Canadian rockers PUP have shared a comic inspired by their song “Matilda”, which tells the story of an old, beat-up guitar that was once loved but now sits in a closet.

“Matilda is the name of my favorite guitar,” says frontman Stefan Babcock. “She was a gift from my friend Ryan, after watching me accidentally break the only guitar I owned in the middle of a long tour. I had no money to buy a replacement, and Ryan’s act of kindness is up there on my list of ‘nicest things anyone’s ever done for me’. I played Matilda nonstop for 7 years at every PUP show, even when my bandmates started complaining that she sounded like shit.

“As the band got bigger, the pressure to sound better was building and so I bought a ‘good’ guitar and played Matilda less and less. Before I knew it I hadn’t played her in over a year. I wrote this song based on this intense feeling of guilt and sadness and shame and nostalgia and regret, watching her rot away in a corner. I love this guitar and I love Ryan and wanted to do right by them, and I felt like I’d failed them both.

“I convinced the band that Matilda deserved one last rip on a PUP record, and I played her during the bridge of this song. It sounds so shitty. But good shitty. Great shitty. For me, it was the most joyful and cathartic moment in the entire making of this record.”

Read the comic here.

“Matilda” is included on the band’s forthcoming album, THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND, which will be released on April 1. Pre-save it below.

 

Filed under: Pup