The Get Up Kids Wiki Information
The Get Up Kids
are an American indie rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-90's emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music. As they gained prominence, they began touring with bands such as Green Day and Weezer before becoming headliners themselves, eventually embarking on international tours of Japan and Europe. [1] [2] They founded Heroes & Villains Records, an imprint of the successful indie rock label Vagrant Records. While the imprint was started to release albums by The Get Up Kids, it served as a launching pad for several side-projects such as The New Amsterdams and Reggie and the Full Effect. [3]
The Get Up Kids were viewed throughout their existence as a prototypical emo band, having been major players in the midwest emo movement of the mid-1990s. [4] However, like many early emo bands, The Get Up Kids began to dissociate themselves with the term, as it came to be seen as insult to be known as an "emo band." [5] Years later, guitarist Jim Suptic even apologized for having the influence they did on many of the modern third-wave emo bands, commenting that "[t]he punk scene we came out of and the punk scene now are completely different. It’s like glam rock now ... If this is the world we helped create, then I apologize.” [6]
Due to some internal conflict, the band broke up in 2005. However, in 2008 the band announced that they would embark on a 2009 reunion tour to support the tenth anniversary re-release of Something to Write Home About, the band's most successful studio album. They have also begun writing new material, although a new album has not been confirmed, and the band is considering alternative release methods. [7]
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History
Early years (1995–1997)
thumb in 1997
While in high school,
Ryan Pope,
Rob Pope, and
Jim Suptic formed a short-lived band called Kingpin.
Matt Pryor had been writing songs since he was a teenager, and was playing in a band called Secret Decoder Ring.
[8] Following the demise of the two bands in 1995, The Get Up Kids were formed. The band originally planned on calling themselves "The Suburban Get Up Kids", until reasoning that there were fewer band names beginning with the letter 'G' than there are with the letter 'S', and that therefore they were more likely to be noticed in a record store if their name began with a 'G'.
The band was formed on October 14, 1995 on Suptic's 18th birthday.
[9]
At the time the lineup consisted of Pryor on guitar and lead vocals, Suptic on guitar, Rob Pope on bass, and Thomas Becker on drums. However, Becker soon left for college in California, and was replaced by Nathan Shay, who was attending school with Suptic at the
Kansas City Art Institute.
In 1995, Pryor, Suptic, and friend Kevin Zelko saved to self-release "
Shorty/The Breathing Method", their very first
7". However, due to an unwillingness to tour, Shay was replaced by Robert's younger brother
Ryan in April 1996.
The band became increasingly integral in the growing midwest music scene, forming strong relationships with bands such as
Rocket Fuel is the Key,
Coalesce and
Braid. After "Shorty", the band released "
A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts."
[10] Soon afterward, driven by interest created by the band's first 7", they recorded their first EP,
Woodson
. It was released on 7" vinyl through Contrast Records, with
Doghouse Records releasing a CDEP version that included the songs from both
Woodson
and
A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts
.
After
Woodson
, Doghouse approached the band with a two-album contract, offering them $4,000 to record their first full-length album.
Four Minute Mile
(1997–1998)
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After signing to Doghouse, the band drove to Chicago to record their debut full-length album with producer
Bob Weston of
Shellac. The album was recorded in only two days, with the band leaving on Friday after Ryan Pope got out of school, and finishing in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Two months after recording the album, the band embarked on their first national tour with
Braid and
Ethel Meserve, with the first date of the tour taking place the day after Ryan's high school graduation.
It was on that tour that the band met
James Dewees, the new drummer for
Coalesce while the bands were playing together in
Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania.
After the show, the members of the two bands became close friends, eventually leading them to record a
Split 7" produced by
Ed Rose entitled "
Burned Bridges/I'm Giving Up on This One". For the split, each band covered the one of the other's songs in their own style. Coalesce did a post-hardcore cover of "Second Place", and The Get Up Kids created a power-pop rendition of the Coalesce song "Harvest of Maturity". A few months later, the band released their debut full-length record
Four Minute Mile, bringing a great deal of attention from critics, fans and labels alike. The band was invited to join Braid on their 1998 tour of Europe, soon garnering a rapidly growing overseas fanbase.
However, while the band was receiving more and more attention, they became unhappy with Doghouse Records.
They finally decided to leave the label in search of another.
This news brought interest from several prominent record labels, including
Sub Pop,
Geffen and
Mojo Records.
They soon signed to Mojo, but before the entire band could sign the contracts to make the deal official, they began to have second thoughts, primarily over the fact that the label insisted on owning merchandising rights, a large source of the band's income.
Moreover, the band felt insulted when the label requested that they re-record their song "Don't Hate Me" from
Four Minute Mile
for the next record, feeling that the label believed it was "the best that [they could] write".
Before the deal with Mojo was official, the band met Rich Egan, founder of Los Angeles-based
Vagrant Records. He convinced the band to sign to his label instead, offering them $50,000 to record a second album as well as their own imprint, Heroes & Villains Records.
Something to Write Home About
(1999–2001)
thumb in 2000
Before they began work on their second full-length, the band first recorded
Red Letter Day, a five-track EP produced by Ed Rose that served to fulfill their two-record deal with Doghouse. The EP also served another purpose, as it gave the band an opportunity to experiment with the addition of keyboards, played by
James Dewees. This inclusion was brought about after Matt Pryor helped Dewees record a solo album under the pseudonym
Reggie and the Full Effect. The resulting album,
Greatest Hits 1984-1987 is considered instrumental in the history of the band's sound, helping bridge the gap between the raw, angsty sound of
Four Minute Mile
and the more upbeat, calculated style showcased on
Red Letter Day
and their next studio album.
After the release of Red Letter Day, Dewees joined the band full-time, and the band began recording their second studio album in
Los Angeles in June 1999 with producer Alex Brahl. Before the album went into production,
Vagrant Records co-owner
John Cohen had to borrow money from his parents, who mortgaged their house in order to fund the production of the album. On September 21, 1999 the band released
Something to Write Home About
on Vagrant Records. Lyrically, the album reflected much of the record label strife the band had recently experienced and their distance between them and those back home after their move to Los Angeles.
Something to Write Home About
has been singled out as the band's only 'true' emo album, as the albums aesthetic fit more into the contemporary definition of the genre.
[11] Furthermore, the album single-handedly turned the struggling Vagrant label into one of the top
Indie labels in the country, selling over 140,000 copies after its release.
[12] Not only did the album make The Get Up Kids the standard-bearers for emo, but it also launched the genre into a public consciousness broader than the local scenes that had previously embraced it. The album made Vagrant Records a household name amongst indie connoisseurs. At the same time, the addition of Dewees alienated some fans, as the implementation of keyboards moved the band away from the
DIY ethic of the contemporary punk scene.
.
[13]
As a result of their newly increased profile, The Get Up Kids toured relentlessly to promote the record.
[14] As well as touring Europe, Japan, and Australia, they toured with such acts as
Green Day,
The Anniversary,
Koufax,
Hot Rod Circuit,
Jebediah,
Weezer and
Ozma.
[15] Their 2000 tour with
The Anniversary and
Koufax was sponsored by
Napster.
[16] Their fanbase exploded, and shows on their tours were drastically over-sold, with many venues having fans literally pouring out of the doors to see them perform.
To capitalize on anticipation for the band's next album, Vagrant Records released a rarities compilation
Eudora
in 2001.
Eudora
consisted of alternate takes, covers and B-sides released since the band's formation. Doghouse began re-releasing older material, releasing a re-mastered edition of
Four Minute Mile
and a compilation of their own entitled
The EPs: Woodson and Red Letter Day
which combined the two Doghouse-owned EPs on one
compact disc.
On a Wire
(2002–2003)
After three years of touring for
Something to Write Home About
, the band was beginning to feel burned-out on that material and was looking to try experimenting with a more mature sound. They also wanted to get a new producer to help challenge them creatively, approaching
Nigel Godrich and
Gil Norton with offers, although they both declined.
Finally, the band settled on
Scott Litt, best known for his work with
R.E.M. and
Nirvana.
[17] The band's third studio album,
On a Wire
was released on May 14, 2002, debuting the band's new sound. Just as
Something to Write Home About
alienated fans with its more produced sound,
On a Wire
was criticized by those fans who were disappointed with the softer musical direction of the album.
[18] The reviewer for
Alternative Press writing “Unfortunately, the visceral energy of their early days is lost in their newfound maturity.”
[19]
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While many fans were upset with this sudden departure, the album was generally well-received by mainstream publications. The
Entertainment Weekly reviewer was highly positive, writing that "This is the group at their best."
[20] In his review of the album,
Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters wrote “On a Wire quivers with the anxieties that must have arisen as the Get Up Kids left behind what originally made them. Straining vocals, racing tempos and walls of distortion give way to softer singing, spacious guitars and prominent keyboards... The Get Up Kids dig deeper into themselves. What they find is often subtle, less visceral but far more tender.”
[21] However, the poor reception of the album had a larger impact on the band's widespread popularity as a whole. The band embarked on a tour to promote the album in the late spring soon after the album was released, only to find that they were experiencing far less support from both their fans and their record label. Since the release of
Something to Write Home About
and the label's ensuing success, the company had taken on several more big-name acts like
Alkaline Trio,
Dashboard Confessional and
Saves the Day, meaning that The Get Up Kids were no longer the label's biggest priority, particularly not after the lukewarm reception of
On a Wire
.
In an interview with
AP Magazine, lead singer Matt Pryor considered that the dramatic change in style for
On a Wire
seriously impacted the momentum the band had gained from
Something to Write Home About
, allowing later bands like Dashboard Confessional to take much of the fan base that The Get Up Kids had previously earned.
In an interview, Pryor confessed that he didn't think that "anyone, including Vagrant, gave that record a chance".
It was at this point that the band began trying to shed the term "emo", a word that had defined them for years, but had come to mean something different. Pryor commented on the album, saying "We really didn’t give two shits if anyone liked the record or not, we were really confident that we were going to kill this ‘emo’ stigma that we had and take the people with open minds with us and leave everyone else in the dust.”
Guilt Show
(2003–2004)
In 2003 the band began recording their fourth studio album. The album would be the first recorded in
Black Lodge Studios in
Eudora, Kansas renovated and owned by the Pope brothers and producer Ed Rose. The writing process for the album was much different than their past works, as most of the songs were written by only three of the band members. In the early stages of the writing process, Jim Suptic was on his honeymoon and James Dewees was involved in a particularly nasty divorce, and much of his creative efforts at the time inspired by those events went into the fourth
Reggie and the Full Effect album
Songs Not to Get Married To.
While these factors combined led to a much less collaborative process than in the past, it gave the Pope brothers a more substantial role in writing the album than they had previously. In an interview with
AP Magazine, Pryor confirmed that the song "Never Be Alone" was written by Rob Pope about his divorce in 2003 from
The Anniversary keyboardist Adrianne Verhoeven.
However, this new fractured take on the creative process began to strain relationships in the band, at one point leading Suptic to consider quitting the band.
In March 2004, the band released their fourth and final studio album
Guilt Show
, produced by Ed Rose. Sonically, the album served to combine the more measured, sophisticated sound of
On a Wire
with the frenetic, upbeat style of their earlier work.
[22] The album was very well-received both critically and commercially.
[23] The more pop-driven tone of the album served to reunite the band with many of the fans who had become disenchanted after
On a Wire
, while also staying close enough to
On a Wire
to interest that album's fans. However, their return was largely overshadowed by the booming popularity of bands like
Dashboard Confessional, who invited the band to open for them on the 2004
Honda Civic Tour.
[24]
Breakup (2004–2005)
thumb marquee on July 2, 2005 before the band's farewell concert.
Over the course of the tour with Dashboard Confessional, relationships between the band members continued to decline.
The band's live shows had deteriorated, and Rob and Suptic had both threatened to quit multiple times.
Matt Pryor's wife had recently given birth to their first child, and being away from his family had made him irritable and standoffish.
[25] After the Honda Civic tour ended, the band embarked on their world tour, including stops throughout Europe, Japan and Australia. However, their live performance hit an all-time low, with Pryor at times refusing to even sing large portions of songs.
At one tour date in England, the tensions came to a head when Ryan Pope confronted Pryor due to his recent despondence, leading to a band meeting with Pryor confessing his feelings to the rest of the group.
After some discussion, the band agreed that their hearts were no longer in it and, at the end of the tour, they would quietly end the band.
[26] After the tour ended, the band went on an unofficial hiatus, not playing as a group until the next January, when they played a show at the
Granada Theater in
Lawrence, Kansas to celebrate the band's tenth anniversary. An album was recorded and released the following May as the band's first and only live album,
Live! @ The Granada Theater
.
On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, The Get Up Kids announced that after ten years they were calling it quits.
They would embark on a short tour ending on July 2, 2005 in their native Kansas City. The group disbanded after their sold-out July 2, 2005 farewell show at the
Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri.
[27]
After breakup (2005–2008)
After the band played their final show, the band continued to be involved in the music scene in various ways. Rob and Ryan Pope have taken charge of
Black Lodge Studios, the recording studio that the band formed with the recording of
Guilt Show
alongside limited stints playing with
Koufax.
[28] Rob was a founding member of
Lawrence,
Kansas group
White Whale before joining the indie rock group
Spoon.
[29] [30]
Matt Pryor continued as part of
The New Amsterdams, an acoustic alt-country group he formed in 2000.
In 2007 he formed
The Terrible Twos, a children's band that has released two albums on Vagrant Records.
In July 2008, he released
Confidence Man, his debut solo album.
[31]
Jim Suptic went on to form
Blackpool Lights with former members of
Butterglory and The Creature Comforts.
[32] He is also one of the co-founders of
Curb Appeal Records, a Kansas City-based record label that released Blackpool Lights' debut album
This Town's Disaster, plus albums by
Smoking Popes and
The New Amsterdams.
[33]
James Dewees continued his side project
Reggie and the Full Effect.
[34] After the breakup of The Get Up Kids, Dewees toured with A New Found Glory as their touring keyboardist.
After another brief tour opening for
Hellogoodbye in 2006, he joined
My Chemical Romance as touring keyboardist on their 2008 world tour.
[35] After returning home from the tour, he released the fifth Reggie and the Full Effect album on Vagrant Records, entitled
Last Stop: Crappy Town
, followed by a brief tour of the United States.
Reunion (2008–present)
In late August and September 2008, while Dewees was touring with Reggie and the Full Effect, reports began to surface that he was hinting at a Get Up Kids reunion tour to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the band's second album
Something to Write Home About
.
[36] According to reports, Dewees also confirmed that the band would be re-releasing the album.
[37]
thumb
In the meantime, Dewees continued to fuel speculation when he stated in an interview that he would be working on the reunion of a "band from the 90's and early 2000's".
[38] The reunion was finally confirmed by a post on the official music blog of
The Kansas City Star
, confirming rumors that the band would be playing a surprise reunion show at The Record Bar in Kansas City on
November 16,
2008.
[39] [40] According to the article, the band had made the decision over the summer and had Dewees intentionally leak the information to fuel speculation.
[41]
The reunion show was officially announced on Friday, November 14, along with the official confirmation of the album re-release and a 2009 national tour.
[42] [43] The tenth anniversary edition of the album will include a photo album and a DVD containing a band retrospective and other content, including their live performance from March 13, 2009 at
Liberty Hall in Lawrence.
[44] The show took place Sunday, November 16, 2008 at the record bar in Kansas City.
[45] The band played their album
Something To Write Home About
from beginning to end, as well as a six song encore.
[46]. The band will be embarking on a tour of Europe in August before their U.S. tour begins in September.
[47] In the summer of 2009, the band posted photos on their
Twitter page showing the group in a recording studio, incurring speculation as to whether or not they were recording a new album.
[48] After embarking on the European leg of their reunion tour, the band confirmed that they were writing new material and would be playing at least one of the songs, entitled "Keith Case," on the tour.
[49] However, the band will not confirm a new album is in the works, and currently they are considering alternative online release models for the songs.
[50]
Influence
The Get Up Kids have had a lasting impact on the music scene, having been cited as inspirations to several prominent bands and artists.
Blink-182 bassist and singer
Mark Hoppus is a vocal fan, having proposed to his wife to The Get Up Kids song "I'll Catch You."
[51] They were also a major influence on the rest of the band, even at their peak popularity around the release of
Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
[52] The members of
Fall Out Boy cite The Get Up Kids' influence, particularly
Four Minute Mile
. In a 2005 interview with
Alternative Press
, Fall Out Boy bassist
Pete Wentz stated that the band had a huge influence on him and the other members of Fall Out Boy. "There should be a How To Be a Pop-Punk Kid starter kit with bands like Get Up Kids, so kids would know whose shoulders bands like us are standing on. Fall Out Boy would not be a band if it were not for The Get Up Kids."
[53]
New Jersey based act
Midtown has stated in interviews that they were heavily influenced by The Get Up Kids, among other groups.
[54] The Early November band members were all fans, and influenced by, The Get Up Kids. The Early November song "Baby Blue" includes the line "I don't want you to love me anymore", a direct reference to the Get Up Kids song "No Love" both lyrically and melodically.
[55] The band
Hellogoodbye have been vocal fans of the band and while on tour with Reggie and the Full Effect in 2007, two years after the breakup of The Get Up Kids, Hellogoodbye invited James Dewees and Matt Pryor onstage with them, and proceeded to back them in a cover of The Get Up Kids' song "
Action & Action."
[56]
Despite their lasting influence on modern music, the band has attempted to disassociate themselves with many of the bands they inspired. Following the band's reformation, guitarist
Jim Suptic undertook an interview with website
Drowned in Sound, in which he said, "The punk scene we came out of and the punk scene now are completely different. It's like
glam rock now. We played
the Bamboozle fests this year and we felt really out of place... If this is the world we helped create, then I apologise." He went onto say they were grateful for the acknowledgements they have received, though explaining "the problem is most of [the bands they inspired] aren't very good."
[57]
Band members
;
Current
- Matt Pryor – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1995–present)
- Jim Suptic – lead guitar, backing vocals (1995–present)
- Rob Pope – bass (1995–present)
- James Dewees – keyboards, backing vocals (1999–present)
- Ryan Pope – drums, percussion (1996–present)
;
Former
- Nathan Shay – drums (1996)
- Thomas Becker – drums (1995)
Discography
- 1997: Four Minute Mile
- 1999: Something to Write Home About
- 2002: On a Wire
- 2004: Guilt Show
References
- The Get Up Kids
- The Get Up Kids Get Up
- Get Up, Stand Up
- POP AND JAZZ GUIDE
- Bands Seek Emotional Rescue
- Get Up Kids' Suptic Apologizes for Current State of Emo
- The Get Up Kids Writing New Material
- POP AND JAZZ GUIDE
- Post: A Look at the Influence of Post-Hardcore-1985-2007
- Vinyl File: Sex Pistols, the Draft, F*cked Up, Coliseum and a Get Up Kids spotlight
- The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
- About Vagrant Records
- An Essential Guide To: The Get Up Kids
- Rob Pope of The Get Up Kids
- Rock Stars on God
- Really Randoms: Rush, Dixie Chicks
- The Get Up Kids - Guilt Show
- Jets to Brazil/Get Up Kids
- ”On a Wire” The Get Up Kids
- The Get Up Kids – “On a Wire”
- The Get Up Kids: On a Wire
- New CDs: Cee-Lo, Get Up Kids
- The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
- The Get Up Kids join Dashboard Confessional, Thrice on Civic Tour
- Matt Pryor: Why He "Quit" The Get Up Kids
- Stay Gold, Ponyboys
- Review: The Get Up Kids
- Koufax: Hard Times are In Fashion
- Add Pizza, Beer; Shake Well
- Spoonman
- Pros & Cons
- Bright Future
- Lookin' Good
- Reggie Gets "Married"
- Full Metal Jacket
- Reggie Apparently Confirms Get Up Kids Reunion
- Fans Report In: Reggie and the Full Effect / Get Up Kids
- Reggie and the Full Effect - Interview
- Get Up Kids Reunite, Jimmy Eat World Do Clarity gigs
- Get Up Kids Reunion: Sunday Night
- Get Up Kids Reunion Announced For This Sunday
- Get Up Kids: The Pre-Show Routine
- News Ticker: The Beatles, Get Up Kids, New York Dolls
- The Get Up Kids Reunite in Kansas City!
- Concert Review: The Get Up Kids at the Record Bar, Sunday, November 16, 2008
- Get Up Kids Reunion Show - Record Bar, Kansas City
- The Get Up Kids Plot Reunion Tour
- Interview: The Get Up Kids - 16/08/08
- The Get Up Kids Writing New Material
- The Get Up Kids' James Dewees Talks Group Dynamics
- Get Up Kids Live Dates: Kansas Pop-Punk Outfit Hits U.K.
- Say Goodnight, Mean Goodbye: The Oral History of The Get Up Kids
- Save the World, Lose the Girl: Life Through the Eyes of Midtown
- Interview with The Early November
- Massachusetts Rules and So Do The Get Up Kids
- "If this is the world we helped create, then I apologise." The Get Up Kids, Get Back