Work From Home: Rob Thomas and Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty were so ready to celebrate summer 2020 the best way they knew how—by hitting the road for a massive tour. And then, pandemic. The good news is that the dates have been rescheduled for 2021. The bad news is, um, that’s a year away. But perhaps you’d like to see how they’ve been spending their time in lockdown? In this episode of Tour Update: Work From Home, Rob Thomas and Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty tell us what their days look like, their successes (and failures) of quarantine and what they’re looking forward to. Watch:
Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted on 5/5/2020
Work From Home: Rob Thomas and Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty

Setlist.fm: Describe your quarantine headquarters for us.
Kyle Cook: Mine is a historic 1940s cottage, English cottage, in east Nashville.
Rob: I'm here in Westchester, New York. Right now I'm in my studio in the basement. I've been spendin’ a lot of time down here.

Setlist.fm: What does the typical day in lockdown look like for you guys?
Kyle: You know, there's a lot of creativity I think goin' on.
Rob: I find that all of a sudden just to soothe me, I'm playing a lot more music. Like I'm re-learning some of my old songs, and I'm learning cover songs and stuff just for fun. 
Kyle: Yeah, I'm divin' into like, records that I've known and loved for years, too and just dissecting them, because records like Dark Side of the Moon or Abbey Road, or I was listenin' to A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay's second record the other day. 'Cause you've got all this time to really figure out what is it intrinsically about these albums that make them so great?

Setlist.fm: So where were you guys when this all got very serious? I know it happened, like really fast.
Kyle: What made it even, kind of a one-two punch, in Nashville was, you know, we had the tornado that blew through right here in East Nashville about one and a half miles from this house. And so everything was pretty shaken up even before the pandemic. There were a couple shows. There was one that was a corporate thing, and there was another one that was a charity thing.
Rob: You start with like “oh my god, you're not gonna cancel this are ya?” and then it's like “are you gonna cancel this?” I was like "listen, you guys better cancel this."
Setlist.fm: Rob, did you say you gave yourself a haircut?
Rob: I tried to give myself a real haircut. Like I thought if I just trim down the sides, and shorten up the top a little bit, like it should be no problem at all. My wife's gonna be so impressed! And I get upstairs and she walks in the room and is like "what the (beep) did you just do to yourself?"
Kyle: All your fans, they just see "Lonely No More" Rob, but I see JAM Magazine Orlando Rob.
Rob: To all the hairdressers out there in the world, you work miracles. You're workin' miracles out there. Like Kyle, man. Kyle's got no choice right now. He's either gonna grow forever, or shave that right off.
Kyle: Yeah, it's just a sheep-dog kinda situation goin' on. I just wanna, I wanna ask you why you ever would think in a million years that you would cut your own hair and nail it?
Rob: You know what, I started recording stuff and I was new on that, and I was editing videos and new on that, and I was like, "Dude, I'm the king of quarantine! I can do anything!”
Kyle: There's so much nailing. I totally get it. You were on a roll.

Setlist.fm: So a lot of people need help right now, but Rob, I saw that you're one of the first to raise money for shelter animals specifically. Can you tell us about that?
Rob: My wife and I have been Sidewalk Angels for the last 15-or-so years. One organization that brings critical-needed funds to no-kill shelters, so we, a couple of years ago started partnering with the Humane Society of the United States, and they wanted to do a benefit. 
Because you're talkin’ about, not just animals, but you're talkin’ about the parents of animals. You wanna make sure that these people can still take care of the animals they love and not have to put them down or give them up. I think, now more than ever, people's pets are a part of their family, and so you wanna make sure that they're taken care of.
Setlist.fm: So, what song of yours do you think is the best to listen to during, like a scary or confusing time, like for people's pandemic playlist that I assume they're compiling?
Kyle: "Back 2 Good". Let's get it back to good.
Rob: Yeah. We've always had a sense of hopefulness in the music that we make. Even some of the darker songs, like they have a hopeful tinge to it, like this hope that everything's gonna be okay.
Setlist.fm: After 20 years of Matchbox Twenty, what keeps driving you to keep bringing new music to fans and touring, especially after all this is over?
Rob: It's the fact that when we do it, we still really love it, I think is the reason why we're always gonna wanna go out and tour, we're always gonna wanna do something together. It still makes us happy when we do it, and if it didn’t, that would probably be when we stop.
Kyle: In 2017 when we went out, and you know we played the catalog, we had so much fun. We were so re-energized by seeing the reaction that people had to those songs and those albums that we made together. That like "look man, we don't want this to go away.” So we started kickin’ some new song ideas around. We're starting to explore, you know, some new material.

Setlist.fm: What do you think the first shows back after quarantine are gonna feel like?
Rob: I remember the first show that we did after 9/11. I feel it's gonna be something akin to that. I mean, 'cause that's really what it is. When you get live music, it's that sense of community. All these like-minded people coming in and sharing a moment being on the same page for this little period of time. That's gonna be amplified.
Kyle: I think the enthusiasm’s gonna be off the charts when we get to the other side of this, I really do.

Setlist.fm: What’s the best quarantine meal you've made?
Kyle: Farro is my jam right now. The good thing about that is you can just kinda throw anything on it, and it’s just always in the fridge.
Rob: You know what I've been gettin' into? Have you guys heard of this it's called wine? It is amazing! Guys, I don't know where this has been, but it is my jam!
----
Matchbox Twenty 2021 tour dates:

July 16 -- Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
July 17 -- Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
July 18 -- Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
July 20 -- Bethlehem, PA @ Wind Creek Event Center
July 22 -- Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
July 23 -- Syracuse, NY @ St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
July 25 -- Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
July 27 -- Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 28 -- Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
July 30 -- Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
July 31 -- Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Aug. 1 -- Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
Aug. 3 -- Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Aug. 4 -- Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Aug. 6 -- Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
Aug. 7 -- West Palm Beach, FL @ Coral Sky Amphitheatre at the S. Florida Fairgrounds
Aug. 8 -- Jacksonville, FL @ Daily's Place
Aug. 10 -- Pelham, AL @ Oak Mountain Amphitheater
Aug. 12 -- Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
Aug. 13 -- Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
Aug. 15 -- Rogers, AR @ Walmart Amp
Aug. 16 -- Oklahoma City, OK @ Zoo Amphitheater *
Aug. 18 -- Moline, IL @ TaxSlayer Center
Aug. 20 -- Memphis, TN @ Live at the Garden
Aug. 21 -- St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - St. Louis
Aug. 22 -- Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
Aug. 24 -- Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Aug. 25 -- Toledo, OH @ Toledo Zoo Amphitheater
Aug. 27 -- Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - Chicago
Aug. 28 -- Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
Aug. 29 -- Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug. 31 -- Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Sept. 1 -- Burgettstown, PA @ S&T Bank Music Park
Sept. 3 -- Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Sept. 4 -- Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
Sept. 5 -- Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Sept. 8 -- Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
Sept. 9 -- Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center Omaha
Sept. 10 -- Welch, MN @ Treasure Island Resort & Casino +
Sept. 12 -- Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Sept. 14 -- Nampa (Boise), ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
Sept. 18 -- Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
Sept. 21 -- Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Sept. 22 -- Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
Sept. 23 -- Ridgefield, WA @ Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
Sept. 25 -- Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sept. 26 -- Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
Sept. 28 -- Bakersfield, CA @ Mechanics Bank Arena
Sept. 30 -- San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU
Oct. 3 -- Irvine, CA @ Five Point Amphitheatre
Oct. 5 -- Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion
Oct. 7 -- Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
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Last updated: 29 Mar 2024, 13:59 Etc/UTC