Some Matt Hope
I'd booked him on Virginia Tech's annual Soundfest alongside Cave In, Copeland, and Q and not U. He was the most expensive act on the bill by a lot because he was a "major label artist" and "full of himself", but wasn't the headliner. Being an outdoor festival, we obviously had time constraints including rigid set lengths and changeover times to stay on schedule. He had 30 mins and I told him I'd let him know when he had time for one more song. When that time came, he'd only played 5 songs because he thinks he's hilarious on stage and was talking for at least 10 minutes. I gave him the "one song left" signal, he nodded, and then played three more songs and came off stage like an entitled rockstar. I had to cut Q and not U and Cave In's sets to 25 and 20 minutes to compensate for the setback.
The fairly unfortunate thing about Matt being a bag of douche is that he makes some pretty slick music and is finally making good on the investment taken out on him. He's now on Vanguard Records for the release of next week's Some Mad Hope, a consistent offering of acoustic pop. His voice is the centerpiece as it should be. His douchebaggery is very very low in the mix.
Listen:
Sooner Surrender
Bulletproof Weeks
[from Some Mad Hope (out 8.14)|buy]
(big thanks to whoever re-posted my mp3 links again. If you'd like to pay for my hosting, feel free. Until then, a little respect would be nice.)
posted by drewcif at 3:44 PM
6 Comments:
Matt's one of the nicest artists I've ever worked with. He is in no way a douche.
I hope so, I know people can change. I guess it just depends on your perspective. I've worked with hundreds of bands/artists and the way he carried himself that day was disrespectful to me, the other bands, and the fans and it is my only impression of him personally. I only write about music I love, so for him to be here is saying something it itself. I wish him the best, I hope this record kills, and I hope someone picks it up because they heard it here.
well my guess is, no one's gonna pick it up because they said they heard about it here because any self-respecting music fan wouldn't support a "douchebag" artist. i'm sorry matt came across that way to you, but that's just the way he is... he doesn't do it to be mean or disrespectful. out of all the artists i've ever met and chatted with, matt is easily tied at #1 with one other person.
he's had the same personality for the 4 years i've been listening to him, and if y'all really wanted him to stop, you probably could've enforced it a little more. that's a shame you made the review more about your one bad experience with him personally than about the music. why is that?
Sorry you had a bad experience with Matt, but i would have to say he is the least douchebaggy of any musician that I have met or worked with. At least at the end you mention what a great musician he is. I say give him another chance.
also, his jokes and interaction with the fans during the show is what everyone loves about him. Sorry you didnt like that, but its a big reason he has such a great following and its what makes matt.. matt.
Also, its kind of douchebaggy of you to be posting mp3s of Matt's music for people to download for free. You could always just link them to Matt's myspace page or VH1 where the album is streaming in its entirety on the leak. just my 2 cents
Honestly, I'm really glad to be getting these responses. Obviously anyone can only speak to their own experiences and I have no doubt he's a grade-A guy with a lot of people. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Music IS personal, that's the thing. Sometimes the music can overcome a shortcoming (isolated as it may be) in personality. That's why I BOUGHT the record. I enjoy it quite a bit.
And if you think posting songs is wrong, go ahead and write the label. I'd be happy to take them down and stop promoting Matt. But blogging is the new radio and this is the new publicity. People will hear him here and on other blogs that will not ever hear him on the radio or elsewhere. They'll go see him when he comes to town. Good music usually wins out in the end and I'm confident it will here as well.
Sad to hear you had such an awful experience with Matt! (although I respect that you're still willing to admit that you enjoy his music) I've both worked with and met a ton of musicians in my life, and Matt quite honestly ranks among my absolute favorites. He can be a bit moody, but I hope some day you get to meet him again and get a better impression, because he's never been anything but sweet and kind to me and I've known him for going on 5 years now.
There are select core of musicians that I know or who I have met who I always rave to people about, because they are 1. extremely talented, and 2. some of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of coming into contact with. Matt is one of the musicians in that core group.
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