Matt and Kim

Matt Johnson is originally from Whitingham, Vermont, while Kim Schifino is originally from Providence, Rhode Island.[1] They met while studying at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute. Schifino studied illustration and graduated in 2002, while Johnson studied film and graduated in 2004.[10] The two began dating and moved in together after 3 months.[11] After graduation, Johnson began learning to play keyboards and Schifino learned drums. Neither had extensive experience with their instruments prior to this. Despite their inexperience, they were urged to play live shows by fellow Pratt alumni from the band Japanther.[10] Their early shows were primarily played at houses and lofts in the Brooklyn area,[1] but they soon branched out and began touring across the nation.[2] In 2005, they released an EP entitled, To and From, which was their first collection of music committed to an album of any kind.[12]

The duo's first full-length studio album, Matt & Kim, was released in October 2006 on the IHEARTCOMIX record label.[2] The album received generally mixed to positive reviews. Adam Moerder of Pitchfork referred to the duo as the "quintessential 'party' band" in a review of their self-titled debut album.[13] Matt and Kim also gained significant publicity for their music videos. The video for "Yea Yeah," which depicts the pair being hit with food from their refrigerator, has been considered one of the initial catalysts for their rise in popularity.[1] They played the Lollapalooza festival in August 2007[14] and also played the Siren Music Festival earlier that year.[12]

By 2008, the band had completed their second full-length album (Grand) and was looking for a record label to sign them.[15]

Matt and Kim performing at Coachella in 2010.

Matt and Kim were signed to the Fader Label in late 2008, and Grand was released on January 20, 2009. The duo went on a 3-week North American tour in November 2008 to promote the album.[16] Grand was recorded entirely in Johnson's childhood bedroom in Vermont[17] and Lollapalooza.[4][15] and is named after the street the two lived on in Brooklyn.[1] The album took around 9 months to complete.[18] The lead single from the album, "Daylight," received certified gold status from the RIAA.[6][7] The song was also featured in numerous commercials for brands including Mars Bars and Bacardi[19] and TV shows like Community[20] A De La Soul remixed version of the song could be found on video games such as NBA Live 10[21] and EA Sports game, FIFA 10. The duo also performed the song on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[22]

In April 2009, the band released the controversial music video for the song "Lessons Learned." The video depicts the two completely disrobing in New York City's Times Square and is shot in a single take. The video was filmed during winter on a cold day.[23] The video would later go on to win the Breakthrough Video Award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.[3] Also in 2009, the duo performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival[1] and the Outside Lands Festival.[24] They toured with punk band Against Me! in 2009 as well.[18] The following year, they embarked on an even more ambitious touring schedule throughout North America. They played the Coachella Festival in April,[25] the Siren Festival in July, Lollapalooza in August, and Austin City Limits in October. They also engaged in a two-month nationwide tour from September to November.[26]

Matt & Kim performing October 6, 2011 at the Cricket Wireless Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, California.

They released their third studio album, Sidewalks, in November 2010 on the Fader Label. This was the duo's first album to not be self-produced. Instead, Ben Allen, who had previously produced albums for Gnarls Barkley and Animal Collective, was one of the co-producers.[27] Sidewalks peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200 chart.[3] In 2011, they continued touring heavily with shows in North America, Europe,[28] and at the Australian festival, Big Day Out.[29] They also supported Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance during select dates on the 2011 Honda Civic Tour.[30]

Their music video for the song "Cameras" was released in 2011 and features Schifino and Johnson engaged in a professionally choreographed fight. When comparing the budget for the "Cameras" video against the one for "Lessons Learned," Johnson noted, "We spent 10 times as much money to make this happen." They hired choreographers who had worked on films like The Matrix and The Bourne Identity.[31] The duo also performed "Block After Block" on a 2011 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.[32]

2012 performance by Matt and Kim at the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA.

The duo released their fourth studio album, Lightning, on the Fader Label in October 2012.[4] The album took about six months to create and was self-produced in the pair's Brooklyn apartment.[3] They chose not to enlist the services of a professional producer because they wanted the album to have a distinct, "Matt and Kim" sound.[17] The duo embarked on a nearly two-month Fall tour to promote the album in the United States.[33] The lead single on the album, "Let's Go," was introduced in the summer of 2012 via a YouTube video of basketball player, Pat the Roc, exhibiting his dribbling skills.[34] The real music video for the single premiered on Funny or Die shortly after the release of the album and depicts the duo in a variety of uncomfortable or awkward portraits.[35] The band also produced a video for the single, "It's Alright," which depicts the tandem blindfolded in bed performing choreographed dance moves.[17]

In February and March 2013, Matt and Kim toured the US with Passion Pit.[36] Over the course of the year, they played numerous festivals, including the Free Press Summer Fest, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Firefly Music Festival,[37] and Lollapalooza in front of a large crowd.[4] They continued touring in April 2014 at festivals like BottleRock Napa Valley, the Silopanna Music Festival,[3] and the Hangout Music Festival.[38]

The duo's fifth studio album, New Glow, was released on April 7, 2015 by Harvest Records in the United States and Virgin EMI Records internationally. They premiered the lead single from the album, "Get It," with an accompanying lyric video in January 2015. In February 2015, Matt and Kim released three more singles for the album, "Hey Now," "Hoodie On," and "Can You Blame Me."[39]

Matt and Kim performing on stage at Coachella in 2016, same week they recorded the EP We Were The Weirdos.

The band toured extensively upon the release of New Glow, commencing with a U.S. tour in April and May 2015,[8] then heading to London for a one-off at Heaven. More US and Canadian festivals followed throughout the summer. They returned to the UK for an arena tour supporting Fall Out Boy, including two nights at Wembley Arena and finished out the year in the US doing festivals, college shows and radio events. The band performed at Coachella as a main stage highlight in April 2016.[40]

During their stint at Coachella in 2016, the band recorded a four-song EP titled WE WERE THE WEIRDOS between performances.[41] The EP was co-produced by Lars Stalfors in Los Angeles and released during their second weekend performance at Coachella.[41] They announced the EP while performing on stage and also premiered one of the singles, "Please No More".[42]

The duo took much of 2017 off after Schifino suffered an ACL injury[43] during a performance in Mexico.[9] In January 2018, they released a new song, "Forever," featuring Mark Hoppus and SWMRS. The single was the band's first new song since the release of the We Were The Weirdos EP two years prior.[44] The duo also announced an upcoming studio album (their sixth) due to be released on the FADER Label in the spring of 2018. The release was to coincide with a 2-month North American tour.[9] The second single, "Like I Used to Be", which features Travis Hawley of Night Riots, was released on February 23, 2018, after a snippet was previewed on Matt and Kim's YouTube channel a week earlier.[45] The same day, they revealed that the new album was called Almost Everyday, the album art, and the tracklist. On March 23, 2018, they released the third single, "Happy if You're Happy", and put the album up for pre-order. The fourth single, "Glad I Tried", which features Kevin Ray of Walk the Moon, Travis Hawley of Night Riots, and Santigold, was released on April 13, 2018.[46] The album was released on May 4, 2018.[47]

During the 2018 Christmas/New Year break, the band were approached to write an original song, "Come Together Now," for the closing credits of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, releasing February 8, 2019. "Come Together Now" was issued as a free standing single on February 11, 2019 as a result.[48]

In June 2019, they launched "The Matt and Kim Podcast" series, regularly presenting hypothetical situations and how they might react. Over Summer 2019, while performing at Maha Festival in Omaha, NE, Schifino again tore her ACL, but this time less severely. With dedicated physical therapy, they were able to complete an already planned and on-sale extensive US tour during October and November celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their breakthrough second album GRAND. They performed the album in its entirety, adding periodical multimedia documenting the actual recording process. Some of the dates offered the audience an opportunity to participate in the aforementioned Matt and Kim Podcast, recording episodes as part of early admission at those respective shows.

Fall 2019 also saw the release of two new singles, "GO GO" and "Money." Both were accompanied by official music videos. Matt directed "GO GO," which featured dancers Audrey Lane-Partlow and Romeo Blanco, with an end cameo from Kim. For "Money," the band and FADER Label donated the entire video fund to the Animal Hope And Wellness Foundation in Sherman Oaks, CA, where the clip was shot.

• To/From (2005)
• We Were the Weirdos (2016)