A Techno Devil Takes it to the Next Level:
Percussionist Matt Walker talks about Cupcakes, rocket fuel, and the good old days in Filter and Smashing Pumpkins

by Gail Worley

Look up the professional credits of drummer, Matt Walker, on the Internet's All Music Guide and you'll get over a page of recorded works the 30 year old Chicago native has had his hands on -- either as drummer, executive producer or project coordinator. While Walker has played drums on albums by artists as diverse as Ric Ocasek, Tortoise, Veruca Salt and, James Iha, he's still best known as the guy who left Filter to replace the booted Jimmy Chamberlain in Smashing Pumpkins. But if you ask him, Matt Walker will tell you, all he ever wanted to do was have his own band.

Matt Walker can now add the Chicago-based, electro-pop quartet, Cupcakes, to his already impressive resume. Cupcakes posses a bakery-fresh sound that reminds me of the Cars running over Trent Reznor while Beck rides shotgun. The band includes singer Preston Graves, guitarist Greg Suran and bassist, Solomon Snyder (known for his work with multi-faceted industrialist, Chris Connelly) and their self-titled debut was released on Dreamworks records earlier this year. Snyder also happens to be Walker's brother ("I took my mother's maiden name, although my parents are still married," Walker explains). More about that later.

As you might imagine, Walker took his first interest in playing drums when he was barely out of infancy. "According to my father, I was three or four. He says I saw Buddy Rich on television and that I went nuts." Walker’s parents purchased his first drum set around that time, "although all I really did was take it apart, play with the wing nuts and stuff," he laughs. "But ever since then, consistently, it's been what I wanted to do. I'd say I started lessons seriously when I was ten or eleven." Matt Walker called me on his cell phone from a tour bus while the band was en route to a gig in Indiana. To give you some perspective, this was just after the Smashing Pumpkins’, Machine’s of God was released. Matt was extremely cool and willing to answer all my probing, hardcore questions about touring with Filter, his adventures in the Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan’s rumored temper tantrums and stuff like that. Here’s our interview.

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Were you the drum guy in your high school band?

To some extent I was. But I was equally lucky and unlucky to have gone to school with Gary Novak (played with Chick Corea, Alanis Morrisette). He kept my drum ego in check but at the same time was very inspiring. With a musician as talented as Gary in my class, I knew I had to work that much harder. I was the guy who was in every jazz combo and chamber orchestra. I took music classes before, during and after school and was lucky enough to have private lessons available on my free periods. I learned then that even though here was a peer who had prodigious ability, especially in jazz, I had my own voice as a musician that wasn't in direct competition with his or anyone else's.

How did you join Filter?

I was basically a touring drummer with Filter on the [tour for the] first record. I joined right after they completed Short Bus, when Brian [Liesegang] and Rich [Patrick] recorded that first record. I just auditioned, I didn't know any of the guys in the band, it was just word of mouth. The next thing I know, we're on tour together. I was basically with them just for that tour, about 13 months. Then, the day after that tour, I auditioned for the Smashing Pumpkins.

And how did that come about?

I guess that came around because Filter opened up for Smashing Pumpkins in Europe. It was a really great tour -- probably my favorite leg of the Filter tour. I was a big Smashing Pumpkins fan. You know, being from Chicago and being a fan and familiar with the songs they were playing, from Mellon Collie... [made it that much cooler]. We watched their show every night and it just happened that a couple of months after that, they needed a new drummer. I didn't get the gig off hand, I had to audition, but I think that all of that helped.

How long did the Smashing Pumpkins gig last?

You know, the last five years are somewhat of a blur (laughs) and it's hard for me to remember what year things happened or for how long they happened, but I think that was a year and a half or two years.

How has your kit evolved from the time you were in Filter through to now?

With Filter I played a really stripped down kit, which I prefer to play, with a kick, two snares, two floor toms and no rack toms and I triggered samples. I had a small rack of electronic gear and I also triggered that, but it was pretty stripped down. Then when I did the Smashing Pumpkins tour I had to completely go the other way. It was this huge monstrosity of a set but I needed it to play all the songs (laughs), to play all of Jimmy's parts. I had to use a lot of rack toms, as many as I could fit. So that was a pretty extreme difference, but it was fun to do that. Now with Cupcakes, I'm back to the stripped-down kit, pretty much the same set up I had with Filter.

What's the most important thing that you learned or took away from that experience?

It was funny because, touring with Filter, every song in the entire set was [played] to a click track. What I had to do then -- and I was the only one who listened to the click track, the other guys in the band didn't -- was I had to be locked but make the music feel like it was moving forward. I couldn't fit too much on top of it, I had to always push it. But with Pumpkins, Billy actually always wanted the music to be propelling forward tempo-wise, literally speeding up and launching verse-chorus, chorus and bridge. At first it was really difficult because I'd spent my entire life practicing as a drummer to be steady and consistent tempo-wise, and suddenly I had to make this emotive, natural transition. But I think it was really good because it got me to play a little bit more emotionally and less technically. That's something that I use in my playing now. Even if I am playing to a click, I find a way to propel the arrangement from section to section.

Can you relate any cool/funny/whacked out tour stories from your experiences touring with Filter? How about with the Pumpkins? Think hard. Everyone loves good tour stories.

I don't want to set a bad example but there was a night in Milan when Filter was opening up for the Pumpkins.....Both bands went out to treat ourselves to a nice Italian dinner. We were introduced to the Italian liqueur grappa. Maybe it was a cultural experiment, but the waiter kept the shots of grappa coming all night. He described the drink as Rocket Fuel. By the time we got back to the hotel we had been reduced to a family of apes. Soon, half our clothes were off and we were basically beating the hell out of each other. Then the destruction turned to the hotel. We went from room to room trying to evade security in our inexplicable need to pillage. The next morning the Italian police spared us a stay in jail in exchange for a five thousand dollar bill. Money well spent.

One night during the Mellon Collie tour, we received a bomb threat. The show was only half an hour away, and the arena was filling up with people. After what we hoped was an extensive search by authorities, we were told that there were "probably" no real explosives. We decided to do the show. Two hours later, just as we were about to begin our encore, there was a huge crash from behind me. My drum riser actually pushed forward from the shock. I thought for sure it was a bomb. What had really happened was two massive fans (part of the lighting rig) had collapsed. Luckily, none of the crew was hurt.

Was there ever any talk of you permanently replacing Jimmy Chamberlain?

There was. During what was probably my high point with the band, we were doing a festival tour in Europe, and we began discussing [my joining the band full time] then. But by the end of the year we were half way through recording Adore and everyone's outlook was strained, to say the least. We decided it wasn't the best idea to make that commitment. They needed to rediscover their history with each other and I needed to do what I had been wanting to do all my life, which was to be a part of a band from the beginning.

Did you ever see any examples of why people say Billy Corgan is such a difficult person to work with or be around?

Yes. Billy can be extremely demanding and difficult. He may be the most intense artistic person I've ever worked with. But the fact of the matter is, you can put four of the nicest most talented musicians in a room together and end up with some of the most boring music. Billy strives to really capture the emotional core of his songs, live and in recordings. And, for better or worse, there is a lot of pain in the music. His criteria [for recording] was based entirely around finding the language of the song. There might be a transitional fill that I thought was really interesting but [that] he would think was out of context: Everything to him was about being within the context of the song. Technical precision and even production were secondary to an emotive performance. Working with him wasn't always pleasurable, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. And to be honest, we would always come out the other side [as] friends. He even took my daughter for a shopping spree at Toys'R'Us. At the end of the day he is full of contradictions and complexities like anyone else I've ever known.

What do you think of the new Smashing Pumpkins record?

I really like it. I think that, unfortunately, that the climate right now is that people might want simpler music than that. I think it's a pretty deep record and I don't know that kids want to hear that any more (laughs). I feel that a little bit about our record as well.

You performed on James Iha's solo album which was pretty much a complete critical laughing stock. What was that experience like?

First of all, the critics can go fuck themselves. They are just people with opinions like the rest of us. The only thing going through my mind during the recording of that album was how to help James capture his songs in an honest and pure way. I think after recording five albums with the Pumpkins he needed to record by his own process, on his own terms. He wanted to make a classic soft rock record, and he did. I didn't know whether or not it would be popular, but the songs were very good and I was happy to be a part of it.

I like this Cupcakes album a lot. To me it has a sort of 80's new wave pop sound.

Well -- it's funny -- that's as intentional as we get, really. We're all fans of a lot of the New Wave artists of the 80's like the cars. I got a chance to play on Ric Ocasek's last record (Troubelizing). I wish it had done better [commercially] but it was fun to do. Were all fans of that music, so the influence is there.

Yeah, it's sort of an old fashioned record, like something from the 70's or even the early new wave stuff. It actually took me a few listens before I realized it reminded me of the Cars.

You know, those Cars songs, those singles, are so identifiable from the drum parts. You know that part is essential to the song, it's like a riff, it's as much a riff as the guitar riff or as the melody. When you put all that together and you include the sound that they used as well, and pieces of the puzzle, you just know that song from the second it comes on the radio. That is probably the one thing that we are very conscious of.

Some of the reviews I've read throw an industrial influence on it, maybe because of the Closer-esque intro to "Vidiots." But since the band is based in Chicago, and there's such a heavy-duty industrial scene out of that city, did that work its way into Cupcakes?

You know, it's really funny because three of us have all played with Industrial bands. You know my history, then our guitarist played with Machines of Loving Grace and our bass player, Solomon played with Chris Connelly. But, although we've all done that, I don't think that there really was any kind of industrial influence on this record. I think that our roots lay much more in pop, more of the song structure of pop. I think that we all wound up in industrial bands because we were technically able to do the things that those bands require.

What's it like being in the band with your brother, Solomon?

Musically and emotionally its really great to be in a band with my brother. He's absolutely my favorite bass player to work with, although I think Cupcakes can be a bit limiting to his ability.

I read in your bio that there were some fist fights between you two?

Yeah, that is in there isn't it? Well, it's true (laughs). I don't know, maybe all bands go through it but it's definitely something that we're meant to deal with. We almost never fight, but our first fist fight in the last 15 years was during the making of the Cupcakes record.

It's so rock, like the Gallagher Brothers...

I mean, there are definitely days where I feel like I'm just living inside of a rock and roll cliche. But then I just realize, hey, there's a reason it's a cliche, you know? (Laughs). I know now not to take it so seriously, not to think it's the end of the world when two people start going at it.

How did the band choose Stephen Street to produce the record and what do you think he brought to your parts?

First of all, he was the first name on our producer list that all four of us agreed on. In addition to that, he was the first producer that we all agreed upon who seemed to take a strong interest right from the beginning. He came to Chicago and we met with him and right off the bat we had a good working relationship. As far as my drumming parts of the record, the songs were pretty well demo’d out before we went into the studio. I think that he liked most of the parts. Basically, what we did in tracking was to try to find the tones that really matched the colors of the song, to make it cohesive tonally. The actual parts were just to kind of distil the arrangement and the drum parts, to get the essence of what was really important to the song. I just tried to find what was the most important part, fill wise, in the song, and stick to that. Of course now we're playing the songs live and I'm thinking of all these, more adventurous fills and parts. Maybe next time we record a record we'll get the chance to play the songs on tour longer before we go in to record. But I guess that's part of the evolution of the song anyway.

Is there a lot of programming involved in the live show?

We use some prerecorded tracks but I don't really trigger too much electronics. There's pretty minimal programming on this record, we took a more organic approach. In fact, a lot of the sounds that sound like programming were not. We would take the route more often of processing organic sounds to come up with different tones rather than looking for an external loop. I do a lot of electronics at home. I've been working on remixes lately. I really love programming and writing in my home studio. In fact I just finished a remix for Smashing Pumpkins that I think Billy is going to put out.

How does your being on the road affect your relationship with your family.

Well, it can be difficult but I've always taken care to include them. I mean, even on tour with both Filter and Pumpkins every couple of weeks my family -- I have a five 1/2 year old and one on the way -- would come out and visit and spend a couple of days on the bus. Most people wouldn't imagine the scenario but when my daughter was 7 months old she was breast feeding in the lounge on the Filter tour bus. It can work, it just takes a lot of perseverance.

What songs on the Cupcakes record are your favorites?

I think "Darkness Surrounds" most captures an emotion that I feel connected to. Preston wrote the lyrics to that song when the band was in the midst of a bitter break up. "High Speed Cakes in the Hole" is also one of my favorites. The combination of the progression, melody and lyrics strikes a weird chord in me. It's one of those songs where all the elements together become more than the sum of its parts.

"Techno Devils take it to the next level"...what does that lyric mean to you?

Well, first there's the literal translation. Gamers ( "Vidiots" ) are always trying to master each level of a game to get to more complex, challenging levels. But I think it's actually suggesting that the computer savvy youth will end up in control of the information world's infrastructure.

Did you ever meet or work with Trent Reznor?

I actually did go to New Orleans to audition for The Fragile tour. At the time things were a little shaky in the Cupcakes camp and being a NIN fan I couldn't pass up the chance to work with them. I spent a day playing with the band and although I couldn't pursue it further (as Cupcakes got back on track) it was great to play some of those songs even for one day.

What is your honest opinion of "The Fragile"?

In all honesty the first time I listened to The Fragile in its entirety I thought it was too linear, especially in comparison to The Downward Spiral. Of course, I thought the production was impeccable. But after a few more listens the album really grew on me, like all of my favorite albums. Now I understand the album has its own very purposeful pacing, with all the ambient segues etc., which to me is a welcomed development in Trent's writing.

What is your favorite episode of Behind the Music and why?

The Police, because they are my favorite band. Even though Sting was the primary song writer, it was their collective personalities that made the band so interesting. And over the course of five albums, you can hear how they took what may have been an unusual mix of styles and honed them to pop perfection, without losing the chemistry that made them so unique.

Are you involved in any side projects?

Yeah, outside of Cupcakes, I'm working on several other projects that are less mainstream but still can field my creativity. I'm still working with Brian, the other half of Filter. He just produced two records and let me play on some tracks. We've been working on his record for a long time that should be out this year sometime. Then I have this other project of mine called Retina, which is more experimental, electronic music. Hopefully, all of three projects will find their little niches, their audiences. But Cupcakes I'm hoping will reach the masses in one way or another.

Email Gail Worley

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