Matt Maust (Cold War Kids)

hrodbert696 · #1 03-23-2011, 09:13 AM

Just saw the CWKs in concert in Boston at the House of Blues last night -- great show! Matt Maust was fascinating to watch, and I was wondering if anyone knew any more about him. There's not a lot on Wikipedia apart from the history of their releases and a paragraph on Spin "outing" them as a Christian band. Even the band website doesn't have anything to say about the members, just posting videos and tour dates and merch and that's about it. Seems like they keep very private but maybe I haven't looked around enough yet.

For the record (in case folks want to know) he played a white Fender P with heavy mojo through the entire concert, no backup instrument on stage. Ran it through an Ampeg head, I think an SVT-something PRO but I'm not good at identifying models. Couldn't see his pedals (we were right down front and I think he had them right behind one of the monitor wedges) but I think I heard an envelope filter on some songs and probably some chorus.

Stage-presence-wise, he was fascinating. My fourteen-year-old daughter pronounced him "AWESOME." Wore his bass really low, like the neck joint was at his crotch, his left wrist was at an angle that would have cause me serious pain. Played fingerstyle, no floating thumb, kind of "pinching" the strings (is there a name for this technique?). His posture was usually kind of hunched and very intense -- he didn't sing or really communicate, though he would come up front to the audience and mouth lyrics on some songs. Or he would fix himself at the front of the stage at times and kind of stare the audience down. Other times he was a burst of energy, charging back and forth across the stage and kicking or head-butting his bandmates or kind of pushing them the way you nudge a guy's shoulder when you're trying to slide past him in a crowd. I don't think I ever saw him actually talk to them.

Anyway, I thought it was a great show and if anyone knows more information about him or the band, I'd be interested.

LennyPenny · #2 03-23-2011, 12:20 PM

He's a very good bassist indeed and it's kind of fun to know he's playing a P as I will be in the near future. They were in Belgium doing a few shows in a row but I didn't get to see them.
Robbers & Cowards is a great album! Could listen to Hospital Beds all day. Definitely check it out if you haven't done so already.

mc_muench · #3 03-28-2011, 07:38 AM

CWK is one of my fav bands, I saw them and Ra Ra Riot, front row at a Death Cab concert in Feb 2010, AMAZING show by the way. When I saw them, he was using a really beat to crap, red fender mustang with no pickguard, it couldve been a p-bass but it looked way to small. I love his really simple bass lines and the tone he uses, hes a pretty big influence for me in my new band.