Take The Reins recently released a new video (in two versions!) for their song “Last Stop Hotel.” I got in touch with Matty Rebel, drums, for a quick round of Roll of the Dice. We rolled a TEN.
For our readers that are not as familiar with Take The Reins can you give us the bands line up and quick background.
Line up consists of Courtney Boyers on vocals, Dan Duffy on rhythm guitar, David Burke on Lead Guitar, Erik Hillgar on bass, and Matty Rebel on Drums. The band was original formed by Matty Rebel and Courtney Boyers back in 2011 and went through several changes until 2017 when all things came together with the current line up. Our self-released first full length album Addiction By Subtraction was released in 2017. In 2021 we signed with Flat Aht records out of Pittsburgh and they released our second record I’m At Your Door in the fall of 2022. We have been out touring the midwest since then. We recently released the second single and music video “Last Stop Motel” off that album.
Who does most of the song writing and can you explain the process to make it a Take the Reins song?
Courtney is the talent and brain child behind the music. She comes up with lyrics and the melody on her acoustic guitar and then typically takes the song to do some pre-production work with Adam Krier from Lucky Boys Confusion and AmTaxi at Sound Summit Studios. After that, she brings the song to the band and we all workout the rest. Then we usually head back to Adam as a band and polish off the song. Once we are happy with that we take the song to Dan Precision of 88 Fingers Louie and Rise Against at his recording studio, The Bombshelter, where he works his producer magic and we are left with the final product.
What are some of the band’s, or band members musical influences?
The thing that works so well for the five of us collaborating together is that we all have the common love of punk rock, but we all listen to so many other genres and bring that to the table when writing new music. Courtney loves anything 80’s, emo, metal and grew up on The Beatles. Duffy loves old school punk and and alt-country as well as Euro pop dance music. Erik has a total eclectic taste in music and listens to everything and anything, Matty loves Dave Grohl and anything he touches haha and Dave, well Dave is a trained musician with a degree in music and listens to and can play just about anything. We joke that he’s the real musician in the band.
Speaking of other bands, are there any bands that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
Oh man, we have had the awesome opportunity to play with some incredible bands. 500 Miles to Memphis is our brothers from another mother. They are a cross- genera band that blends punk, bluegrass, americana, and counrty out of Cincinnati. Incredible group of guys and they slay on stage. There are a lot of local Chicago bands that we enjoy too like Guard Rail, Glory Days, and James The Boneless. We also have our buddies down in St Louis Vallencourt who are starting to tear it up down in south.
Can you tell us about your new video for “Last Stop Motel”. It has a darker, creepy, horror film vibe, who came up with concept?
It was mostly a group effort. We had a brainstorming session in the van while on the road. Originally the idea had a more campy “who done it” feel, almost Scooby Doo-esque but as we tossed ideas around it evolved into more of a Twilight Zone vision.
Your second album I’m at Your Door was released last year, about 5 years after your first LP. What was the band up to during this time?
I’m at Your Door was essentially done right before Covid hit. We decided to shelf it and ride out the storm. We had everything written and recorded except two of the songs. During the lock down is when Flat Aht reached out to us and asked if we had any new music ready to go. We sent them what we had and they came back and asked if we could write a few more songs. That’s when we wrote and recored “I Never Wanted To Be Famous” and “Last Stop Motel”. When the world started to open up again is when we recorded our previous video the title track of the record “ I’m At Your Door”. Shortly after, we were able to get back on the road and have been out playing and promoting ever since.
Looks likes you have been hitting your home turf Chicago area and branching out around the Midwest this summer. Are there any big live shows you are excited about coming up?
We just had the opportunity to play a sold out show at the Metro which was amazing. June 17th we will be in Newport, Kentucky playing a Festival at the South Gate House Revival with our buds 500 Miles to Memphis. Then hitting a handful of dates in the midwest and a few kick ass festivals later this fall which we will be announcing shortly.
When on the road do you have a go-to quick place to eat?
We actual do our best to pack as much real food as possible when we are on the road so we limit the time we are eating at gas station stops. We do have post show ritual where we like to tear through some tacos. We usually hit up the closest Taco Bell mostly because it’s one of the only thing open. Unless we can find a late night Mexican restaurant. Road side food selections are pretty terrible. If we have time we try to look up the Triple D’s (Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives) haven’t been disappointed at one of those yet.
Is Todd the Unicorn real?
In fact he is. He is quite the majestic creature, but be careful because he spooks easily.
What’s next for Take the Reins?
To keep hitting the road and playing shows! There is nothing better than being on the road with 5 other people that you really enjoy being around and getting to do something that you all love. We are also about halfway threw making a new album. Hopefully we will have new music and a few new videos come early next year.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Likes fine beer and cheap cheese. He has been a DJ, sound mixer for commercials and television, and currently designs motorcycle parts. He also has a habit of creating pastiche style cover songs and changing the chorus to incorporate “Jeff” or “Sorley.” (sigh… it’s true – Jeff)
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