Beautiful People 2009: Matt & Kim

Since Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino first met in 2004 while studying at Pratt, the duo have married punk ethos with pop enthusiasm to create wild live shows and records that seem simultaneously meticulous and haphazard. This punk-pop marriage is fully realized on Grand (named for the Brooklyn street the couple live on), the place-specific product of distance compounded by time. Since Matt and Kim's 2006 self-titled album sent them touring the country, the duo have been perpetually away from their adopted hometown of Brooklyn. "The last couple of years have been the longest I've spent away from New York in the ten years I've been there. When we were writing these songs, we were missing being there," says Johnson, calling from somewhere between Sacramento and San Francisco.  

Their decision to record Grand at the remote Vermont home where Johnson grew up further extended their absence, but proved necessary to the process. "It was somewhere we could be completely isolated," says Johnson. The unconventional recording space required MacGyver-like innovation -- mic'ed dryers, tents built around cymbals and wallets taped to drum kits -- but in the end, the sonic adventuresomeness paid off in the form of a frenetic love letter to Brooklyn. "We had no idea really what we were doing," says Johnson of the recording process. "When anyone is too traditionally trained, there's a right way, and there's a wrong way. And in anything, there's no right or wrong way. Maybe in math, but not in creative things."
LAUREN HARRIS

Kim wears a shirt by Mustache Brigade, jeans by Nikita, shoes by Converse and belt by Alpinestars. Matt wears a cardigan by Fiber & Fellow, shirt by Endovanera, jeans by GRN Apple Tree and shoes by ASICS.

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