Buffalo, NY’s Super American sounds like it has more than just two members. On their new album SUP, multi-instrumentalists Matt Cox and Patrick Feeley deliver a collection of massive pop-punk tracks that juxtapose the miracle of being alive with the constant sense of nagging fear. It’s confrontational, vulnerable, and driving ten tracks that will surely elevate Super American to the next level of the indie punk scene.
To celebrate the new album, Cox and Feeley sat down to talk wearing cowboy outfits on stage, the best TNT dramas, and more in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Dense, Studious, Deliberate, Sexy
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Hopefully, it just makes them feel something. I know that’s vague but art is so subjective. So, any sort of feeling would be great.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Nothing like playing at home here in Buffalo, but over the years we have really enjoyed playing in Dallas, Cleveland, and NYC.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
As much as I’d love to pick an individual, the honest answer is it’s really the collective of all my friends. They’re the reason I really even started, and they’re the force of encouragement to keep me going when it feels easier to quit. I don’t want to let them down. I’ve pretty much had the same group of my friends my whole life, and our interests vary drastically, so that positive, comradic (is that a word?) energy, is in some weird way, an extended “member of the band”. Amongst the chaos of life, they’ve been been a constant for me, and I love them forever for that. That stuff is what really gets me fired up.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Loco Pez in Fishtown.
What album do you know every word to?
Enema Of The State. I have my Bachelor’s in blink-182.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Wow, tough. I hate to butcher your question but this is a tie, between “coolest” and “best”. So. I’m going to actually lean on my first concert — which was MEST, Something Corporate, and Good Charlotte and Buffalo State in the gym in 2002 as the coolest. The best concert I’ve ever consumed was a few years ago when my girlfriend and I went to Chicago to see Whitney play at Thalia Hall on Valentine’s Day. Talk about being humbled.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
Best outfit on stage I’d say is whatever is going to make the artist feel most confident in their expression. But the best outfit I’ve ever seen while performing is West Seneca’s own Danny McCormick’s cowboy outfit he wore when we played Audiotree a few years ago. Yeehaw.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
Typically the driver picks — but we all really vibe with the same stuff. Sometimes its nice to get off the beaten path of guitars while on tour, so we’ll listen to all kinds of stuff. When we’re bored or need a boost in morale, sometimes we’ll make prank phone calls or listen to Wheeler Walker Jr.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
“Deer and golden retriever friends 11 years”
What album makes for the perfect gift?
SUP by Super American.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
One time we stayed at a random place in NYC — a mystery semi finished basement. There was zero prior context provided on the environment, so I was a little thrown off when it ended up being 4 stone walls covered in a variety of wigs.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
My first tattoo, I was technically still underage so I used a fake ID and went and got a matching tattoo with my cousin at a skeptical (yet legal) location. I didn’t have any money, so he paid for it. My favorite tattoo, not that I’m actually a fan of any of them, is a tattoo I got in California that was inspired by Flea’s “Go Lakers” handwritten tattoo. Instead, I got “TRIBAL TAT” written and really begged the artist to do it freehand, but understandably so, he was unwilling. So we met in the middle and found a text that made both sides happy. Now I can say, I do in fact, have a tribal tattoo.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
In this very moment, it’s Limp Bizkit, Little Simz, and Petey.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
A few years ago, Pat bought me a 2001 Ford Taurus Hatchback. It’s actually on the SUP cover, but mine was a sexy baby blue. Now I drive a BMW, but that will be best the best car I’ve ever had.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Ouch. To get a grip, relax, shut my mouth, and realize I don’t know everything.
What’s the last show you went to?
We saw Hot Mulligan, Piebald, and the legend himself, Neetchy at both Riverworks and Black Dots in Buffalo.
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
I’m a real sucker for the TNT era, so it might be a deadlock between Twister and Armageddon. I love and live for cable TV.
What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?
To start, it’s chicken wing dip with restaurant-style Tostitos. As the entree, we are having a 16oz ribeye — and on the side, twice-baked potatoes, asparagus, and side salad (dealer’s choice). For dessert, I will DoorDash McFlurry’s.
SUP is out October 22 via Wax Bodega. Pre-order it here.