Polaroid of MattPhoto by Sarah Hadley

Name: Matt Priest

Height: 6’ 1”

Eye color: Kinda gray

Birthday / Sign: January 6th, 1976 / Capricorn

Band nickname: Priesty-Bear

Instruments: Vocals, bass, trombone and perhaps most importantly, tambourine

1st concert you attended: Living Colour w/ Urban Dance Squad @ The Aragon Ballroom (Chicago, IL - 1991)… and I was pretty sure it was the best night of my life thus far.

1st tape or CD purchase: Ghostbusters - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on cassette… although even at that young, impressionable age, I knew I’d been robbed. The theme song, which kicks off the record, obviously rules. And then the second track, “Cleanin’ Up the Town” (by some guys called The Bus Boys) is catchy enough. But by the time you get to track 3, the show’s over. And disappointing efforts in the middle of the record from Thompson Twins, Air Supply, Laura Branigan only made the purchase that much more of a letdown.

Best concert you ever attended: Too hard… here’s a Top 5:
1. Kraftwerk @ The Riviera Theatre (Chicago, IL - 1998)
2. Radiohead w/ The Beta Band & Kid Koala @ Grant Park (Chicago, IL - 2001)
3. Guns n’ Roses w/ Skid Row @ Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI - 1991)
4. Tori Amos @ McCormick Auditorium, Northwestern U. (Evanston, IL - 1992)
5. “Coachella” ’04 @ Empire Polo Field (Indio, CA - 2004) (In 48 hours, for $150, I managed to see Radiohead, The Cure, Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Kraftwerk, Air, Belle and Sebastian, Bright Eyes, Basement Jaxx, Herioglyphics, Death Cab for Cutie, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Stereolab, Le Tigre, Atmosphere, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Desert Sessions, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Muse, The Crystal Method, Dizzee Rascal, Broken Social Scene, !!!, Junior Senior, The Stills, Prefuse 73, The Thrills, The Sleepy Jackson and stellastarr*. Whoa.)

Some favorite bands: !!!, Add N to (X), Tori Amos, Anthrax, The Arcade Fire, Basement Jaxx, Bauhaus, The Beatles, Beck, Belle and Sebastian, The Beta Band, Björk, The Black Crowes, Black Sabbath, Blondie, James Brown, Solomon Burke, Calexico, Cat Power, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Clash, Clem Snide, Corrosion of Conformity, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Cyann & Ben, The Decemberists, The Delgados, Neil Diamond, Ani Difranco, Digable Planets, DJ Shadow, Donovan, Doves, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Earlimart, Faith No More, 5ive Style, The Flaming Lips, Ben Folds (Five), Edith Frost, Fugazi, Philip Glass, Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five, Guns N' Roses, PJ Harvey, The Handsome Family, Juliana Hatfield, Hot Snakes, Imperial Teen, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Interpol, Iron Maiden, Isis, Elton John, Kool Keith / Dr. Octagon, Kraftwerk, Lambchop, Latyrx, Led Zeppelin, Ted Leo / Pharmacists, Living Colour, The Magnetic Fields, Aimee Mann, Massive Attack, Mastodon, Mclusky, The Meat Puppets, Megadeth, The MC5, Menomena, Mercury Rev, Metallica, George Michael, The Microphones, Midstates, Momus, Morphine, My Morning Jacket, New Order, Neurosis, Neutral Milk Hotel, Harry Nilsson, NOFX, Outkast, Palaxy Tracks, Pantera, Parliament, Pavement, Peace Orchestra, Pearl Jam, Pedro the Lion, Jean Jacques Perrey, Pink Floyd, Pixies, Portishead, Archer Prewitt, Primus, Prince, Public Enemy, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Queensryche, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, The Ramones, Rancid, Refused, Steve Reich, The Rolling Stones, The Roots, RUN-D.M.C., Saint Etienne, Santana, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, The Sea and Cake, The Shins, Sigur Ros, Simon & Garfunkel, Roni Size / Reprazent, Skid Row, Slayer, Sloan, Elliott Smith, The Smiths, (Smog), Sonic Youth, Soul Coughing, Soundgarden, Spiritualized, Spoon, Bruce Springsteen, Squarepusher, Stars, Stereolab, Stone Temple Pilots, The Stooges, The Streets, Super Furry Animals, Matthew Sweet, Swervedriver, T.Rex, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, 10,000 Maniacs, They Might Be Giants, 311, The Timeout Drawer, Tindersticks, Amon Tobin, Tool, Tortoise, A Tribe Called Quest, Tricky, TV on the Radio, U2, Urge Overkill, Velvetron, The Walkmen, The Warlocks, Wilco, Rufus Wainwright, Tom Waits, Warrant, Ween, Wham!, Wesley Willis, Stevie Wonder, Wu-Tang Clan, Yeasayer and Yo La Tengo

Favorite records:
!!! - !!!
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
Add N to (X) - On the Wires of Our Nerves
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
The Beatles - Revolver
Beck - Odelay
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
The Beta Band - The Three EP's
Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
Björk - Vespertine
Black Mountain - Black Mountain
Black Star - Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star
Calexico - Feast of Wire
Can - Tago Mago
Cat Power - You Are Free
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus;
The Chemical Brothers - Surrender
The Clash - London Calling
Clem Snide - Your Favorite Music
The Coup - Party Music
Cyann & Ben - Spring
The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts
The Delgados - The Great Eastern
Ani Difranco - Out of Range
Digable Planets - Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
DJ Shadow - Entroducing…
Doves - Lost Souls
Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Faith No More - Angel Dust
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
Philip Glass - Glass Works
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
The Handsome Family - In the Air
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Imperial Teen - Seasick
Isis - Oceanic
Elton John - Elton John
Kraftwerk - Computer World
Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door
Ted Leo / Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
Living Colour - Time's Up
The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Aimee Mann - Whatever
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
The Meat Puppets - Too High to Die
Megadeth - Rust in Peace
Menomena - Friend and Foe
Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs
Metallica - …And Justice for All
George Michael - Faith
The Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2
Momus - The Little Red Songbook
My Morning Jacket - Z
The National - Alligator
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Outkast - Stankonia
Palaxy Tracks - Twelve Rooms
Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
Peace Orchestra - eace Orchestra
Jean Jacques Perrey - The Amazing New Electronic Pop Sound of Jean Jacques Perrey
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Portishead - Dummy
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Queen - A Night at the Opera
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
Radiohead - O.K. Computer
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
RUN-D.M.C. - Raisin’ Hell
Saint Etienne - Good Humor
The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
Sigur Ros - Ágætis Byrjun
Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind
Sloan - Navy Blues
Elliott Smith - XO
Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
Spoon - Girls Can Tell
Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
The Streets - Original Pirate Material
Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
They Might Be Giants - Apollo 18
T.Rex - Electric Warrior
311 - Music
Tool - Ænima
Tricky - Maxinquaye
TV on the Radio - Young Liars
The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
Rufus Wainwright - Poses
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
Warrant - Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich
The Waxwings - Low to the Ground
Ween - Chocolate and Cheese
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

What have you been listening to lately?


What’s the best part about being in a band? Going to sleep with the satisfaction of knowing you created something that day

Hardest parts?
1. The time commitment… it’s like 15-30 hours a week, no joke
2. Artistic compromise
3. Aligning my goals with everyone else’s

Favorite Canasta moment? First time playing Metro… I came pretty close to crying… yes, I’m a dork.

Favorite color: Blue, I guess… ok, yeah, blue.

Favorite food: Gino’s East deep dish pepperoni pizza

Favorite book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Favorite movies:
2001
25th Hour
Aliens
American Movie
The Aristocats
Big Night
Blackhawk Down
Bottle Rocket
Breaking the Waves
Citizen Ruth
The City of Lost Children
The Dark Crystal
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Edward Scissorhands
The Empire Strikes Back
Fargo
Farinelli: Il Castrato
Fear of a Black Hat
A Fish Called Wanda
The Fisher King
Get on the Bus
Gremlins
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A History of Violence
Hotel Rwanda
The Insider
Jacob’s Ladder
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Krull
Magnolia
Memento
Minority Report
Misery
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Munich
The Neverending Story
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
Notorious
Octopussy
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
Pi
Pulp Fiction
Requiem for a Dream
Return of the Jedi
Run Lola Run
School of Rock
Secrets and Lies
Seven
The Shawshank Redemption
A Simple Plan
Sling Blade
Star Wars
Startup.com
Tape
This Is Spinal Tap
Time Bandits
Together (2000)
Tougher Than Leather
Trainspotting
Waiting for Guffman
Winged Migration
You Can Count on Me

Pet? (current or childhood): Tucker the Shih Tzu, by way of my wife, by way of her parents

Favorite childhood vacation: Epcot Center… more specifically, “World Showcase” (the ambiance, architecture, food and gifts of various countries are represented by eleven different pavilions surrounding a 41-acre lagoon). I was totally blown away and came home feeling as though I’d done infinitely more “world traveling” than anyone else my age.

Favorite weather: Lightly falling snow… but the keyword is “lightly”… that has to be clarified here in Chicago.

____