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Ryan Pope
(October 2005 Issue)
Gettin' Down With The Get Up Kids Smart, melodic, and
unflaggingly energetic, The Get Up Kids are part of a
Midwestern
pop-punk tradition that stretches from Cheap Trick through The
Replacements and up to the current
'emo' scene. But one of the factors
that distinguishes this Kansas City quartet is its powerful but nimble
drummer,
Ryan Pope.
Pope also has a sophisticated sense of dynamics; on 1999's Something To Write Home
About (Vagrant),
his playing recalls other "Song-oriented" greats like Charlie Watts and
Jim Keltner. "It's more
important to maybe make some sacrifices for the
tune instead of pounding away and thinking of yourself as an
individual
player," he maintains.
The Get Up Kids are gearing up to record again with producer Nigel
Godrich
(Radiohead, Travis) for a spring release. This time, Pope
promises "more straight-up rock" a la Neil Young and The
Rolling
Stones, as well as a new level of playing from the rhythm section,
which is completed by his one-year-older brother,
Rob. "We're really
getting our stuff together right now," he says. "We've always been able
to play off each other,
and that's been cool. But we're learning how to
complete the song and make it what it really needs to be - and
that's
rad."
Jim
DeRogatis
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