Matt Pryor has learned a lesson since he”s been in the music business — don”t think too highly of other people”s opinions.

‘I don”t really care if anybody likes [New Amsterdams] at all,’ says Pryor, frontman of New Amsterdams. ‘Well, that”s not entirely true.’

This thought isn”t anything new to Pryor. He says it”s been hard to establish New Amsterdams while living in the shadow of his other band, The Get Up Kids.

But New Amsterdams is refreshing, Pryor says, because the band is allowed a little breathing room.

‘There”s significantly more freedom,’ he says. ‘There are a lot of expectations with The Get Up Kids and production can be slow.’

The overall feel of the music is different from The Get Up Kids, as well, Pryor says, and the creative freedom has allowed him to explore new kinds of music. He says he could play country if he wanted, and he kind of does, playing a few banjo tracks on his new record.

‘It”s done in a less aggressive manner,’ Pryor says.

A lot of the early stuff written by The Get Up Kids is full of angst, a sometimes overdone emotion. Pryor, on the other hand, says he has the freedom to write songs about other, less serious subjects, like ‘bugs and dinosaurs and pizza and stuff,’ Pryor says.

Pryor”s exploration into new musical topics have landed him in a new genre — writing children”s music.

With a 2 1/2-year-old and a six-month-old at home, he says he just felt like writing kids music.

‘I just want to write a kids record; I don”t care if anyone buys it,’ Pryor says.

He says he wrote the songs in about 10 minutes, keeping it simple and fun.

‘One of the funniest things about it is I”m asking myself questions like, “What rhymes with chocolate milk?”‘ he says.

But Pryor says he couldn”t just try out the songs on his children — he had to take them with him on tour. Once, when touring with Dashboard Confessional, Pryor says he tried out one of his kid songs on the crowd and they went wild.

‘Mental note — Dashboard fans like songs about dinosaurs,’ he says.

Pryor also has to deal with fans of his other band, The Get Up Kids. He says it”s been hard to make New Amsterdams rise above the level of ‘side project’ in the eyes of fans.

‘It”s been hard to get people taking [my music] seriously outside of The Get Up Kids,’ Pryor says.

It”s easy to write a band off as a side project and view them kind of like a footnote, Pryor says. He says he has only found one way to overcome this problem.

‘Sheer persistence,’ he says.

Although appealing to musical tastes of both old and young fans may be a goal with his music, Pryor says he would ultimately like to spend time in front of a younger audience — a much younger audience.

‘I would say my main focus is my kids,’ Pryor says.

Family definitely comes first, Pryor says, which can be seen in how the band has booked its future tours — it is touring weekends only, allowing the whole week to be home.

Pryor says he can see himself performing during kid”s shows during the day, maybe at bookstores, and then shows with either of his bands at night.

‘A kind of multitasking tour,’ he says.

Even with a hectic schedule, Pryor says he would be happy if he could continue with both bands for as long as he can.

Who: New Amsterdams

Where: M-Shop

When: 9 p.m., Friday

Cost: $10 student, $11 public