who: Joyce Manor (Matt)
when: March 6th, 2011
location: The Internet
Please list band members, instrument and home town.
Barry Johnson- Vocals and guitar
Matt Ebert- Bass and vocals
Kurt Walcher- Drums
Chase Knobbe- Guitar
We are from Torrance, CA.
weck: What is the origin of the name Joyce Manor? Have you changed the name before or was it always Joyce Manor?
Matt: Joyce Manor was named after an apartment complex down the street from Barry’s house in Long Beach. He was playing in a punk band and originally wanted to use the name as his alias for that band, but ended up starting a new band and using the name.
weck: I recently heard your new album and it kicks ass! How was the recording and creating of the album?
Matt: Hey, thanks! The record was a lot of fun to make. We did the record with our good buddy Alex Estrada, who runs Earth Capital Studios in Los Angeles. We also recorded our demo and our upcoming split with Big Kids at his place. Bass and drums on the full length were recorded live to tape, and the rest was done digitally.
weck: How has your music evolved since you started playing music together?
Matt: Things have changed a lot since the band started in late 2008. The band was formed by Barry and Chase, who got drunk at Disneyland and decided they wanted to start an acoustic pop punk band. After a handful of awesome acoustic shows, they became a full band and started playing every show drunk on Joose. There were a couple more lineup changes, and Kurt and I joined the band around November of 2009. Since then we have released our Constant Headache demo, a split with Summer Vacation, and the full length.
weck: Did you guys have any influences when you started playing as a band?
Matt: When we started playing together, Guided By Voices were a huge influence, as were early Weezer records. Barry and I are both pretty obsessed with The Smiths, but we’re all also pretty into Rancid. Personally, I am pretty thoroughly obsessed with The Weakerthans.
weck: What bands are you guys listening to now?
Matt: I can’t really speak for the other dudes, but currently I am listening to a lot of really good east coast hardcore- bands like Nomos and Vaccine. I’ve been listening to Pagan Altar a lot too. Our friends Bust! from Chicago were just in town, and I was pretty blown away by their set.
weck: Are you guys currently touring? How is it going? Turnouts at the shows?
Matt: We are getting ready to go out and do some east coast shows in late April, and then in late June we are doing a full US tour, so be on the lookout for dates!
weck: How has the scene changed since you started doing shows? Has it been for better or for worse?
Matt: LA has always been a weird city for shows. Everything is so spread out and it’s hard to keep people’s attention, plus venues don’t usually last very long. Venues come and go, and you’ve just gotta roll with it and always be prepared to have to start looking for new spaces. But there are some really good things happening down here, and there are a lot of great people who excel at taking initiative and making shit happen.
weck: What do you think of file sharing/illegally downloaded music? Does it hurt you guys as artists?
Matt: It’s been a part of the game for over a decade now, people need to just learn to accept it and adapt. I can’t think of a band who doesn’t want to be able to pay the bills doing what they do, but at the end of the day, you have a pretty fucked perception of reality if you’re doing this to make money. Our record leaked the week before it came out, and at first we were a little bummed about it, but then we began to notice that a lot more people were coming out to our shows, and a lot more people were singing along. I’m really grateful for that.
weck: What format do you prefer? Vinyl or CD?
Matt: Vinyl! Clearly, records are way cooler!
weck: Any words of wisdom for people out there thinking of starting their own band?
Matt: Don’t half-ass anything! If you’re gonna do it, do it. When you’re recording/writing/designing artwork/etc, it’s really easy to settle on “good enough”, but it is very important to keep working at something until you think it’s great. Sorry if I sound like a camp counselor, but do you think Magic Johnson ever half-assed anything in his life?
weck: Any parting words of wisdom or shout-outs to anyone?
Matt: I would like to thank anyone who has seen us live and had to stand through us falling hopelessly out of tune and then proceeding to pass our only tuner around the room while uncomfortably trying to make microphone small talk. We are saving up for more, I promise. Thanks for hangin’ in there.