WOLVERHAMPTON’S Scott Matthews writes music that feels like it is trying to look into who you are, but by telling you who he is.
It’s personal but not probing, and inquisitive without being intrusive.
This, he says, is down the medium of the song: “Since time began, songs always been a portal for our feelings to be heard.
“It’s almost like my feelings are the conductor and they’ll orchestrate where the song needs to go.”
“Personally speaking, I can only ever aim to capture the mood I’m in but I’ve no idea whether the outcome will be of any use to me.”
Scott began his latest tour in late August, and will be performing at venues around the country including Newcastle, Inverness, Hastings, and London, as well as appearing at South Street Arts Centre.
He says that his emotive approach sometimes comes with its downsides, however.
“Sometimes I’ll end up with a page of mindless and confused drivel with maybe one line that sets me on my path but that rarely happens.”
Scott says that this approach doesn’t necessarily mean that he captures all of his thoughts and feelings in music – he seeks to be in the moment, too.
“I don’t always feel the need to instantly find a pen and paper when I feel a certain way – I almost want to let the moment pass and reflect on events.
“Having said all this, I feel the best moments are when I’m in the zone and I write with an immediacy that doesn’t want to be disrupted because the idea and the unfolding of the lyric is too fast to keep up with.”
He speaks highly of his influences, though with influences such as Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, it is with very good reason.
“Whether we’re aware of it or not, we’re all clearly doffing our cap to a specific era, sound, artist or band in a subtle or obvious way because it’s those waves of noise that got us on the boat in the first place.
“That amount of consumption has subconsciously defined who I am – it’s like hearing Tom Waits for the first time thinking ‘man, this guy is so unique and original’ but then I hear Howlin Wolf.
“It’s a rare beast to hear originality because the likelihood is we’ve heard it before in some form or another.”
He says that from his perspective, the more music he listens to, the more clearly he hears himself.
“I found that I’ve learnt to be comfortable with the direction I’m going in but always probing, eager to distance myself from the writer and performer I was previously.
“There are clearly decades of music I frequently confide in but I also don’t want to end up as some pastiche version of myself.”
Scott says that music can seem like it has lost some of its ‘visual’ identity, such as the all-senses spectacles of the likes of Elton John or David Bowie.
“I think perhaps certain genres of music lend themselves to an easier-on-the-eye aesthetic.
“Back in the great revolutionary days of the ‘60s and ‘70s we had some bona fide icons that were hugely flamboyant and captivating – I’m thinking the likes of Bowie, Marley – that were true pioneers of their artistic world.
“These days, the characters just aren’t the same, purely by the nature of the way the industry has evolved into an overly-saturated market.
“It takes something extremely unique to stand out from the crowd especially when there’s so much choice out there.”
Scott Matthews will be performing at South Street Arts Centre, Reading, on Wednesday, September 28.
Doors open at 7.30pm.
For tickets, visit: www.gigantic.com.
