A Matchbook Romance

When we selected Matchbook Romance to grace the cover of this month’s issue, we weren’t very familiar with the band. In fact, when we’d originally interviewed them during our trip to the Buffalo Edgefest, in late June, 2006, we had just planned on including them in the Round Table. But after a few minutes with front man Andrew Jordan, it was obvious that Matchbook Romance deserved to be on covers and nowhere else.

For those who are unfamiliar with the band, Matchbook Romance, whose sound falls somewhere within the vague boundaries of the pop-punk/alternative genre, consists of vocalist/guitarist Andrew Jordan, guitarist/back vocalist Ryan “Judas” DePaolo, bassist Ryan Kienle and drummer Aaron Stern.

In all honesty, although I had heard the single ‘Monsters’ and quite enjoyed it, and had listened to most of their two albums – 2003′s Stories and Alibis and 2006′s Voices – I had never seen a video or live performance and had no idea what they looked like or what to expect. When I was first introduced to Andy, I was a little surprised. Up walked this tall, sweet looking, blue-eyed man, with short blondish hair and a big smile, wearing ordinary blue jeans and a regular t-shirt that had the word “LOVE” written on it. And yet, despite being in a sea of eyeliner wearing, tattooed, all black sporting, long hair over the eyes fronting artists, he didn’t seem out of place. As Matchbook was schedule to hit the stage just shortly after our interview, we didn’t have much time to talk which mad me nervous.

However, my discomfort was unfounded. Contrary to some others, Andrew is really easy to interview. He looks at you to you with interest and attention and makes you feel like he and you are alone despite the swarms of people walking about, and his answers are intelligent, well spoken and thought out. He also likes to make sure he fully understands a question before he answers it; a refreshing change from the learned rhetoric of many others. In order to facilitate transcript later on, I had recorded our exchange on my MP3 player. It was only once we returned home that I discovered that due to digital feedback, the recording was useless. Thankfully, Andy agreed to a re-interview a few months later, this time over the phone.

When I called him, he was in the process of moving into a new house and it was obvious he was busy. Ever the gentleman, he none the less took the time to sit and have a conversation with me.
Given the growing popularity of the internet with regard to music and CONFRONT Magazine being an online venture, I started the interview by asking him if Matchbook Romance still utilized the internet as much as they did prior to being signed.