The Cupcakes:
All Dressed Up; No Pumpkin Frosting

By Allison Stewart

Before Matt Walker formed his new band, the Cupcakes, he was the drummer for Filter and, for a

time, the Smashing Pumpkins, which was a fact lost on most of the audience at the Cupcakes'

recent gig opening for Cornershop at the Metro. Ordinary civilians, says Walker, are unaware of

his illustrious past or, for that matter, the Cupcakes' status as Chicago's presumed-to-be Band

of the Future. "The people who know, REALLY know," says Walker. "But I don't think any random

music fan would pick up on it. Not yet, anyway."

For most fans, the Metro gig represented the first real exposure to the Cupcakes, who used the

opportunity to, as Walker puts it (with what seems to be great understandment), "experiment

with stage antics."

"We took the stage in full black military flight outfits," Walker elaborates. "Two of us shaved

ourselves bald -- although not me, incidentally -- and the other two wore skull caps and then

painted our heads metallic silver. Then we put these big goggles on with lasers strapped to the

sides of our heads; we kind of looked like aliens. And on top of that, there was our volume. It

was cool, although the audience looked a little confused."

At this point the Cupcakes are a band about whom little is known, and from whom much is

expected. They signed with the splashy Dreamworks label last year on the strength of a demo

tape and a few scattered shows, although Walker's previous high-profile jobs presumably didn't

hurt. Many expected the Cupcakes to be the first local act to break big since Walker's last band,

Filter, did three years ago. Walker since parted ways with Filter to pursue his own projects.

Walker describes the Cupcakes' still-evoloving sound as being equally influenced by Queen, the

Cars, and vintage soul. "It's kind of like futuristic Beatles, or even futuristic George Harrison.

It's really melodic, futuristic in a semi-old way."

After his lengthy tour of duty as a hired gun for the Pumpkins, Walker says, "It'll be nice to have

my name out there, to have a chance to put it all on the line. With the Pumpkins, well, you know

who has the control there, for anyone who wonders about THAT."

Walker, who is actually far too nice to say anything really pointed about anyone -- so nice, in fact,

that it's easy to picture Billy Corgan steamrolling right over him -- describes his current

relationship with the Pumpkins camp as amicable.

"I recently finished James [Iha's] record, and Billy asked me to be in the video for 'Ava Adore,"

although I couldn't do it. I think he just asked me because he was trying to keep things friendly,

anyway."

These days, Walker seems to get his Pumpkins information the way everyone else does, from the

newspapers and MTV. "'Adore' came out today, and it's kind of an emotional day for me," he says

during a recent interview. "I've been hearing a lot about the band today, and, in all honesty, I feel

my contribution to that record -- at least so far in the press -- has been totally neglected. I

worked really hard on that record."

By whom does he feel neglected? By the press? Billy Corgan? "That's the thing, I don't know.

It's a little disappointing. I had higher hopes for a certain level of acknowledgment for the work

I've done."

A longtime Pumpkins fan, Walker was touring Europe with Filter as the Pumpkins' opening act in

the months before Jonathon Melvoin's death and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's ejection. Walker

returned from the Filter tour and landed the Pumpkins gig after an open audition with dozens of

other hopefuls. His months with the Pumpkins yielded a fairly large body of recorded work that

included "Adore," the Pumpkins' contribution to the 'Batman and Robin' soundtrack, Ric Ocasek's

solo record (which Corgan produced) and James Iha's "Let It Come Down" solo outing. Whether or

not his role in the Pumpkins was ever to have been a permanent seems dubious.

"It was and it wasn't," says Walker. "They were trying real unfamiliar territory [without

Chamberlin]. They had been such a tight band for so long, and all of a sudden the rules were

changing, so they weren't making any commitments either way."

Walker's departure from the Pumpkins made the Cupcakes -- with whom he had played during

Filter breaks -- a top priority, and the band sighed hits Dreamworks deal last May. The Cupcakes

grew from Walker's old local outfit Tribal Opera, formed with his brother Solomon Snyder on

bass, ans singer Preston Graves, both of whom, along with guitarist Greg Suran, are current

Cupcakes.

"Things happened really fast, but we've played together for years, so it was real familiar," says

Walker. "We feel ready." The band will spend the summer recording their debut, with an early

1999 release planned.

"I want it to sound like the Cars did when they first stumbled into new wave. I want it to sound

accidental," says Walker. "I don't want it to sound too slick. You have to leave as much to

chance as you can. There's nothing more contrived than trying to sound natural."

Before going into the studio, the Cupcakes hope to squeeze in a few more locals shows: Whether

they will be as determinedly [outrageous] avant-garde as their Cornershop set is an open

question. As for Cornershop themselves, the Cupcakes, quite pointedly, never did stick around

to see their headlining set. "I heard that Cornershop despises Radiohead because they said that

music is supposed to be uplifting, that there's enough pain in actual life, and they thought

Radiohead [wasn't uplifting enough]. But music isn't SUPPOSED to be anything. There aren't any

rules; that's the point...I try not to be a bitter type of guy like that," says Walker. "Besides, the

name of my band is the Cupcakes. We can only come off as so severe, no matter how hard we

try."