the time, as was Rancid's "Salvation."
So far, what's the worst thing that has happened to the band while onstage? Last summer we played a bar show in St. Louis, and one of the PA speakers caught on fire during our last song. There were flames coming out of the speaker and it took a few people to strategically get it out into the street. In hindsight though, it was really the best thing that's ever happened to us onstage.
