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Canton's Relient K reflects on fame: 'The story got crazier and crazier'

4/13/22 by Ed Balint

Matt Thiessen's voice filled with energy as he recalled the rise of Relient K from a band playing small gigs in his hometown to slots with major music festivals and appearances on late night television shows.

"Growing up in Ohio, it's such a special place," said the 41-year-old frontman of the pop punk band. "When we were starting out, there wasn't a ton of bands, but there was about five or six really cool bands full of buddies, and we could all play shows together, and those are some of the best times you could remember."

More than a decade has passed since timing and circumstances converged to launch Relient K from obscurity to mainstream chart success, a spot on the Vans Warped Tour and impressive record sales, all while transcending the Christian music scene where the band started.

"And it just created a momentum that we just got to ride, and then, yeah, the story got crazier and crazier," Thiessen added.

"The Alive Festival ... playing things like that, and for the first time, someone wants your autograph, and (I thought), 'What is my autograph?' and that sort of thing. And yeah, we think about that stuff all the time, and it's pretty crazy how it changed our lives."

Thiessen took time to chat by phone a few days prior to Relient K's concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland late last month. Stark County native and co-founding band member Matthew Hoopes chimed in via email on Monday.

Thiessen spoke with the insight and maturity of a musician who knows thousands of bands don't make it, and even many who do fade out without the ability to consistently tour or make music.

Hoopes, 41, said the band and its fans have aged together.

"We had so much fun playing together," he said of the recently concluded tour. "It’s been about five years since our last show, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if we would ever get back to this. I think there is a certain sense of gratitude and joy that is present now in our live shows. I think a lot of our fans weren’t sure if we would ever tour again, either, so I think it’s part of the reason for the excitement and overall good vibes."

Asked how long he thinks Relient K will last, Thiessen didn't flinch: "Matt and I always said the band will always exist as long as we're having fun."

Reflecting on the tour, he sounded at ease: "It's not too hard to have fun."

Rounding out the band during the tour were Jonathan Schneck, guitar and vocals; Ethan Luck, bass and vocals; and Dave Douglas, drums and vocals.

Relient K released its last studio album in 2016, "Air for Free." A live album came out in 2020.

Thiessen lives in Nashville and Hoopes calls Florida home.

"We do have ... a goal of making another album someday," said Thiessen, who co-produced Owl City's No. 1 song "Fireflies" in 2009 and still writes new music regularly. "Logistics in this band have become a little difficult. ... It's just about getting together, and it's about figuring out where and what and when and how, but it will happen — I have faith that it will."

Touring re-energized the band, Hoopes observed.

"I’m excited about what we can make ... and how we can make music that feels important to us after all these years," the guitarist wrote. "I don’t really think about hanging it up at a certain point. I think that Relient K will always kind of change into whatever form it needs to be for us, and that’s a pretty cool place to be.

"I don’t think we are too concerned with retiring or doing a farewell tour, but hey, you never know. The future is undetermined, but that’s what makes it exciting."

Edited for brevity and clarity, the rest of the conversation and email exchange follow.

Making it in the music business

"I'm sure a lot of bands think their story is special and miraculous, but that's the way we look at ours, too," said Thiessen, a 1998 Tusky Valley High School graduate. "There's just so many little factors of, 'If this hadn't happened, nothing would have happened,' this sort of thing.

"We were so fortunate to have Mark Lee Townsend produce our albums, and he lived in Canton, and he had connections. He played in this band DC Talk, and if we wouldn't have met him at 16 years old, we would have never made a demo, and TobyMac would have never heard this demo and signed us, and if we never got signed, then we wouldn't have ever been able to go on a tour.

"I was like putting gas to the floor trying to write a new record, and that's when 'Sadie Hawkins Dance' got created. ... And it's kind of like just that butterfly effect."

Playing the popular songs, "Be My Escape" and "Sadie Hawkins Dance" so many years later

"That song ('Be My Escape') has existed for a long time for us, so I can play it with my eyes closed sort of thing," said Thiessen. "That's half the fun ... that I can just play it and ... kind of look at everyone singing along and just kind of vibe off of that.

"The goose bump moments actually come in less expected places, and it changes from night to night – certain crowds react differently to different songs, and that makes it really fun. After the show, we can all sit around and talk about it, (and how) I can't believe they were singing along so loud to a song called 'Empty House' or something, and the (opening act Semler) back stage saying it gave her chills, and that's cool.

"... It's actually come full circle," he said of performing "Sadie Hawkins Dance." "There was probably a time in our career when it felt a little foolish to be playing that song. We're out on tour with Good Charlotte and Simple Plan, and I just wanted to play what I thought were our cool songs, and every night we still have to play 'Sadie Hawkins,' and it still goes over well.

"And now I think back and I say that song was alright, and it's just fun and silly, and that person who wrote that song is still inside of me somewhere, and it's great to harness that inner child or inner 20-year-old and enjoy it every night."

Would you like to play the Alive Festival again?

"We'd love to, absolutely," Thiessen said. "I remember attending it before the band even existed. A funny story was always that there was three of us. Our old bass player Brian Pittman still lives in Canton. And it was Matt Hoopes, Brian Pittman and I, and we all went to an Alive Festival ... and we all got to see this ska band called (The O.C. Supertones), and after seeing it, Matt and Brian were convinced Relient K should be a ska band.

"We were very early in writing stuff, but I was set on being a pop punk band, and I think for a moment I got kicked out of Relient K, but I was also the songwriter, so they, without even telling me, I was brought back into Relient K.

"And then we got to start playing the Alive Festival, and yes, of course, we would love to come back and do it if they would want us to come."

Still Ohio proud

"It's definitely the people," Thiessen said. "You know, Ohioans are unlike anybody else. I miss the vibe. I still get back to Ohio all the time. My sister ... lives down in Columbus, Sunbury, Ohio, and my mom ended up moving down to Apple Valley, which is kind of in between Canton and Columbus. I'm always there, and it's a very similar vibe to where we grew up, and I don't know, I feel more relaxed, I feel kind of more at home when I visit Ohio more than anywhere else.

"But ... it was always a thing in pop punk culture to kind of diss your hometown and be like, 'I got to get out of here, I need to go on the road and see the world.' We were joking about that the other day, and you go on the road and you end up seeing the back alley behind the same venue in every city ... and that's where you hang out – it's funny."

Hoopes said Ohio helped shape the band.

"I think we’ve always held on to a little bit of a blue-collar/DIY approach that feels uniquely (Northeast) Ohio. I notice that kind of, I don’t know, gritty approach in myself in other things, too, like running my guitar pedal business — 1981 Inventions. I think so many pop punk bands that came out in the early 2000s were from the coasts (California, New Jersey, etc.) We weren’t quite cool enough to be lumped in as Midwest emo. Part of it is wearing our roots proudly on our sleeves, and part is explaining where we are coming from and why we are the way we are."

Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA championship in 2016

"So one really cool thing about living in Nashville is there's a lot of people from Ohio, and a lot of close friends that have moved down there, not just for music, but it's because Nashville's a cool place to be, too," Thiessen said. "So I ended up buying a real long cable for my TV and putting it out, and we all watched the Cavs win in the swimming pool.

"So that was good, and yeah, we had a couple of guys who broke down in tears and stuff. It was pretty cool; it was a special moment. I was happy. I didn't quite get there and cry."

Visiting Stark County

"It always feels smaller when I come home, closer together than I remember," said Hoopes, a 1999 McKinley High School graduate. It "feels safe and simple, but in a nice way. It does feel slow paced in comparison to other places, but not in a bad way. I do love coming home to my parents' house and going back to our favorite places like Milk and Honey or even Swensons."

The joys of touring

"One of my favorite things about this tour is Semler, the opener," Thiessen said. "She's just really great, and she's just got this cool stage presence, and I don't know, (but) she makes me feel good every day when I get to see her perform. Honestly, I think she makes me cry a little bit when I watch her set because it's so emotional and what not. I don't know why she agreed to do this tour, but we're just really glad she did."

The Relient K experience

"I think that the more time passes, I feel grateful for the opportunity to experience the things we have experienced," said Hoopes, who got married about five years ago and now has young children. "It’s crazy to get to see other countries like Japan or New Zealand, or get to play (the) Warped Tour or The Tonight Show. It’s surreal, honestly. I think in hindsight I’m able to have a more balanced view of it.

"I don’t think we necessarily deserved those opportunities, but we did work hard and continued to show up, and Matt continued to write great songs. I think what I’m trying to say at this point in my life is that, I feel more gratitude for everything, but I can also more clearly see some of the costs along the way.

"Ultimately, I feel that there is always room for gratitude no matter how things happened, and there are so many things about my life now that I wouldn’t change for the world. Relient K has given each of us a unique experience to say the least, and it’s a fun story to be a part of."

What if you didn't make it in rock and roll?

"I went to Kent Stark, and I was just going to get some gen eds," Thiessen recalled. " ... But (entertainment writing) is really fun. I would have loved to get into journalism. I love the radio. I love like marketing, but creative marketing. ... Whoever gets to make those Geico commercials ... I always thought I would gravitate towards that type of thing. (But) I haven't had to do it yet."

Hoopes, meanwhile, runs a successful guitar pedal business, calling 1981 Inventions his "main job," while noting he used his DRV pedal on tour.

"So I guess Relient K is an odd side hustle if you will," he wrote. "I always guessed it would be the other way around. I started my company in 2018, in a season when I was legitimately trying to figure out what to do with my life. I hoped that building guitar pedals would be a bit of a weekend project sort of thing, where I could make pedals for myself and my friends. But since my first release, it became clear that I would need to work really hard to try to keep up with demand.https://0674e81c281a55fea9b19534f73e1e5c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

"I think the band really helped me start out doing pedals, as most people who follow us are at least mildly aware that I am obsessed with guitar gear and pedals, especially. I honestly just love it. But it’s been an incredible experience to see the pedal stand on its own. I’d guess that most people who follow 1981 Inventions are not aware (of) Relient K, and that’s kind of cool in a way."

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#relient k #matt thiessen #matthew thiessen #matt hoopes #matthew hoopes #jon schneck #ethan luck #dave douglas

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