Matt Thiessen

think he's from Canada.

Matt Thiessen is originally Canadian, moved to Ohio when he was just a babe.

But he's got that thick Canadian blood in him, too.

Yeah, and they're right across the

We're joined by someone who knows a thing or two about Reliant K. Matt Hoops needs no introduction, but we're going to try to give him one anyway.

In high school, Matt started a silly punk band with his best friend, Matt Thiessen.

He's been an essential member through every season of the band's history.

He's also the proprietor of 1981 Inventions, a specialty guitar pedal shop with some of the best gear in Nashville.

I thought it was so great.

But I'll never forget, I was talking to the singer, Matt Thiessen, and he was saying that he was having major writer's block for the next record, which would be Mm-Hmm.

So I was surprised when that record came out.

I was like, I guess he figured it out, because this record's really good.

I remember one time I was talking to Nick.

We'd stayed friends.

He's the bass player and the other singer in the band.

We'd stayed friends that whole time.

Copeland came to town.

Matt Thiessen came to see Copeland with us.

Just the best time of our lives.

I remember...

Yeah.

I think this is the album where they figure out that maybe some of their strengths and some of maybe just Matt Thiessen's strengths in general are more with softer sounds.

Like, you know, like he's a really, really great, like Mark said it last week, he's a great ballad singer.

Yeah.

sure.

And I'm a little younger than David and Matt in the band.

So as well.

So, um, like five years behind their era of what they've started listening to, I think.

And so members on this record, we have David on vocals and guitar, like we mentioned, switching from guitar to bass, which I do want to discuss.

We have Neil on guitar and vocals.

We have Matt Jackson on drums, who I believe carried over from Sidewalk Slam as well.

And then newcomer to the band, Lyle Chastain on bass.

And we get some of the ballad Matt, you know, like we get all of it.

So we've talked on prior episodes about how Matt Thiessen is one of the world's best bridge writers.

Yeah, I

think he writes a great bridge.

is.

It

almost reminds me more of some of the stuff that he wrote with our, you know, doing the Matt Thiessen and Earthquakes thing.

Sure.

Okay.

We have, of course, Matt Thiessen and Matt Hoops.

Matt Thiessen mostly only playing guitar on this record

with a little piano,

and then vocals, Matt Hoops on guitar, and then I believe some BGVs.

I

love the line, and since I'm rather smart and cunning, I took off down the next hall running.

But he's also not cool there, in a way that is very Matt Thiessen.