Earlier this month, The Get Up Kids touched down in Malaysia for their second round of show in the country. We were part of the crowd who got to witness their performance live that rocking evening at The Bee but that was not all we did.

Prior to the show, we sat down with Jim Suptic and Matt Pryor (we asked where the rest were, they said that they decided only the two of them would do the interviews because if everyone was there, it’d just be a bunch of guys talking over each other like bickering old housewives) and talked to them about their second visit to Malaysia, their upcoming album after “Problems” and James Dewees’ sudden departure from the band.

We also asked them if they were planning to visit other Southeast countries (they admitted that Malaysia is the only one they’ve been to so far), since fans have been asking them about this on social media. Both said that they’d love to but there’ve been no promoters from places like Singapore or Thailand or Indonesia approaching them for a show there. Fingers crossed they’ll get their wish to visit more of Southeast Asia fulfilled soon!

Matt was still jet-lagged from their 30-hour flight from Kansas City, Missouri, to this side of the world – Jim was okay, though, he said he even managed to throw in some sightseeing before their gig – but he powered through the interview and this is what we got from the duo:

Matt (L) and Jim (R) looking dead serious but then there’s Dustin Than Kinsey (yellow cap) and Rob Pope messing about behind Ryan Pope.

TheHive.Asia: Hi Jim, hi Matt, so this is your second time in Malaysia. 

Jim: Yeah, we like it here. 

Matt: The last time we were here was in 2016, for the Rockaway Festival.

Do you guys notice anything different since your last show here?

Jim: The last time we were here, there was political turmoil. There were all these protests and at the hotel, they told us, “Don’t go down there, you need to stay away from those areas.” So, of course, immediately we were like, “Oh, we’re going down there.” So we went down right in the heart of the protest, it was crazy.

We also heard that there was a big switch in government, but I can’t tell. Everyone was friendly the last time we were here and everyone’s friendly now.

Good to hear. So “Problems”, that’s your latest album. You mentioned that now that you guys are in your 40s, you’re not gonna be able to write songs like when you were 19. What inspires you now when you write songs?

Matt:  I think it’s a similar kind of state of mind, just with a more – I don’t wanna say “mature”, mature sounds boring – like a little bit different perspective on love, relationship and lost, that kinda stuff when you’ve been through more of it. Sometimes when you’re younger, you’re writing about “What if’s”, when you’re older you’re kinda like maybe looking back on things that have already happened. But I think you can write a song that’s like, I don’t know, I think that there’s just a lot of introspection on this record that isn’t introspection of a 20-year-old.

Jim: When you’re young, everything’s kinda black and white in the world. Every emotion’s the biggest emotion you ever felt. Every breakup’s the saddest thing. I think when you get older, there’s a little more subtle nuance to life.

The Get Up Kids performed both old and new songs at their show at The Bee.

Your fans basically grew up with you guys since you’ve been around for a very long time. When you write your songs now, do you write with them in mind, something to entertain them?

Matt:  No, I think we’ve always written for ourselves first. I think if we ever were calculated enough to be writing for other people, we would sound disingenuous, sound like you’re trying to chase what’s popular or something like that.

Jim: The only calculating we did in our last record was that we sort of tried to get back to what the essence of The Get Up Kids is as a band. Like find what are we best at.

Have you guys ever worried about competing with current artistes?

Jim: No, young people like what they like. We’re like old men now to kids. If you listen to alternative radio, in the States, it sounds like pop music. There’s no guitars. Like guitar music is not on the radio. Honest to God, I don’t listen to alternative radio because it doesn’t sound like alternative, it just sounds like pop music to me, which is fine, if that’s what young people are into. I like all types of music but my favourite is rock & roll… Now I sound like a grumpy old man.

Matt: *starts singing “Old Time Rock & Roll”*

Jim: My daughter loves Billie Eilish and she’s super talented. It’s just not bass, guitar, drums and keyboard. It’s all computer music.

But you do see your fans bringing their kids to your shows, so you still have fans even among the younger generations.

Jim: It’s not dead. Guitar music. It’s just not mainstream music anymore. Mainstream alternative music is not guitar right now, at least in the United States. It’s just few and far in between.

Alright, how long will fans have to wait for your next album, will it be another decade before you drop another album?

Jim: I don’t know. I guess I have some ideas, I don’t know.

Matt: I don’t think it’ll be that long.

Jim: But we don’t have plans. I think we owe [our record label] a couple of records. I don’t even remember. Contractually, we owe two more albums.

Matt:  I think it’s three.

Though Jim’s not sure, fans can expect at least two albums from The Get Up Kids in the near future.

What are you guys up to next, aside from making a new album?

Matt: We’re gonna be touring for the next six months, off and on. Figure out what we wanna do next, which is probably writing. Because we had a good time writing the last record. 

Jim: Re-evaluating life…(Matt: You sound so negative today!). Hopefully there’s a record somewhere in the next year. I think we need to have a long get-together and just map everything out.

Matt: It’s hard to think of the future when you’re jet-lagged and you’re in the middle of the tour. You’re just like, I don’t know nothing, I just wanna get to bed!

Jim: Things are crazy now, tours get booked eight months out now. Almost a year out. That’s crazy to me. You have to plan that far ahead already, you know. But it’s the world we live in.

Okay, there’s this one last question I want to ask, since fans have been asking about this ever since you guys announced his departure.

Matt: Oh, about James? Yeah, we’re not gonna talk about that. We’re not ready to talk about it yet.

Jim: Yeah, he’s not in the band anymore.

Matt: I still love the dude, he’s just not in our band.

Matt still loves you, James! (As seen here, Dustin stood in as the keyboardist during the recent show in KL).

As the band members and their crew moved around onstage setting up instruments (plugging in guitars up front, assembling the drums in the centre and arranging keyboards over on one side), fans waited patiently offstage, watching the silent commotion (“silenced” by the rock music playing in the background, blasting through the venue’s speakers).

Just moments ago, the opening act, local band Milo Dinosaur, was rocking the stage. So there were their guitars and drums to be removed before The Get Up Kids could set up their own.

Both bands shared the same uber chic flamingo backdrop, however.

The lights dimmed, everyone walked off stage. Fans continued to wait. When asked if they were old or new fans, most of them said that they practically grew up listening to the band’s music, though some of them admitted they weren’t quite familiar with the band’s newer releases.

The fans were unanimous in their reply, however, when asked about their anticipation for the show. By and large, everyone was looking forward to hearing the band perform more songs live since the last time that they were here (also their first), it was for 2016’s Rockaway Festival where they had to share the stage with several other rockers and had a much shorter time to perform. (Not to mention the rain didn’t exactly allow for a safe multi-instrumental show in an open-air stadium).  

More waiting. The crowd buzzed with excitement, the volume of the fans’ murmurs increasing until finally, bright lights flooded the stage. Murmurs turned to screams.

Out came Jim Suptic, heading straight for his guitar on the left side of the stage; Rob Pope, stationing himself and his bass guitar next to Jim; Ryan Pope, settling down in the drummer’s seat; and Matt Pryor, taking up the mic on the opposite side of the stage, with Dustin Than Kinsey joining them on keyboards. 

The Pope brothers rocking the stage.

Amid loud cheers from the crowd, the band plunged straight into their opening number, “Satellite”, off their latest album, “Problems”.

While talking to Jim and Matt in an earlier interview before the show, they jokingly expressed hopes that the crowd would be not be quiet and would sing along to some, if not all, of their songs. They needn’t have worried because fans did enthusiastically belt out most of their songs during the show. 

Jim, who wanted fans to “live in the moment” and not get carried away filming, would’ve been proud of the fact that only a few fans had their phones out while most were either singing along or bobbing their heads and tapping their feet rhythmically to the music.

There was some filming but nothing excessive.

This time around, with a stage all to themselves, the band was able to churn out a much longer setlist, performing 22 songs in total.

It was a mix of their older and newer hits, songs like “I’m a Loner Dottie, a Rebel”, “Shorty” and “No Love” interweaved with the more recent “Better This Way”, “The Problem Is Me” and “The Advocate”.

Jim was momentarily alone on stage when the rest of the band took a short break while he performed “Campfire Kansas”. Following that, Matt then took the lead again singing “Red Letter Day”.

After the band rocked the stage with “Action & Action”, the lights went off, signaling the end of the show.

But was it?

The band trooped off stage but since fans shouted for them to come back on, they obliged. Matt appeared first. Picking up his guitar again, he talked a little bit about “Out of Reach” before performing the song. 

Matt took the stage to talk about “Out of Reach” before performing it.

He said that it was about the band flying to Europe for the first time (“Someone likes Germany,” he said in amusement when a fan cheered loudly the moment he mentioned the specific country), they felt like it was on the other side of the world, flying from Kansas. Since then, they’ve been flying everywhere across the globe and he thanked the fans in Malaysia for their support which gave them the opportunity to travel even further from their Midwest home.

The whole band regrouped onstage to perform “Holiday”, “Don’t Hate Me”, and “I’ll Catch You”, before wrapping up the evening’s show with “Ten Minutes”.

Rock out with The Get Up Kids when they touch down in Malaysia this October for a one-night only show!

Members Matt Pryor (guitars/vocals), Jim Suptic (guitars/vocals), James Dewees (keys/vocals), Rob Pope (bass) and Ryan Pope (drums) are ready to entertain with not just their past hits but also songs off their latest album, “Problems”.

Here’s where you gotta be to catch The Get Up Kids live in Malaysia:

Venue: The Bee, Publika

Date: 2 October 2019 (Wednesday)

Time: 7pm onwards

Tickets for the show are already available for purchase via www.galactix.asia/tguk2019 

Early bird tickets are now sold out but advance tickets are still available for RM178 (excluding ticketing fees).

The American rock band last performed in Malaysia about three years ago, so it’s no wonder that their fans are eager to see them return to the stage with their unique songs that blend alternative rock with pop punk.

Having gained fame since the early 2000s, the band is no stranger to performing in various venues around the world, including performing with the likes of Green Day, Weezer, Hot Rod Circuit and The Anniversary during their three-year tour across Japan, Europe and Australia.

They might have started out as just a bunch of regular guys from Kansas City, but since their inception, they’ve helped shape the emo, indie and alternative rock music genre, a.k.a. the “second wave” of emo music.

For those unfamiliar with their music, check out this music video for “Salina”: