Interview With Matt From xTap Outx (Formerly xBattle Cryx)

Done over AIM late at night on 01/25/02

Gabe sXe: ill start off easy, when was xbattle cryx formed?

Matt: back in like january of 2000, actually the first 'talk' of a band forming was back after the Undying show Dec26, 1999, Buck and I 'met' and started talking about starting a band, he drummer and i played guitar..we then put an add out on messageboards looking for a singer, and a bassist. Then we aquired Sack as our bassist and MattG as our orignal lead singer. Then in january of 2000 we had 2 songs "My Way" and "Prepare for War" some extremely cheesey songs....and one day we were looking for a 2nd guitarist and Yanni called my house and here he was in 8th grade when he tried out, and was straight edge so it all worked out...then one day MattG decided he wasn't into the 'music' we wrote so he quit and then i believe the next day of practice i asked Sack to try and sing the vocals for "Rend" a song by the old erie sXe band Digression because we were gonna cover it, and i played bass and that's how its been ever since........then we got kyle and recorded a demo

Gabe sXe:: was it a sxe band from the beginning, or did you guys decide on that after you got going with it?

Matt: Actually it has always been a Straight Edge band..our requirements for a second guitarist [were] you had to be straight edge

Gabe sXe: cool. do any of you guys start to stray from sxe? and if anyone did, would you kick them out of the band, or help them get back into the edge?

Matt: Well Sack and I both have staight edge tattoos, and we are down for life, Buck is ready to get one he just hasn't decided on a kickass design....Kyle wants to go get his sXe tat now and Yanni is usually the first one to X up at shows, i myself are becomming even more sXe i dropped the caffine in pop and whatnot....and we all have our different degrees of what sXe means to us, but if anyone of us 'soldout' or whatnot they would not be in the band anymore

Gabe sXe: awesome, so xbcx has no time for sell outs. well, what does straight edge mean to you personally?

Matt: to me personally its a personal commit to yourself to stay drug free and keep yourslef away from all the poisons in this world. i don't hate kids/people who do drugs, that's their personal choice i have just chosen the path

Gabe sXe: awesome...you said you've given up caffeine in pop, do you still eat chocolate or things with caffeine (coffee, tea, etc..) or are you completely caffeine free now?

Matt: so far i'm caffine free in drinks, i'm trying to kick the chocolate habit, its damn hard! but i've limited myself to the amount i eat, i eat less chocolate now than i ever did, i think my mom thinks i might be sick or somethign

Gabe sXe: yeah! i gave up caffeine all together last year and everyone thought i went crazy cause i never chocolate... anyway, back to the band, so you guys have a new name now?

Matt: ya the old skinhead band from 94 found out and emailed us

Gabe sXe: jerks

Matt exactly, but it didn't really bother me, it does now 'cause i keep refering to the band as xbcx

Gabe sXe: yeah, once youve established yourselves it must kinda suck to have to change

Matt: we kicked around some ideas for a new name like...xbattlecryxbcxadx2002, or xbcxbcxadx2k2 for short, or xRetaliatory Strikex but we decided to name ourselves xTAP OUTx. xTAP OUTx can be interpreted in many ways....i think its pretty tough...and its like the wrestling deal....people tapping out of being edge!

Gabe sXe: xtap outx...its interesting and seems original, i think i might like it...what do you think everyone else's reaction to the new name will be?

Matt: To be honest i dont care what everyone else thinks of the name, when i showed up to our last practice MattG was there and Sack was like alright our new name is xTAP OUTx, my first reaction to it was, we are so gay, but the name has grown on me.....and its really tough

Gabe sXe: yeah, it seems kinda cheesy, but at the same time kinda cool, i think it will catch on. well, i cant think of any more Q's, so i guess this is the end. thanx for your time matt

Matt: no probelm thanx for the interview, i hope everything made sense 'cause i usually dont stay up this late

Gabe sXe: no man it was cool, if anything my questions were lame

Matt: no they were cool