Two Relient K Shows at The Basement.
Some might say "euphoric"
No, there's really no words for it.
I’ve been a life-long fan of literally everything that Relient K has put out over the years. Very few bands are able to pivot into so many uniquely different sounds from album to album. As a kid I faintly remember a friend of mine giving me their “Anatomy of Tongue & Cheek” Album to borrow, go home and rip to my laptop, and promptly return to him (sorry guys). I was immediately hooked. This completely shaped my guitar playing for several years to come and even a good bit today. Then I found the “Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right, but Three Do” album while waiting on my mom at Walmart one day. I was freaking excited. I had no idea they had more music. This album had to be retired for awhile due to me absolutely wearing it out on repeat for months at a time.
Relient K is ALWAYS in my Rotation
Fast forward to being a teenager driving all across Louisiana for music and friends. Five Score and Seven Years ago, MMHMM, and Forget and Not Slow Down were the soundtrack of those years. I can’t count the amount of times I listened to “Deathbed” while on boring drives.
Years later, I’m living in the Nashville area. I’m scrolling on Instagram and find out that Relient K is going to be playing at the Basement in East Nashville. Heck yeah! I’m getting tickets one way or another but decided to reach out to their guitar player, Matt Hoopes, and offer my photography services. Luckily I wasn’t too annoying and they let me shoot both nights.
It was a blast getting to shoot these two nights. I even got to hear the story of the beloved Buffalo, uh mascot?
I don’t do a ton of live music photography, but looking back at these photos really has me wanting to do more of this type of work!
Nashville is a weird place and I like it here. Thanks for letting me work with you guys while watching you play some of my favorite songs. Give the guys a follow on Instagram.
Of course I was sure to snoop and learn more about Matt’s rig. Super cool to see him play two 1981 Inventions DRVs and two 1981 Inventions LVLs. Even cooler to see Luke Preston, Matt Thiessen and Jon Schneck using some of those as well.
Fender Guitars Everywhere
No rock show is complete without some cool guitars right? Matt T played a new and super rad Fender Tom Delong Starcaster that sounds incredible. Jon had a super cool new red Fender Telecaster that I really liked. Hoopes had a new Fender Telecaster Deluxe that was strangely similar to his vintage deluxe. These guitars were a stupid cool addition to their line up of guitars. Kevin Schuck from Fender really hooked the guys up with some crazy good instruments. I got my hands on a few of these and can’t speak highly enough about them.
Learn More About These Fender Guitars Here:
Tom DeLonge Starcaster played by Matt Thiessen
Fender Vintera II '70s Telecaster Deluxe with Tremolo Played by Matt Hoopes
Fender Vintera II '60s Telecaster played by Jon Schneck
Disclaimer
These links are from Reverb and are for research purposes only, these are just the models that they played at the show, not the actual guitar itself
Christian Zawacki on Drums
Christian Zawacki has been playing with the band for a bit now and may be one of my new favorite drummers. This man is an absolute animal of a drummer. Also, how freaking cool are those orange sparkle drums? With drums being such a vital part of Relient K’s overall sound, that’s a big responsibility that he takes seriously, and you can tell when you hear Relient K play live.
1981 Inventions: You Know A Product Is Great When The Creator Trusts It
I’ve obviously been a huge fan of Matt’s guitar tone for years. So when he started making his own pedals, I was instantly interested in grabbing one. Plot twist, I now own 3 of his DRV pedals and 2 of his LVL pedals. It’s impressive to me that he was using four of his own pedals for these shows. That speaks volumes to me as a guitar player and rig builder myself. If it’s good enough for Matt, I trust it!
Relient K Has The Most Dedicated Fans
Every band has a hardcore group of fans to a degree but Relient K fans are something different. There’s a very niche group of Relient K superfans out there that are always eager and ready to see what the band does next. These songs mean alot to so many people. There’s some songs that just really push your brain into a certain place. For me, hearing the opening riff of “Therapy” makes me think of being back in Tioga Louisiana, making some of my favorite memories. When I hear “I’m Taking You With Me” I instantly teleport to North Louisiana on a Holloween weekend. Now, thanks to Matt T, everytime I hear “Local Construction” I will immediately think about him telling a funny story about a conversation with his sister about Nashville always being under construction.
