On an unusually warm and sunny day in February, I found myself heading to the Union to meet up with and interview Her Campus Towson’s very own celebrity Matt Higgins. After grabbing a table and a fruit salad, Higgins filled me in on his experience of being in the powerpop/indie/alternative rock band, The Getaways. Higgins, one of my friends from my hometown Columbia, MD, has been playing guitar in the band The Getaways since Middle School. Although they started out playing mainly local gigs, over the past two years the band has started to play, professionally and has performed at concerts with famous bands such as We The Kings, The Audition, Drop Out Year, Jeffree Star, and DEV. He announced that they are performing locally at the Recher on February 18. with American Diary for only $5-$10 and expects it to be a fun filled night. If you want a preview of their music go to iTunes or MySpace
Outside of the band, Higgins transferred to Towson in Fall 2010 from UMBC and is a Environmental Science major with a minor in music. In his spare time he enjoys COD,reading, cooking gourmet food from scratch, hiking and the outdoors. Matt also said that , “this may be lame but lately I’ve been fixated on jigsaw puzzles.” Higgins favorite part of being in The Getaways is, “The feeling and adrenaline rush I get from performing on stage in front of people, sometimes making a fool out of myself but always having fun.” He offers advice for those trying to become a successful to just have fun and try to meet new people, go out of your way to make people happy and give out free demo tapes or cds.
Over the years, the music of the Getaways has transitioned from being more classic like The Rolling Stones and The Strokes to being more pop influenced with an eighties dance vibe evident in beats and high pitched synths. When asked what the band considered to be their biggest accomplishment, Higgins said being selected by fans to play Warped Tour 2010. He adds that, “ Personally wouldn’t say I have a big accomplishment because I enjoy playing shows no matter how big or small but we are looking to keep playing bigger and bigger shows so who knows what’s around that corner.”