Picking up the Pieces

Their sophomore release gave Gym Class Heroes a firm chokehold on the charts, but after a tumultuous year, can they pick up the pieces and continue their rise to the top?

I’m trekking through the backstage area at Warped Tour, beads of sweat dripping off of me as I bob and weave through the crowds of musicians wandering around aimlessly, assumedly killing time before or after their sets. My interview with Travis McCoy, the front man for Gym Class Heroes, has been pushed back an hour, and now that the hour is passed, I’m searching desperately for the tour manager to guide me to the promised land – otherwise known as an air-conditioned tour bus.

Finally, the tour manager spots me and escorts me to the bus. Once I’m on board, I take a look around, waiting patiently for McCoy to return from a quick ride on his moped as I enjoy the solace from the sun. The bus seems so – normal. The guys in the band seem so – normal. Is this what makes Gym Class Heroes such a treasure to fans? Is this what makes their upcoming release – titled The Quilt – one of the most highlyanticipated albums of the year?

In an era where musicians are torn between their real selves and their stage personas, Gym Class Heroes has always been one of the realest bands on the block. In March 2008, McCoy proved this by speaking to his fans directly through his blog about his quest for sobriety. In early July, he was arrested for assaulting a concertgoer who had taunted him with racial slurs at the St. Louis stop of the Warped Tour. To err is human. To hide behind your publicist is celebrity. To unapologetically be who you are, own up to mistakes you’ve made and move on is Gym Class Heroes. The bus door opens, and the six-foot-plus McCoy walks in, greeting me with a smile and apologizing for being late. “I had to do it” he says of the quick moped run. “It’s such a beautiful day.” As he flops on the couch, he starts fidgeting with his powder blue Phillies hat before settling in. He looks up at me, flashes a quick grin, and says, “So what’s up?” It’s at that moment that I realize this is less about an interview, and more about catching up with our old friends Gym Class Heroes.

D920: So how has everything been going? It seems like just yesterday that I saw you last.

TM: Wow. Yeah, it doesn’t even seem like that. I think the days start to mesh together after awhile. The past year has been a crazy year. As far as the band goes, it’s been a great, great year. As far as my personal life goes, it’s been shitty, shitty, shitty year. But the good’s outweighed the bad in the end though.

D920: Is everything starting to kind of straighten itself out though?

TM: Yeah, for sure. I had to get some things straight in my life before I could finish the new record and prepare myself for being on tour for the rest of my life. We got those kinks worked out, and I couldn’t be happier, to be honest with you.

D920: Now when we talked, “Cupid’s Chokehold” had just broken out and was on its way up the charts, and it just got huge! Were you even remotely prepared for that, especially considering it was an older track that kind of came out of nowhere?

TM: Not at all. I mean, we’ve been a band for eleven years now. So I kind of feel like – I mean, to be on tour, working as much as we have, and then for the past year to be such a frantic, whimsical, (makes strained noise) – it’s hard to keep up. But it’s kind of about time. Some people think we just kind of came out of nowhere, but to us, it’s like damn, finally!

D920: Long overdue…

TM: It’s like now we can have a tour bus, and we don’t have to like, lug our own equipment in. But then you get to a point where things get too easy. It’s like I miss lugging our equipment in, and getting lost in the van. It’s a catch twenty-two – it’s awesome to be where we’re at, but you kind of miss all of the things that got you here.

D920: Is it hard to keep that hunger and stay focused on that grind?

TM: Not at all. I think we’re just as hungry as we were before we got signed to Fueled By Ramen. The day we all feel like we’ve accomplished what we’ve set out to achieve – which we don’t even know what that is – the day we get bored is the day Gym Class Heroes sails into oblivion. We’re still just as focused and excited as we were before. A lot of bands get jaded with accolades and awards, but we’re still like, no, there has to be more beyond that. I look at groups like Hall and Oates – you hear a song on the radio 20 years after it was made, and you’re still like, “Wow, that song’s awesome!” We’re in it for the longevity. So yeah…(makes snoring sound and starts to chuckle)

D920: When did you finish recording The Quilt?

TM: Shit – about a month and a half, two months ago? We’ve been mixing and mastering since, and now we finally have a record that’s complete and it’s cool to sit down and listen to it. Like “Wow, we did this!”

D920: What’s the difference between this one and As Cruel as School Children?

TM: I feel this record (pauses) – it’s kind of a hybrid of the last two records, but we also tried to up the bar a little bit. Instead of listening to bands that I admire or that I enjoy to get i n s p i r a t i o n , I listened to our two last records. I picked the things that I liked and amplified them a little bit, you know? It’s like the others had something for everybody on it, but this one more so. Some stuff is a little more rocky, the hip-hop is a little more hiphop. There’s some island, reggae type stuff – it’s all over the place. That’s why I think The Quilt was the perfect title for it. Each song kind of has its own personality, but Gym Class Heroes is the constant – it’s still us.

D920: You guys are very different though now, aren’t you?

TM: Yeah, it kind of documents the past year. I feel like this record isn’t as bright and shiny as the last one. It’s still fun, but it’s a little darker. The last record we set out to make a feel-good summertime record that you can just put on and have fun to. This record – I was still in that mindset that I was excited about what was happening, but there were still those underlying things that were going on outside of the band that took a toll on me (he ducks his head down and peeks out the tour bus window). It definitely comes through on a few of the songs.

D920: I know every song is like your baby and you love them all the same – blah blah blah – bullshit. Which one is your favorite?

TM: There’s a song that I wrote for my cousin that has Daryl Hall on it, called “Live Forever.” That was like a cream dream for me.

D920: No way! I had the biggest crush on him when I was like, six years old!

TM: Oh yeah? Check this… He proceeds to clench his fists, palms down, and show me a tattoo of the “Private Eyes” album cover - Hall on his left hand, Oates on his right. As we banter back and forth, identifying our own Hall and Oates favs, McCoy smiles wide and promises me a copy of the mash-up CD of Gym Class Heroes tracks with Hall and Oates music. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he talks about the music like a proud parent who just gave birth to something truly artistically great.

D920: Ok, Daryl Hall song is a no-brainer then. what else?

TM: “Cookie Jar” is like a club song. I started playing it for friends, and the response I was getting was like “Wow!” I’d take it out and have the DJ slip it in, and the crowd response was crazy. Like, Gym Class Heroes made a club record? We never came out making just one kind of music, so we kind of have free reign to do whatever we want. So we made a club song. I’m so happy we never put a scarlet letter on ourselves and said, “This is what we are” because I have no f_cking clue who we are. We write a song, we record it, and if we like it, hooray for us. If the world likes it, then it’s a plus for us. But I have to make sure that we as a band love the songs first – then we’ll cut ‘em loose for everyone else.

D920: But who really only likes one kind of music now, anyway?

TM: I feel like a lot of people are opening themselves up to different types of music a lot more too. When I was younger, my high school was really cliquey. But now those lines are getting blurred. The kids who listen to Nine Inch Nails are also listening to Lil’ Wayne now. It’s a beautiful thing for music. That’s how it should have always been, you know what I’m sayin’?

D920: So you got Daryl Hall checked off the list. Who’s the next “cream dream” for you?

TM: Prince – that’s the next. Wait, Andre 3000, then Prince, because that seems a little more reachable at this point. We’re actually doing a remix of “Cookie Jar” that we have Petey Crack on – I love that dude. We already got his verse and we’re trying to send it to Andre and his management right now and get him on the “Cookie Jar” remix. That would make my year! The conversation goes a little off-topic, discussing Lil’ Wayne and if there is any merit to the statement that he’s the greatest rapper of all time. McCoy – a hip-hop head, if you will – speaks to the topic like a true fan of music. To think that a band of this status would have a hard time attracting Andre 3000 seems odd, but it also further proves that they are just like any other fans with dreams just as big.

D920: There’s something really attainable about you guys – you’re a huge band, but you still come off as a garage band. I watched you guys on MTV after we (Continued on next page) DELUXE920 37 38 DELUXE920 “ “ met and I felt like I was watching my best friend’s band make it big. And I know other people feel the same way…

TM: I think that’s what separates us from the other bands that have achieved the success that we’ve achieved. I still feel connected with the people who have been there from the jump. I feel like we never hit the button and disconnected ourselves from them. We’re still in the crowd watching bands, signing autographs, whatever… McCoy pauses mid-sentence, dipping his head down and takes another peek out of the tour bus window. He picks his head up, and then looks at me earnestly.

TM: I have really bad social anxiety, which I take medication for. I try not to let it make me a slave to what’s going on. I’m reclusive by nature, ever since I was younger, but there are days I don’t want to be by myself and I want to be in the muck of it all. So if I have to sign a thousand autographs before I make it to the stage, it’s all worth it for me.

D920: People still love you guys too…

TM: For sure. And it’s genuine. There’s a lot of people who take for granted the people that put them in the position that they’re in. That’s something we all pride ourselves on – we know we wouldn’t be where we’re at if it wasn’t for a shit-ton of other people who catapulted us just by being fans. I know it seems like it was an overnight thing, but we’ve been in this band half of our lives, so to see the same fans in the crowd from even three or four years ago… He takes another quick peek out the window. At this point, I’m not sure if he is looking for something, or simply checking the status of whatever caught his eye earlier. I turn over my left shoulder and peek out the window too, hoping to get a glance of whatever McCoy is looking at. When I look back at him, he gives me a sheepish grin as if to apologize.

TM: You know Milwaukee had a lot to do with us becoming so big. Milwaukee kind of sparked the flame for us. We’re nothing but grateful, so we’re definitely going to do a great show tonight and let them know that – if it wasn’t for this great city of cheese curds – we wouldn’t be on this tour bus having this conversation right now.

D920: And have you had a delicious cheese curd since you’ve been here?

TM: I actually don’t eat cheese. The last time I was here, I was in a taxi going to the airport or something, and this woman is like “You have to try them, you have to try them,” and I’m all NO. As the story continues, I get the hint that there’s a good reason he doesn’t eat cheese. The tale garnered chuckles from everyone on the bus, and it’s another moment that I feel more like I’m telling poop jokes with my friend than doing an interview with a platinum-selling artist. Ok, I remind myself, back to business...

D920: So since you’re always on tour, how do you prepare for each new visit to a city? Like how did you prepare for this tour versus the last time you were here?

TM: We have a half an hour to make an impact, and I feel like – we have a solid following, but there are still kids walking past that have no idea who we are. Which is awesome to me. I still get chills when I see a kid stop and come over to the stage. It’s like, “Yeah!” Wait, I went off on a tangent – what was the question again?

D920: How do you prepare the stage show?

TM: That’s right – 30 minutes. We’ve worked out set list so the crowd gets a taste of everything we’ve done over the years. We also have a little cool, really, really way left-field thing that we do that throws everyone off for about 30 seconds. They’re all, “What the f_ck is going on right now?” and then we bring it back. We managed to fit in like three new songs, and kids are lovin’ ‘em [sic]. The response we’ve gotten to the new material is amazing, so it makes me that much more excited about the album.

D920: What’s the biggest compliment someone could pay you about your music?

TM: I think the fact that I’ve been clean for about five months, a lot of kids have come up to me and said, “You’ve inspired me, you’ve put things in perspective for me.” I wrote a huge blog about it before I went to rehab or detox, just to let kids know that… McCoy pauses for a moment and starts fidgeting with what looks like a credit card, but I later realize is a guitar pick card. He furrows his brow, pausing for another moment before continuing. I kind of promised myself before even getting on the bus that I wouldn’t ask him about it, because the rehab experience is intensely personal and sometimes not for public consumption – no matter how public the figure is. The human side of me wants to know he’s ok, but then quickly realizes it’s really none of my business. Almost as if he senses the mental battle I’m having with myself, he takes a deep breath, looks up at me and continues…

TM: I’ve lost so many friends – I just lost a friend a week ago to drugs, you know? I just wanted kids to know We know we wouldn’t be where we’re at if it wasn’t for a shit-ton of other people who catapulted us just by being fans. - McCoy that we error just like you do. We’re just as human as you are, and here – this is me. I’m just trying to get my shit together. I may error again, you know what I’m sayin’? The fact that I can have a kid come up to me and say “I read your blog and I’ve been clean for a week or two,” it’s like wow. If I can have that kind of impact on people – it’s scary, but when things like that happen, it’s awesome. ‘Cause like, I look back when I was putting songs like “Pillmatic” and it’s not that I was glorifying drug use, but it’s where I was at in my life at that time, and music is kind of my outlet. There’s a lot of hints of me and my life throughout all the records that have come out. And there’s a large amount of guilt that comes with that. Like, man, I hope these kids don’t think that I’m saying it’s cool to do this. At the end of the day, you make your own decisions, but it’s cool to have kids take something from something from my mistakes and things that I’ve been through and change for the better.

D920: Are there tracks on the album that served as an outlet for you at that time?

TM: There’s a song that (guitarist) Disashi wrote called “Live a Little” that kind of, after listening to it from a listener’s perspective instead of an artist’s perspective, I was just like, “Wow, we really need to really step up and take advantage of this, of every moment and every opportunity.” I mean, of all of the friends that died, I’m sure none of them thought that would be their last day or that would be their last fix, you know what I mean? So that song put things into perspective for me. Like this could be our last tour ever. I could drop dead tomorrow. I think since I got back from the treatment center, I try to take everything day by day though. McCoy returns to fidgeting with the pick card, and then proceeds to take another peek out of the window. He looks back at me, cracks a smile, and then looks out of the window again…

TM: I try to get up early every day, though I slept in really, really late today. But I try to get up early and just walk around. Just little things that aren’t even relevant when you’re on drugs are the things that I cherish now. Like me and Matt just took a ride on my moped by the water. I’ll be thinking about that for like the next week, like that shit was fun! It was a five minute ride, but little things like that. On the last tour we went rubber boat rafting and fishing. I even flew a kite. Shit like that means so much to me now, where as before if someone asked me to go fly a kite I’d be all wasted and be like “F_ck off, who wants to fly a kite?” But now I’m all, “You got two?” I feel like I’ve – I don’t know. I don’t want to say matured, because I’m still a big, goofy kid, but I’ve definitely changed my evil ways, so to say. I have my band to thank for it, and you know my girlfriend, my family, our fans. Life is good, life is definitely good to say the least.

D920: So then you take these life changes and you head out on the road, which is notorious for this image…

TM: You know the thing of it is, the last tour we did was a college tour, and it was my first tour sober EVER. It was frightening. The first day I was in the back lounge freaking out, like am I going to be able to do this? Am I going to have the same enthusiasm that I pretended to have before? Not to say that I wasn’t having fun, but I was such a blur mentally and even physically. I feel like I was hardly there half the time. But after that first show, it was such a rush. Just the adrenaline that I got from playing a show sober, it’s like wow – I would never want to go back. It brought me back to when we were kids playing graduation parties and garages, when I wasn’t all messed up. There is no drug – or I haven’t found one – that could ever compare to having a really good show. There’s something about the energy that resonates even an hour and a half later when I’m sitting on the bus. You know, it feels so good you get the tingle bunnies (shrugs his shoulders and wiggles his fingers).

D920: So what’s life for the band like now as a whole?

TM: We’ve definitely calmed down a little bit, but I wouldn’t say we’re boring. Though we do spend a lot of time on the internet. There’s always fun shit to do. But that’s something that comes with touring as much as we do – we have to take care of ourselves. But we’re all in such a better headspace than we were before. Not to quote myself, but I said in that blog that there’s no instruction manual for this life, and I stand by that. But now I feel like things are more in order. I still don’t know what day it is, but I feel like that’s a good problem to have. But I don’t know…am I boring you to death?

D920: Not at all! I see all of this stuff on the blogs, so I’m fascinated to hear what comes straight from you.

TM: It’s kind of a car crash – you don’t really want to look at those things, but then you have to. I’m human – some shit gets to me, and some shit just rolls right off. But there are some things I need to defend myself on. For the most part, I just let them fizzle out on their own. If I spend too much time fighting back or defending myself – I know where I’m at in my life. All of these websites, they’re not on the bus. They don’t know what we go through. But our lives are pretty much up for public consumption, so there’s nothing I can do but laugh it off. Unless it’s true, then I cringe a little bit (chuckles).

D920: Ok, so we’ll just skip over any more of that. Now the album drops…

TM: September 9th.

D920: What happens when you finish here?

TM: Once the record hits, it’s like ridiculous touring and non-stop promos. We have a little time off, then go to the U.K. and get them ready for what’s about to happen to them. Then we come back and get ready for the tour with the Roots and Estelle, which I am f_cking excited for. “Not Your Substitute Lover” is my morning song…(singing) ”Not your substitute lover”…

D920: Ok, I get it, I get it! Now before I let you get back to your singing on the tour bus, give me three words to describe the new album.

TM: Really f_ckin’ awesome. Matt, three words to describe the album? Matt: Crazy, sexy, cool.

TM: Danny, three words to describe the album?

Danny: Gym Class Heroes! Show some love!

Gym Class Heroes drops The Quilt on September 9th.