On July 27th, Letter Kills released their first LP, The Bridge. We got the chance to speak with Matt Shelton, the lead singer, about this album. All we can say is: keep your eyes open and ears unstuffed. This band knows how to rock, and here at Redefine Magazine, we guarantee you that the public will catch on soon.

Redefine Magazine: How's it going? Having a good day today?
Matt Shelton: Yes, I am. The weather's nice outside. We're in Milwaukee today, and it started out kinda hot, but the breeze came in and now it's pretty nice.

RM: How was today's show?
Matt: The show was pretty cool. We had to play a little bit early, at like 1:15, but there were a lot of kids there. A lot of people from the last couple times we've been through managed to eventually make it to the show, so we were really excited about that.

RM: Is it hard to get into the music when you're playing at 1 in the afternoon?
Matt: Yeah... it is when you wake up at noon! The thing about Warped Tour is that you get used to playing at different times every day, though.

RM: Where did you guys get the name Letter Kills?
Matt: The name Letter Kills is actually a biblical reference from when a couple of us went to church in southern California for a little while. The pastor said the words "letter kills" and it just stuck out in our minds because we were looking for something that was kind of powerful - something that could represent the power of the music as best as possible. We've never seen the words "letter kills" used together before; we really liked the way it looked and felt that it was really strong.

RM: How did you guys start out?
Matt: We began with Tim, our guitar player, and our drummer, Paul. They got together in Southern California and started working on songs, and just tried to put together a band while they were working together. They just kept practicing and then Tim, actually, was in another band which was touring through Texas, which is where I'm from. We became acquaintances, and he asked if I'd like to go out to California to play with them. At first I said no, but after a while, I kind of talked myself into it. What was kind of funny was that me, Tim, and Paul practiced for a couple months and kept looking for new members, and during August of 2002, we found Dustin and Kyle, the other two members. That's when we all first formed.

RM: Was it hard for you to decide, "Okay, well, I'm just going to move to California and do this."
Matt: Yeah, it was hard at first before I said that I was going to go. My first thought was, "No way. I never want to leave Texas," because I love Texas. It's my home, and all of my family and friends are there. But I just really felt that it was what I needed to do at the time. For a while after I moved, it was really hard to believe that it was going to work out, but once it did, I realized that it was what I needed to do.

RM: So you guys have a new album coming out later this week... are you excited?
Matt: Yep, next Tuesday. We're really excited. Kind of nervous, but excited at the same time. It's cool, because it will be the first time we'll really get a chance to give the kids the music they've been seeing us play for the past year and a half.

RM: Are there any particular themes or experiences that shaped this album?
Matt: Um, any experiences... it's kind of a lot of experiences. It's kind of life, in general. This album is pretty wide-ranged as far as topical songs and things like that. It's basically everything with all five of us, who came together seperately, with five totally different ideas. We created something new and something different using us five, instead of basing any of the songs on one specific member. And I think that's probably the biggest impact that we've had on this record and our music - just the fact that we all had such a group effort with the songwriting and recording and everything. We wanted to take away all the individuality, all the individual preferences, styles of music, and things like that, and just kind of create our own thing.

RM: It's pretty impressive that you guys are pretty well-known even though you've only released an EP. What do you think it is that sets you guys apart from a lot of other bands?
Matt: For me, personally - and I feel like I can say this because I'm the singer and I don't play an instrument - I think that the guys in my band are very talented at what they do. We're not really a gimmick band. We don't really have any flashy lights or anything, and we are just pretty much straight-forward rock'n'roll. I think the thing that most people say they really enjoy about our band is that we're fun, and we kind of just give people a chance to relax and enjoy good music, rather than forcing a certain style upon someone or anything like that. I kind of think that's what people have been drawn to - just the fact that it's a newer version of rock'n'roll. It's something new that people feel like they can be a part of, without it being hardcore, or screamo, or you know, like, butt-rock, or anything. It's just something that people can be a part of.

RM: Out of all of the Warped Tour dates you guys have played so far, which performance has been your favorite?
Matt: My favorite? Hmm... so many good ones... I don't know. Uh, Denver was really a lot of fun. Today, actually, was really good. Ventura, California sticks out in my mind. That one was really awesome. Calgary... yeah, Calgary Canada was really good too. We've been very fortunate on this tour so far. And we're heading up to the east coast this upcoming week, so I'm excited to see how that's going to go.

RM: Why was the Seattle tour date cancelled?
Matt: I had tonsilitis. I actually still have it. I got it that day in Seattle and I had to go to the hospital, so we had to cancel our show in Seattle and in Portland the next day. It kind of sucked, but I just thought I couldn't do it.

RM: It makes sense! So do you find that when you guys are playing your shows, that because of MP3's and what not, that a lot of people already know your album even though it's not released yet?
Matt: Yeah, actually, that's what we were really fortunate with, just because a lot of bands' records get released so early, and we're just now seeing kids that have it. It isn't that bad, since it's a week before the record. I don't mind, you know... it's exciting for me, because those kids want it that bad, so it didn't bother me.

RM: I guess that's about it... do you have any last things to add?
Matt: No, just thank you very much for your time. RM: No, thank YOU, sir.

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