Veteran emo/punk band ponders 'Like I Used to Be'
Nostalgic new single marks10 years of Troubled Minds
HARK!
I hear…an old man with a rock band…
Matt Aldawood is only 27, in human years, but his Troubled Minds is a thousand, in band years.
The band’s cycle, which seems to never end:
Record songs; play Trunk Space, Rebel Lounge, Nile Theater; go on van tour…lather, rinse, repeat….
The punk/emo band has played scores of shows around Phoenix, building thousands of followers on social media.
Aldawood’s band is at it again, putting the final touches on a new album with a single called Like I Used to Be. (Click here for the link)
It’s a guitar-driven race down Nostalgia Lane, punk rock crashing a high school prom…
What was Troubled Minds singer-guitarist-founder Matt Aldawood doing in 2012?
What did he used to be like a decade ago?
Aldawood pondered that question during a Zoom interview with HARK Valley.
“In March 2012, I was a senior in high school–I graduated in 2012. I was listening to a lot of bands, Title Fight, Balance and Composure; pretty much anything on Run for Cover Records and No Sleep Records…” Those labels attracted him with their underground emo/alternative/hardcore sounds.
At the very-suburban Mountain View High School in Mesa, “I had a band in high school, but we weren’t super good,” he said with a laugh. “So I’ve been playing shows since I was 15; I’m 27 now.”
Aldawood produces his own music and other bands at a tiny Tempe bedroom recording studio, where he lives on peanut butter and energy drinks.
Matt Aldawood's "office"
Music is the center of his life, now as it was then: “I was in marching band for a year and played bass drum. But I didn’t do a whole lot outside music, I didn’t play sports…
“When I was 10 years old, I picked up music. My first instrument was drums. I fell in love with punk rock music pretty quick. I started teaching myself how to play guitar. I really wanted to write songs, as a drummer it’s really tough to write songs…”
Aldawood gave a knowing laugh when HARK Valley suggested Troubled Minds is about a thousand–in band years.
“Yes, you’re right,” he agreed. “Being a band for 10 years is a long time–but it flew by so fast. This band has always been my creative outlet. Different people come and go and have ‘served time.’ Troubled Minds is pretty much ‘Matt and friends.’”
These days, Aldawood is backed by bass player Gabe Adair, guitarist John Bacino and drummer Christian Rich.
Punk rockers are notorious for a certain live for the moment-screw the future mentality. Aldawood, contrary to that stereotype, started paving a career path years ago.
“I went to college for audio production. I really wanted to record bands and work in the studio, so I went to Mesa Community College after high school. I started recording bands when I was 19. I love it, I absolutely love recording projects–it’s my niche thing to nerd out over.”
Avoiding the other stereotype, the rocker making his rent as a barista, instead of twisting espresso machine knobs, he also twirls the buttons on engineering boards at live shows, from locals bars to churches.
Scream on, Matt Aldawood!
“I don’t do music for money. I do music to share music,” he said.
As such, even when he’s been paid, hearing a band he recorded has gone to dust crushes him:
“It’s very disheartening to put a lot of time into a band’s album–and then they’d break up.”
Which puts the longevity of Troubled Minds into perspective.
After a March 12 show at Flag Brew in Flagstaff, Troubled Minds is back to a familiar place on March 18: the Nile Basement–where the band will play again April 28.
Talk about being right at home:
“Our first show was back in 2013,” the singer-producer said. “We played on the floor of the Nile Theater and we opened for a band called the Traditional.”
Irony might hit Aldawood like a hammer, playing the stage where he started out, at the club he used to go just about every weekend in high school–and singing the lines of his new song:
Am I overdramatic
or just impatient
waiting to start again?
What’s old is new…
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Troubled Mind links
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YouTube
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Spotify
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Website