Why Matt Tong LEFT Bloc Party
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Watch the full interview here: • Matt Tong - Bloc Party...
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Met various members of the band over the years. Firstly, Kele and Russell in the Glasgow, Barfly shortly after Silent Alarm was released. I asked them to sign my gig ticket - Kele looked away and Russell signed it. The former didn't really leave a good impression but I still loved the band. Then several years later, I randomly met Matt in Nice 'n' Sleazy's the night before their Glasgow Academy show and got chatting. I was with 3 friends and he asked if we wanted to go come to the show and I was like sure thing. Thinking Matt would give me a plus 1, he said no worries and put me on the guestlist plus 3! We could all barely believe it at the time and the next day we showed up at the venue, went to the front of the queue and walked straight in! The nicest gesture anyone in a touring band has ever made to me! Matt was the coolest/nicest guy and an amazing drummer to boot! 🙂
I briefly met Kele when Bloc Party played at the Fuzz Club at Shef uni in 2004; I was working there; it was probably 6mths or so before Silent Alarm came out on their first big tour outside of London. They seemed nice, just kids at the time, but they had that magic on stage that all great bands have; it looked effortless. Silent Alarm is one of the greatest albums of that decade.
Sorry that happened lil buddy. Kele wasn’t being aloof or upset at you he is genuinely so excruciating shy with strangers. It’s hard to believe but he really is. He doesn’t feel worthy of being treated like that you see it makes him extremely uncomfortable. He’s a good guy inside. Hopefully one day you’ll get the chance to find out!
Absolute machine of a drummer. Brought something different to each song.
unfortunately didn't bow out gracefully.
Helicopter is such a rad song because of his drumming.
They had good riffs and great drumming.
The drumming on Silent Alarm is phenomenal - up there with Reni's on The Stone Roses debut.
I'll second that!
@@TheHumanzethirded. The drumming on the first album is what made it to me
Silent Alarm is a masterpiece. Matt and Gordon were such a perfect rhythm section.
And Meg White on the first White Stripes LP.
@@MaquiladoraIII😂😂😂😂
Once he left, the band never really recovered to the heights it once was tbh
Agreed
The music would've been pretty similar regardless. The band would never be as good as their first two albums regardless who's on drums.
They had a good album and success. The drumming had very little to do with how it turned out. All bands end up in obscurity.
@@powerboon2k The drumming on Silent Alarm is probably some of the best of that era of bands. It absolutely enhanced that album.
Saw a gig recently and the drumming was way off
As a 15 year older drummer who loved Bloc Party as soon as they came onto the scene, Matt was and likely is one of the most underrated drummer ive ever heard, he was so technically sound and advanced even on that first bloc party album.
The opening beat to Hunting for Witches is one of my favourites ever.
Phenomenal drummer
Their best tune❤
It was the drumming that turned everyone’s head with Silent Alarm
The band started out in such a great place where you could feel each member's unique impact on every track. It's so clear that everything steadily devolved into a Kele vanity project, which is wild because he also has a solo thing going.
I met Matt at an after show in a Liverpool bar 09/10. Got a pic, shook his hand and got to tell him he was one of my fave drummers. Really lovely gent and humble as anything.
@@cadwaladr365 joined last month. check. made same comment on video twice. eyes not pointing in the same direction. check.
his drumming in Like Eating Glass was phenomenal; the band hasnt been the same since he left imo
The whole album is, front to back, just on another level. The drumming really carries it all the way through.
Big facts. I can't listen to anything after the fourth album.
Dude played with a collapsed lung. Beast.
Proving once and for all that cocaine is the cause of and solution to all a drummers problems.
I started reading your channel name, teleported back in time and started singing "22 grand job, in the city thats alright!". I feel old reminiscing about all the great bands I had to listen to growing up compared to what's on offer today
Matt Tong is a generational talent, you dont lose drummers like him. NO MATTER WHAT!
Agreed! Incredible drummer!
The guy admitted to drumming faster when he got more excited. But yeah.. generational talent 😂
@@fbbbbb1It’s not only about precision.. but the creativity in his drumming compared to the other generic 4/4 plays
no
@@itsalltakenup no
the first ever gig I went to was bloc party in 2009 when they played down in cornwall. I only managed to get seated tickets but 30 seconds into their first song someone set the fire alarm off and the whole venue had to evacuate. once the fire brigade arrived and approved everyone could re-enter the venue me and my friend snuck into the standing section and proceeded to have our minds blown by an absolutely insane show. we were positioned right at the front facing matt and the energy he brought was off the charts. bought a t-shirt after the gig and started learning how to play the drums all thanks to the band but most notably this man. wore that tshirt everywhere I went and thought I was the coolest kid at school after seeing them live! big respect to him for moving on when he felt the time was right, nothing wrong with that at all. might tell you something though that they still basically exclusively play music from those early albums
One of the most UNDERRATED drummers ever!!! Bro os on a different level.
I was listening to Silent Alarm this morning, after 15 years of listening to it, I still only listen to the Drums, it's similar to the feeling when you first listen to Pink Floydd. It is weird knowing you are actually real, kinda thought you were a alien
Been aware of Kele's 'drugs' statement for many years, and it was only in recent weeks that I read that it wasn't actually aimed at anyone in the band. Instead it was someone 'around' the band. If Matt Tong has been slurried with the fallout from Kele's statement for all these years then I would say he should have had an apology a long long time ago.
@@choogle100 first world problems. All little snif heads back then. All made money and living life. Nowt to see here.
Tong is a legend, shines on every track he's on, but there's something about Luno that just shows so much of his ability.
Silent alarm and weekend in the city are indie classics
This is a great time to mention his other projects that deserve so much love like Algiers and Red Love!
You’re one of the greatest drummers I’ve ever seen or heard. And I’ve heard loads.
Will always be one of my top 5 drummers. His beats helped make bloc party what they were
They were shit 😂
@@liambuckley4045 not as shit as your opinions 😂
Kele seems like a monster ala Morrissey without Morrissey’s resume
Behave Morrisey is a legend
Nice bloke. Went to school with him. Werent exactly mates but he was always a nice bloke. Great drummer.
😂
I always loved the drums but I never wanted to play them until I heard Bloc Party. Def one of my biggest influences
Inspiring drummer to me. There’s a reason the first 2 albums are the best.
Amazing drummer
The band has never felt the same since he left, his playing was a fundamental part of their energy & sound. The live shows feel lifeless with the new members.
The bass and drums on silent alarm were next level. That album was the reason I formed a band in school 😎🤘🏼
How did your band go, shit, im guessing
Unbelievably great drummer
I saw this guy live twice. Amazing professionalism and ethos as a musician shines through here. I always thought Kele was a little too self absorbed. I have left bands for similat/the same reasons. You have to feel you are being creative or your just in for the life. I had nowehere near as much pressure to stay so this must have been really hard and long overdue but certainly the right decision.
The band was never as good when Matt and Gordon left. Bloc Party should have been the kings of Indie Sleeze.
And now I understand why Bloc Party went to shit. The first album the drumming drove the entire album
The innovative and high speed drumming was initially the main pull of Bloc Party for me
To me, Silent Alarm has the best drumming of any album and I've listened to a lot of albums over the last 48 years!
😂😂
He was a big part of the bands appeal.
Saw Bloc in Melbourne after silent alarm came out and I just was mesmerised by Matt and his playing
Helicopter and Banquet were great.
Like Eating Glass is their masterpiece
the enthrallingly dark beauty of This Modern Love will always find a place inside the heart (the remixes too;)
Kele is a strange guy. He seemed to lose his damn mind after intimacy.
Four was much better
Maybe Kele was the “coke” guy he insinuated
I once left a job mid shift. I understand. Now please bury the hatchet, play a show in Canada, and make all my dreams come true.
I saw them (OG lineup) in Montreal years ago, tickets were a gift from my now fiancée. Great show. Haven’t seen them since unfortunately, but their current stuff is very hit or miss for me.
This guy is seriously pissed about his time with that band. I dont like Bloc Party anymore, seems like a narcissism vanity project for Kele with no room for fun or creativity. Im not surprised they went downhill.
i would be too tbh, you had the whole world in your hands pretty much, and then some BS happens and you become just another random band from the past, when you could have been elite, must be frustrating beyond my comprehension.
Bro as one of the biggest fans of bloc party. I had been trying to tell people this for YEARS because I just knew it was what was going on. Kele just doesnt have the creativity he thinks he does and ever since Paul Epworth left as producer for Bloc Party the band just fell off a cliff. Kele has been riding this electronic high horse for years trying to push his electronic solo sound into bloc party which you can hear sprinkles of it left and right after awitc. And after he kicked matt and gordon he was able to finally incorporate that sound fully into the band without pushback and then we got awful records like Hymns and Alpha Games, and most recently probably the worst song Bloc Party has ever made/One of the worst songs I've heard in many years, "flirting again". But what doesn't really make sense to me after all this time, is Kele KNOWS that they still haven't ever re-reached the greatness they achieved on Silent Alarm, you know how I know this? Because they put out a music video for So Here We Are last year and it has more views than anything else they've released recently. So I don't know man, like me personally, unless some insane gift from god happens and Paul Epworth comes back as producer I am NOT coming back to listen to a new bloc party song. I'll just listen to new Algiers instead.
Wow it's sad to see they left on bad terms. I hope one day they can look past their differences and do a reunion.
kele’s a melt. also the band went downhill after he left, change my mind!!
You are right - the first album was very good, the second one decent, but after that they lost me.
First album is a classic, the production is amazing. They really should have split up after Matt left.
The urgency of Matt's drumming hasn't been replicated. I can think of many people who picked up the drums because of him
The new album with Louise on drums is well worth a listen. If We Get Caught is a great tune imo. That said Matt obviously made Bloc Party successful but I still rate them these days.
Silent Alarm is seminal. Incredible album that unfortunately, despite being their first, was probably the last where Kele's influence was kept in check. Listening to Kele's solo stuff and everything Bloc Party has come out with since, there's a clear direction of travel and it's fairly apparent that the band becoming less democratic and their output less interesting aren't coincidental.
This dude drumming is amazing!
Matt Tong is likely the best British drummer of a generation. Bloc Party would never achieved anything close to what they did without what he brought to them. I'd rather see him playing with Algiers where it seems like everyone watns to push the envelope.
Bloc party turned to shit once Matt left
One of the greatest drummers of modern time
Honestly, as an old school Bloc Party fan; the band just wasn’t the same. It certainly didn’t sound the same. Whatever band Matt is playing in, I’m listening.
Interesting insight when you consider that a key part of the initial mythology of Bloc Party is how the band truly 'took form' when Matt joined and they changed their name from The Angel Range. Can understand why he remained vague about the situation in the band at the time around leaving, but reading between the lines I think whatever personal friendship him and Kele had deteriorated to nothing, and ultimately he got sick of the band's creative direction and the atmosphere. Quite telling that he remains friends with Russell and Gordon despite all that
Fantastic drummer.
Shit band mate
@@liambuckley4045 who's your favourite band? The kaiser chiefs?
Top man, great drummer! Love!
He was what made Bloc great!
Met him after algiers show, got a signed vinyl and a pic with Matt (and Franklin), reserved and solid dude
First, let's say that he's by miles the best rock drummer of his generation and only rivalled by Joey Jordison. He took the baton of the likes of Jimmy Chamberlain and Stephen Perkins when there was no hope apart from Jon Theodore playing at the Mars Volta. There was an absolute drought of good drummers in the 00s and this dude came to save the world. No question.
Second, I used to work in a bar in Dalston back in 2012 and once I had to serve that fckin diva of Kele who wouldn't even look at you when paying like the rest of us were not worthy of his presence. King of tools.
So yeah, let me incline the balance a little bit on Matts side here.
He's an undiagnosed autistic guy 😂 we tend to not look people in the eye, it can be tiring and/or overwhelmingly stimulating. Try not to take it personally, friend.
😂😂😂😂behave
@christopherwhiteside4448 sharp input mate, keep em coming 👍
This man helped sculpt my style when I was a young homie
Big ups Matt
You're a G
His drumming was a huge reason I fell in love with Bloc Party and drumming in general 😄
Now bloc party is a shell of it's former self.
Skeleton and One More Chance are still legendary song.
He was the Bloc Party sound.
Matt drums made the songs fire. Nothing left after Matt left.
I hope he gets good royalties from the first 2 albums because those songs would not be anywhere near as special without him, probably an average band imo
Ive met them briefly on brick lane about 10 years ago. I never get excited when i see celebs but i honesty was so shocked i screamed out bloc party and ran into a chinese shop. I saw them laughing. Kele is a hottie and im in love with him. 😅❤
Can someone interview Gordy and see if he’s still alive
I keep thinking the video is freezing.
I think people really want a crazy reason for him to leave. Like the band had fist fights over stupid shit but Matt was just tired, yeah sure they had some issues everyone has issues with their job / coworkers but Matt just left because he was done. Love BP I remember hearing them in HS in 2003
The funny thing about him talking about wanting to give his all when they go out on stage - he is one of the best drummers I’ve seen live and Kele is one of the worst vocalists I’ve seen live. Absolutely love his voice on the records, but when you see them live, it’s almost like he’s purposely trying to ruin the songs at certain points.
Obviously I know that isn’t the case, but it’s not even riffing or improvising. It just sounds really bad.
This guy has the vibe of a true muso.
Well he is a fantastic talent as are all of them.
🔒🎙🥁🎸I often wondered 📻🎶💥
I think Kele took the band way too seriously and always did his own thing apart from the band members. Bloc party never really recovered after Matt left
To add, i feel like kele just wants you all to be the best that you can totally be. Perhaps he goes about the wrong way but id say its passion. I could be chatting a load of crap though, as i know nothing really.
Big fan of the band also a skylit drive from Lodi they also form 2005
great drummer
I will never forgive this guy for dipping his sweaty sock in my history teacher's herbal tea 🍵
I only listen to the songs Matt played on.Superb music.
I was wondering what happened to Bloc party,decent band.
Bloc party were alright
This doesn’t really seem like something that should be out there.
Personal reasons and gripes really don’t need airing in public, just gets messy fast :/
Matt could've just declined to answer the question, but he didn't 🤷♂
it's also been 15 years so
I appreciate knowing what happened to my favorite band behind the scenes
Fucking hell are Bloc Party still a thing?
Right, I loved them as a teenager, give it up lads
From everything I have ever heard and read, Kele sounds like an absolute nightmare to work with and be around
The first two albums are a sentimental power trip for me but lost it once Matt left and now without Gordon it's just a pointless shell of a band
He no longer felt creatively challenged in the band nor got on with Kele. There really wasn't any detail in what he said. Everything was non-specific, but ofc people take sides and use it as an excuse to bash. They were a decent band for and at their time, but overrated in hindsight. I don't think that was just Kele. The music was just of that moment back in the early 00s when indie was big again for a while. Matt Tong also comes across as bitter when the band no longer suited him or served any more use in his life.
now youre kind of bashing the band, they were more than "a decent band for and at their time" sure they fell off, but they was proper at one point and not just "decent"
@Garf2O I saw them live back then. They were decent but everyone knows that they were not that great live as opposed to on record. They also had a good couple of albums then fell off as you admit. I saw the White Stripes live in the same era. They were amazing live and on record. Bloc Party were a good thing until they weren't. Ta ta.
Said a lot of words, but didn't say anything. Regardless, great drummer in Bloc Party, to me one of the best bands of all time and best two albums in Silent Alarm and Intimacy--the growth between those two albums was like Blinks growth Enema/TOYPAJ to Untitled, so I don't get what he means when he says we couldn't do something more creatively. But alas, as fans we just need to appreciate what we got, even though artists take it away from us, we have to respect their own feelings. Still didn't really say much and danced around any stories--if it was just he was bored with the music then fine, good riddance.
I think reading between the lines, he was upset with Kele's domineering nature and didn't feel creatively challenged by the direction the band was going. Touring and working with someone you can't stand is a deal breaker for most musicians.
@Retrostar619 that seems right. But why doesn't he just say that then instead of having us assume/guess/try to read between the lines. Judging by this interview and the self absorption he portrays along with his ability to talk for 10 min but not say anything make me feel like Kele would have been annoyed with him. At least that's how I felt listening to him, just frustrated because he doesn't seem to communicate anything and just beats around bushes.
Great drummer, but he really messed up not finishing the tour - lot of cash to leave on the table.
Are you the bad ass drummer who looked like Hideo Kojima!!?
Their Glastonbury set was good. Never liked them before
Bloc party went down hill when they got new members stopped listening tbh
Right.
Not knowing anything about this situation whatsoever, the first two or three minutes of this guy talking are word salad and remind me of an old roommate that always had a reason why he didn't pay his rent.
Great drummer though.
to be fair, I don't think he wanted to throw anyone under the bus. The way I've interpreted it for years is that Kele had inferred (without saying directly) was that Matt was the one with a drug problem and somebody else took umbrage. Seemingly until this interview its the first time that Matt has offered a different side of the story.
It seems like Matt was bringing people around the tour who were doing drugs repeatedly and it was probably chill at first and then it got messy as drugs often do. And Matt's word salad here makes him sound guilty lol as he tries to pin the blame on "a person not in the band"
I only liked Silent Alarm. There's the odd song after that I like, but they generally veer too much into electronic noise for me. Banquet is peak Bloc Party for me.
My thoughts exactly! It was the speed of Matt's superb drumming and Keles unusual voice that hooked me. Silent Alarm was literally all thriller no filler. Everything after became more and more like dance music and the drums less noticeable and more boring electronic programmer drum machine sounding.
Four is a good album
Intimacy is a really good album and there are solid tracks all over Weekend
Why was the burial track taken of Spotify I don't give a Fuck about them breaking up
Matt, Russell and Gordon made Bloc Party. Keles vocals were ok and the lyrics are often cringey. He has turned them into a nursery rhyme band now. So sad. Wish Russell, Matt and Gordon would work together again. Last 3 or so albums have been cringey
he's better than the band
Zesty!
Kele was meh
His accent tells me all i need to know
What, that he's from the south?
I remember when I first heard Mercury I thought "ohhhh no... they've gone shit". Matt probably left cos Kele was writing naff tunes.
Nah, that tune was fire. It sounded exactly as it needed to sound to deliver the message.
Is playing songs you dont love anymore really that hard of a career. Musicians are kind of spoiled.
the thing is, I hate the band, mainly cos of Kele's whining spoilt sounding voice
I thought it was because of his coke problem
got a real surprise for you, hoss: 2+2 does not equal 5
@stopcommenting45776 yes it does, Thom York said so
it prolly was bro lol he sounds like he was bringing people around who were doing coke with him and they didn't wanna get in trouble
Kele loves poppers.