SCOTT MATTHEW

Scott Matthew is one of the very few musicians who — well, how may we say this — strips with his music, who dissects himself to reveal his very innards with great parsimony.

His voice cries without whining. His songs accuse without soliciting pity. Scott Matthew’s music has truth and exigency. And he forms this into songs that are purely magnetic, that expose an honest beauty and sorrow, allowing listeners to take and feel part of the experience.

Scott Matthew was born in Queensland, Australia. He played in several short-lived bands, broke off his studies at university and moved to Sydney where founded the punk-rock band Nicotine. At that time he also started staging solo with an acoustic set where he discovered his passion for ballades. In 1997, on the search for new horizons, he followed a good friend to Brooklyn, New York.

In New York, in 2002, Scott Matthew collaborated with former Morrissey drummer Spencer Cobrin and the two of them released an E.P. under the name Elva Snow, whereby Scott delivered lyrics and vocals.

One of Scott Matthew’s early successes came with the soundtracks "Lithium Flower" and "Beauty Is Within Us" for the Japanese animation-serial Ghost in the Shell, as well as with the title song “Is It Real?”, which was also composed by Yoko Kanno for the animation-serial Cowboy Bebop.

So far Scott has won the most attention through his work on the John Cameron Mitchell (of Hedwig & the Angry Inch) film Shortbus (2006). Scott wrote the theme song, “In the End,” (staged during the film in a long version by Tony-nominated performer Justin Bond), in addition to the songs "Little Bird," "Surgery" and "Upside Down" performed in the film by Scott and featured on the soundtrack. For his debut album, in addition to seven original tracks, Scott ALONG WITH HIS MUSICIANS arranged and recorded new versions of the songs used in Shortbus.

Scott Matthew describes himself as a "quiet noise-maker". And in our opinion this statement betrays nothing about his music. Instead, it tends to explicate how he sees himself as a musician and how he could be understood as a person.

Scott Matthew is a remarkably gifted singer/songwriter. His songs are easy and unfussy. Together with his producer Mike Skinner (not of The Streets)  AND HIS VERY TALENTED MUSICIANS ON THE ALBUM he arranges the instruments and stylistic devices with such a lightness and elegance, it seems as though the songs are falling accidentally through space and time. Classical string arrangements in "Ballad Dear," "Habit" and "Abandoned" are juxtaposed with minimalist ensembles like "Little Bird" and "Upside Down" where a ukulele supports Scott Matthew’s exceptional, soulful voice. The intensity of his singing is tangible. And his humble yet striking stage presence never fails to underline the accessibility of his music.

Whoever has experienced Scott live on stage is oddly touched, perhaps even confused. His presence underlines the disarming. Countless live gigs in clubs, galleries and in sometimes very bizarre and wondrous venues Scott has become a mature artist who is able to give an ease to the evening with two or three words between the songs.

His music is like he is as a person. He's not interested at all in what other people construe into his appearance. Scott is as hip as only a musician from Brooklyn can be, down to earth and unpretentious as expected from an Australian. Is his beard is a political statement or just a trend? Is his golden bracelet telling a long story or is it just a accidentally accessory - Scott Matthew is not calculated. He touches people. A quite noise maker!

SHORT INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT MATTHEW

Just give me some interesting details about your musical history in australia:
I started my first band almost 2 years after I dropped out of university where I was doing a BA in music but my major was in radio studies... BORING... left the small town and moved to Sydney. I worked for the AUSTRALIAN OPERA COMPANY in the wardrobe department. I had a POP PUNK band called NICOTINE for a couple of years... playing shows in sydney. Towards the time before I left Australia I started performing solo or with minimal accompaniment found my passion and voice for performing ballads then.

When did you move to New York and why did you leave Australia? How did you get into the New York music scene?
I left AUSTRALIA out of complete frustration and needed adventure in 1997. I felt despondent and defeated in Australia. I had a good friend who was from NYC and was set to leave Sydney. So I came soon after. Had $120 in my pocket but I did have a place to stay. I started doin open Mics in Brooklyn and Manhattan until soon after I met spencer cobrin.

How did you meet Spencer Cobrin?
I was working in a cafe in the East Village and he would come in every day and hang out. We never really talked until my roommate at the time, who new Spencer introduced us thinking we would be good music partners... we immediatley realized we were and truthfully. I was incredably impressed by the fact he had worked with Morrissey for 7 years. We started writing songs together and recorded the 8 song album. Mike Skinner (my main producer on the album) joined the band after we met him and his wife in a dive gay bar in the east village played a lot in NYC and had the band for a good 2 1/2 years.

What kind of project was "Songs to drink and drive by"?
That was amazing and formulative to what I do now..I started the project with the need to write my own songs and find my own sound..It was wonderfully maudlin. I took the bass player from "Elva Snow" Peter, and we worked on my songs with very sparse and mimimal arrangement... I met Marisol (piano player on my album around then ) and although she is a painter she had studied classical piano for years and wanted to re connect with music so she joined the band. Nate (banjo player on my album) then joined to play drums for us. Very soft and sweet. We also played a lot in NYC. We were still together when I met John Cameron Mtchell and in fact Peter and Nate are in Shortbus for the LANGUAGE scene playing with me. The name of the band came from a song of Elva Snows called Drinking and Driving.

How did you get in contact with Yoko Kanno?
I was introduced during the Elva Snow days through our guitarist to a woman Cherry Karou who is a japanese woman living in NYC who is the production liason to japanese companies recording in NYC. She believed in my voice and snuck me in to the audition for Yoko Kanno even when Yoko had already passed on me after hearing recorded songs. The audition changed her mind and she started writing song for me which ended up in Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell. I went to Tokyo to perform for the promotional show for the feature film for Cowboy Bebop. Cherry and I are now very close friends.

 DEFEND RELEASES

Catalog Number:
DFN80052
Title:
Scott Matthew
Release Date:
April 2009

Track List
01. Amputee
02. Abandoned
03. Prescription
04. Ballad Dear
05. Little Bird
06. Laziest Lie
07. Upside Down
08. Habit
09. In the End
10. Surgery
11. Market Me to Children