Gym Class Heroes To (Rap) Rock Dodd on Monday

by KYLE SHEARIN

Alternative-rap group Gym Class Heroes is set to perform at Dodd Auditorium on Monday April 12th.

Formed in New York in 1997 by front man Travis McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley, the group found footing after years of heavy touring when signed to burgeoning indie label Fueled By Ramen in 2004. Filling out the ranks is bassist Ryan Giese and Dishashi Lumumba-Kasongo on guitar.

The group gained huge momentum releasing “The Papercut Chronicles” in the spring of 2005 and doing stints on the Warped Tour the same year. But the group’s biggest success came with the single “Cupid’s Chokehold” off “As Cruel As School Children, which climbed to number four on the Billboard’s Hot 100.

The single received heavy play on the radio and MTV and helped “As Cruel As School Children” become a certified gold record. The group followed up with “The Quilt,” which featured appearances from Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes and Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates.

I recently talked to drummer Matt McGinley from Gym Class Heroes who is preparing to tour in the next couple of weeks on the college circuit and then to promote Travis McCoy’s new solo record that’s due this summer. McGinley seems enthusiastic about the upcoming string of shows, as Gym Class Heroes is no stranger to playing college shows. “Yeah to me, to be just flat out honest, when we play colleges, tons of kids are on the concert committee and whatnot. So I feel you get treated really, really good, like probably even too good,” McGinley said. He even remembered the band member’s own time at universities: “Yeah everybody in the band went to college to some extent. I think between all of us, no one has a degree,” he chuckled. “We all definitely spent some time in college.”

When asked about how the new Gym Class Heroes record was coming, McGinley said that they “wrote about 14 or 15 new songs in upstate New York, but we’re still looking to write more and more material that comes to us so we have an even bigger selection of songs to choose from.” McGinley continued, “It is going to be something in the vein of “Paper Cut Chronicles.” It’s going to be really strong step for us because it gives us a tone to work towards. At least this way we kind of know, musically and conceptually the direction we want to go in with our record.”

When asked if there’s anything he wants to say to the student body that’s highly anticipating their arrival at Mary Washington, Matt calmly answers “Sure, come out. Have a good time. Take your clothes off.”