The lead singer of Houndmouth is Matt Myers. We’re the stereotypical fangirling freshmen who want to fuck him. Instead, we got to interview him.
On November 17th, 2021, the band Houndmouth performed at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club in a concert unlike any we have been to before. The energy radiating on stage from Myers, along with bass guitarist Zak Appleby, and drummer Shane Cody, overshadowed that of the sea of fans. Myers’ fingers grazed the metal wire of his guitar strings, and damn, we wish we could be played like that. Our bodies viscerally reacted with every reverberation of his genius chords. After playing Darlin’, the three members thanked the crowd and exited the stage. The lights were shut off, but smoke lingered in the air.
“They didn’t even sing Sedona yet!” a voice yelled from the center of the throng, referring to Houndmouth’s most popular song. People stood in a stupor, pondering their next move. But after a quick outfit change, the band was back on stage rocking out. Everyone sang along, knowing every word to every verse of that one song.
You didn’t need to know more than the song Sedona to notice the pure childish joy of the bandmates together. Myers later told us, “I grew up as an only child, so I don’t have siblings or anything. So this is… what I would consider like, my siblings, or like, you know, like brothers. So we pretty much do anything for each other. We keep it pretty light on tour, like touring is kind of rough and lots of just long, long drives.”
“A long time ago, Shane missed the bus and he got kicked out of a hotel. I just won’t give you any reasons. It was negative four degrees. He was wearing this huge fur coat and standing in the front of the hotel. He doesn’t have any pants on… It’s 4 A.M. and the bus has to turn around. It’s 30 minutes away.” —Matt Myers
Myers did not always have crowds of freshmen girls drooling at his feet. After struggling to get C’s in high school, he quickly turned to an out-of-school social scene and eventually his creative calling. He spent hours at home practicing the guitar, and began building his arsenal of instruments to write his first song. “My grandma had a little keyboard in the house,” Myers recalls. “I just wrote a song about my neighbor that I was like, I was really young and I was kind of in love… also, I didn’t like her very much. The love-hate thing, the confusing love-hate thing…”
When asked about how he could better himself as a musician, he shared little desire to learn more scales. It is experimenting beyond the rules of music where he finds his best works. Most of his favorite melodies in his songs sat in his song book for over two years before they fell into place. He said,
“You’re sitting down, you’re playing, and you kind of choose to forget the rules of music. And you can have like a freedom to go anywhere and make a core progression that doesn’t really make sense. And then you’ll find something that catches your ear, and you’re like, I don’t know why this is working, but it feels right.”
“We were in Fargo, and Shane was wearing the same fur coat. We came out of the venue, and this kid was standing on our trailer. Shane was like, Alright, dude, you have to get down and the kid jumps down. He doesn’t say a word. And he hocks a loogie right on Shane’s jacket. That’s right in the middle of his chest. And Shane was just like “[I have to] hit him, hit him in the face, and knock him out. Like, I have to do this now.” It’s like he did it out of principle. He didn’t even want to.” —Matt Myers
Even with a wife and a child who he loves, Myers admits being drawn to “the most attractive instrument” which is, in his opinion, the drums. “I love playing drums and singing,” he said. “During our rehearsals, that’s all I want to do. I just want to play drums. I got to play them on the record. I didn’t even know I was recording drums, but I sat down and had like the headphones on when Good for You is playing.” This track was then used in the official song.
If you’re lucky, a good live concert can be a transient experience. The lyrics stay the same, but the individual meaning put to words is ever evolving. Houndmouth’s performance at the Paradise Rock Club was no exception. Myers, Appleby, and Cody may have one famous song, but their performance was larger than life. Houndmouth will be continuing their Good For You tour with a performance in Chicago on December 17th. Check them out if you can.
Eliza Kimball (elizakimball@college.harvard.edu) will be returning home from break looking for a potential love-hate relationship with her new neighbors.
Hannah Frazer (hannahfrazer@college.harvard.edu) is reconsidering her stance on mustaches after seeing Myers’.