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.4. t's easy to dismiss a workout- and fitness-
W themed band as being far less than serious,
j and aptly. Rump Posse got its start as a bit of
a laugh. But enthusiastic crowd responses and
interest from trendy cable networks are helping to
steer the four members of the band towards com
mitment
Going by the aliases Ace, Dr. Sweet J. Moose
and the Inspechtor, the members of the Rump
Posse have a fondness for late-'80s guitar riffage.
Their 2004 cassette release Steamy Scandals &
Love Handles had the same kind of high-flying
ro«:k action that would've fit nicely on a sound-
traoc to a Top Gun imitator. Iron Eagle, for
instance, or something
even more low budget.
Flagpole spoke with Dr.
Sweet's civilian alter-ego
David Matysiak (Jet By
Day) about joke-band
status, good times and the
possibility of a Rump
Posse cartoon.
Flagpole: I hear there's
talk of Rump Posse collabo
rating with the Cartoon
Network
David Matysiak: Yeah!
I guess I should start at
the beginning. We played
a show in Atlanta in
January and MC Chris, a
guy who does voices for
the cartoons was there.
He came up to me at the
bar and said that he
really got pumped up by
our set I got a call a
month or two later from
the club the Drunken
Unicom saying that MC
Chris wanted to set up
a show with us.
So we got it
together and it was
cool because all the
Cartoon Network guys
were there, the guys
who do voices for
Aqua Teen Hunger
Force and all those
shows. Rump Posse
pretty much lit up the
crowd—we had a sax
ophone, duets, and
all kinds of things.
We started talking
about collaborating
and touring together,
and a couple weeks later, I
got an email from MC Chris saying Cartoon
Network was interested in having us do a
'bumper." It's those promotional black screens
they put up between shows and advertisements,
and I guess they were going to let him do one
and he gave his slot to us. So yeah, we had our
song 'Sports' on Cartoon Network and they
plugged www.rumpposse.com, and things have
really taken off, especially on the Internet
FP: And you're starting to work on a Rump
Posse cartoon?
DM: Yeah, the only problem right now is we're
trying to find someone who can cheaply animate a
trailer. It seems Uke right now the way it works at
the Cartoon Network is people will write down an
idea and send it in, and they'll say 'Okay, that
sounds cool, but we have no idea what it'll look
like.' So basically they want to cut comers, and if
we can show them we can do it cheaply then
that'd be best for us. We're coming up with a pilot
right now.
FP: Are you writing everything yourselves?
DM: We all used to do comedic wnting, and
Brandon (Ace) and I used to do a public access
comedy show in high school and after that we
kept writing and filming, even while we were
attending UGA.
FP: What’s the "big concept” for the cartoon?
DM: We're thinking we should kind of go the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles route, where we're
super heroes but each
character has their own spe
cial ability.
Then [we'll] mix it all that with Jem & the
Holograms, that girl-rock cartoon from the '80s.
Make it kind of cheesy but with lots of stupid,
random sports stuff. Some crime fighting. And
great dialogue.
We're pretty excited because we could do
action figures and all kinds of merchandising, and
we really want to talk to that Bod spray cologne
thing to come up with our own Rump Posse signa
ture spray, maybe talk to LA. Fitness about sup
porting us, and go over to Subway to kick that
Jared guy out
FP: Are you serious, or is this just alia lot of
talk?
DM: No, no, we're definitely serious! I really
think this could happen!
FP: Where'd the idea for a fitness-based band
come from?
DM-1 really, really don't know. I have no idea.
I think when we first started writing these songs,
we were goofing off and pretending to jog, or
whatever, and it went from there. We were just
kidding at first and then we started wearing cos
tumes and acting like fools and whatnot doing
the workout thing. And then we just ran with it
no pun intended.
FP: So can Rump Posse ever be anything more
than a joke band?
DM: I think so! I definitely think so. People
either think (a) that it's too much of a joke and
that it can't be real
or (b) they're super
into it The response
from people who've
seen us live, and from
people who've found
us through the web
site... everyone really
really likes it It's one
of those things where
the lights and the gui
tars and the outfits,
everything just kind of
comes together to get
everybody really ’
excited.
There's a weird audi
ence out there that
loves that kind of stuff,
who really get into the
theatrical stuff. I'm
telling you man, Rump
Posse gets people
pumped! I think all four
of us in Rump Posse just
love doing this and
hanging out with each
other.
We have a CD coming
out soon, but I don't
know if it'll be ready for
this show in Athens. It's a
CD version of the tape,
and we added a couple of
songs and took some off,
and then we're doing a
split 12' release on the
[Nokahoma] record label
with Baryshnikov.
So yeah, things are
moving, for sure. And
there's a good chance we'll
be touring this September
with MC Chris. The idea's
just to keep going, see what
happens and pump people
up. I keep saying that, but I
really mean it We want people to be excited and
have fun at shows, have fun, smile, dance and not
give a shit about anything. It's hard to be a musi
cian, but its even harder to get people to forget
themselves. And you don't even have to get
wasted at a Rump Posse show, you just have to
get pumped with us.
Chris Hasslotls
WHO: Je Suis France, King Shit & The
Golden Boys, Iron Hero, Rump Posse
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Saturday, April 30
HOW MUCH: U
Drinks
Domestic Draft
Indue try Night
(specials with card)
Ladies Night
l£ Domestic Draft
Fewer Hoar
9'10pm
$1 Domestic Draft
& Well Drinks
10-1 lpm
$2 Domestic Draft
& Well Drinks
11 pm-12 am
$2 Domestic Draft
F Clayton St • Downtown Athens • 227-6030
Pool *7aUoA • Jluqo £c*mn < Tl/l
Outside Patio £ *1iki Bo\
, Watch the
• Jr "// RACE FROM OUR
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APRIL 27, 2005 • FLAGP0LE.COM 33