Matt Thiessen
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| Matt Thiessen | |
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 Matt Thiessen playing the guitar live on stage
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthew Arnold Thiessen |
| Also known as | Matt, Matt T, Matty T |
| Born | August 12, 1980 |
| Origin | St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre(s) | Christian rock Pop punk Piano rock |
| Occupation(s) | Lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, songwriter, and producer for the Christian rock band Relient K |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Piano, Bells, Vibraphone |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Associated acts | Relient K, Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes |
| Website | www.relientk.com |
Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born on August 12, 1980 in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. He founded the band with fellow guitarist Matt Hoopes and former bassist Brian Pittman in 1998. His songs generally draw influence from both his Christian faith and adolescent past.
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[edit] Biography
Thiessen's parents divorced when he was only six years old and living in Stevensville, Ontario. Later, his mother remarried and the family moved to Canton, Ohio. Soon after, he met two of his best friends and future bandmates, Matt Hoopes and Brian Pittman. The three have said that they've known each other since the first or second grade.[1] Thiessen's first band could be described as a grunge Nirvana cover band called Social Distortion. He played in this band until he felt that "Jesus was leading him to write music for Him", and he began making Christian music instead.[1]
Matt's extended family consists of his aunt, Nettie Thiessen, and her daughters, Bev, Bonnie, and Lynn. Matt also has two brothers, two sisters, two stepbrothers, and two stepsisters. [2] (Jeremy Thiessen, the drummer for the band downhere, is not related to Matt Thiessen, though one of his brothers' names is Jeremy.[2]) Early on in his high school years, Thiessen was "really quiet and bookish," although he does say that, later on, he began to come out of his shell and became well known around the school for his very authentic goat impressions.[3] Thiessen cites The Beach Boys and The Beatles as two of his biggest musical influences. He is known for being a prankster, and can almost always be seen wearing plaid, although he doesn't like high-tops. He is loving toward all animals (especially penguins, thus leading to one of the bands most popular t-shirts featuring a penguin). Growing up in northern Ohio and visiting Cedar Point as a child, he is also a roller coaster enthusiast, and has expressed an interest in playing at Cedar Point, but he hasn't been able to because Cedar Point doesn't host concerts. Relient K has played numerous occasions in West Chester's Kings Island, which is Cedar Point's sister park.[4] Some of his favorite memories include getting massive sunburns and riding a yacht in Jacksonville, Florida. Some of Thiessen's devout fans refer to him as "Matty T" or "T-Sun" to prevent confusing him with Matt Hoopes. He is also sometimes just referred to as "Thiessen." Not only does Matt Hoopes still have his old Plymouth Reliant, but Thiessen has also said that after the band started, he bought his own Reliant K. He no longer owns the vehicle.[5]
In addition to being in Relient K, Thiessen plays in his own solo piano project called Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes. The songs are typically emotional and very personal. He currently has 6 songs produced for many different CDs, including various compilation albums. He also has a side project called "The Makeout Girls", which he performs with his friend, Kevan Peden. Kevan is also known for his starring role in the hit tv show The Cuties. They made the famous Relient K bonus track, "Silly Shoes."
Thiessen always plays the guitar with his thumb,[5] and he is hardly ever seen using a guitar pick, if at all. For the Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour, Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, John Warne, and Jon Schneck were all given their own signature guitar picks. By the summer festival season, Hoopes, Warne, and Schneck had all run out of their own signature picks, having tossed them to the crowd after every show. Since Thiessen never uses a pick, the others just began using his picks, and tossed them out to the crowd after shows.
[edit] Guest appearances
Matt Thiessen has made guest appearances with several other artists, including the following:
- The bridge and background vocals for "I Believe You" by The Fold, which can be found on their sophomore album This Too Shall Pass (2006).
- The chorus and background vocals for "Nuisance" by John Reuben, which can be found on his album The Boy vs. The Cynic (2005). Thiessen also appeared in the music video for this song. When playing this song live, Reuben has been known to mention Theissen and trick people into thinking he was about to play.
- Background vocals for "But A Breath" by The Wedding, which can be found on their self-titled debut (2004).
- Vocals on Everyday Sunday's album, Anthems For The Imperfect, on the track "The One" (2004).
- Vocals with Jon Foreman on "Rebuild" (2007).
Thiessen has also sung guest vocals at some live shows for the band House of Heroes when the band performs their song "Mercedes Baby." House of Heroes' lead singer, Tim Skipper, has done the same for Relient K at certain times when they performed "More Than Useless."
Thiessen said in an interview with Jesus Freak Hideout that he almost did some guest vocals for Switchfoot, but in the end, it was Switchfoot's lead singer Jon Foreman who did guest vocals for the song "Deathbed" on Relient K's fifth album, Five Score and Seven Years Ago. On the subject, Thiessen said, "Well, I guess it's kind of something I always wanted to do. I mean, I'm a big fan of Switchfoot and we're good friends and stuff. He actually sent me a song that he wrote and he just wanted to see if I'd record it and do one of their songs, but [we] didn't end up doing that. But we were in correspondence and I asked him if he'd do it ["Deathbed"] and I sent the files down to his house and he just sang it in his house and sent it back to us. It was really cool how it worked."[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Mansfield, Brian (2004-11-29). Can this punk-pop band make it big? 'Mmhmm'. USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Brandt, Randy (2003-05-11). Interview with Relient K. Contend 4 The Faith. Retrieved on 2006-12-25.
- ^ Hertz, Todd (January/February 2005). Goat Boy Goes to High School. Christianity Today. Retrieved on 2007-04-01.
- ^ Thiessen, Matt (June 2005). Relient K Comes Clean. Breakaway. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
- ^ a b Interview on Total Axxess, Recorded January 22, 2008
- ^ DiBiase, John (2007-03-10). Looking Back... and Into the Future!. Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
