Q&A: MATTHEW YOUNG
ALT-POP PRINCE FROM TĀMAKI MAKAURAU MATTHEW YOUNG HAS RETURNED WITH ‘HEADCASE’ - HIS FIRST SOLO MUSIC SINCE 2018 AND FIRST TRACK OF HIS UPCOMING ALBUM & WE ARE LOVING IT!
WITH INCREDIBLE STRENGTH AND AN EXCEPTIONAL APPROACH TO UNRAVELLING THE INTRICACIES OF HIS MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY THROUGH HIS MUSIC, HE CHATS TO US ABOUT HIS NEW SONG, CREATING AN ALBUM ON THE ROAD WHILE TRAVELLING NEW ZEALAND, AND MORE.
WE’D LOVE TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY FROM WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SINGING AND MAKING MUSIC!
When I was a kid I was exposed to a lot of different music; my parents had a pretty vast CD collection and I used to go through them, picking out all the CD covers that piqued my interest and giving them a spin on the family stereo that we had in the living room.
Music was a motivating factor for where we went on vacation too, so we sometimes travelled to the US, going to country music fairs and stuff like that, which was weird but I found a toy guitar with buttons on the neck that played chords out of a speaker when you hit them - my first ‘instrument’. We spent hours driving around the US with the radio blaring that type of modern country-rock that makes road trips feel like a nauseating roller coaster, but somehow after enduring all that, I still wanted to do this for a job.
I first started out on the drums when I was 11 or 12 and then moved onto the guitar when I was like 13 and just kinda kept going from there, onto other things - eventually playing in bands in high school and through university before going solo and doing my own thing. Music is the only thing I’ve ever been able to stick at and the only interest I’ve had that wasn’t just a passing phase. I’m probably just above average at every instrument, but good enough to make it work. My best instrument is probably computer tbh.
AMAZING! AND CONGRATS ON YOUR LATEST SINGLE ‘HEADCASE’ - WE LOVE THIS INCREDIBLE AND LYRICALLY INTIMATE TRACK! CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF THIS SONG?
Thank you! I guess the concept was to make something that felt representative of bipolar disorder in the way that I was experiencing it at the time. The whole point was to try and capture a sense of the two poles, feeling up or feeling down, but in a way that doesn’t feel super dramatic, or forced, but more like ‘slice-of-life’, if that makes sense.
I wanted to create something that feels like it’s always moving from side to side, or from low too high. The backing vocals are panned left and right and the harmony changes from below to above the main melody over the course of the song. The vocals in the bridge are also formant shifted (kinda like pitch shifted) slowly up and down throughout the section and the vocal doubles are even further to the sides. The instrumental section is like a call and response, the sax being high energy and the guitar being low energy, and once again trading sides.
THAT’S EXTRAORDINARY! WHAT WAS THE WRITING AND PRODUCTION PROCESS LIKE FOR THE TRACK?
Musically, I had a rough draft of the beat sitting around for a year or two before I got to actually making it into a song (just kinda like drums and bass and shit). I wanted it feel like it never really lands anywhere, and just kinda floats until it eventually just ends. The organ that’s played through the whole song is droning away and doesn’t give much of a hint of key or rhythm, it just kinda goes.
Writing the song was probably the easiest I’d ever experienced, on a song of my own, and it probably helped that this song was the first song I made for this forthcoming album. I was ready to be a little more open lyrically and talk more about my real life situation and I think that openness had an effect on the sonic choices too. I wrote and recorded this song in Opononi, which had a kind of spiritual effect on me. It’s hard not to feel a sense of freedom and openness, when you’re in a remote mountain valley, surrounded by almost untouched native flora.
TAKING A LITTLE THROWBACK TO 2018, YOUR EP ‘FRUIT’ IS ONE OF OUR ABSOLUTE FAVOURITES! WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR MAIN HIGHLIGHTS WORKING ON THIS PROJECT?
In all honesty, the only true highlight from that era was seeing all the work pay off, getting Triple J playlistings and selling out shows. That EP was made during a pretty turbulent chapter of my life and I think I was living vicariously through my music, more than anything else. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate what came out of it, despite being my own worst critic - I still appreciate the EP for what I was able to make at that time. That’s not a fun answer lol, but that’s reality.
SINCE THE END OF 2018, WE HEARD YOU DECIDED TO LEAVE THE TRADITIONAL MODERN STUDIO ENVIRONMENT BEHIND AND INSTEAD OPT TO WRITE ON THE ROAD, TRAVELLING THE LENGTH OF AOTEAROA WHILE RECORDING FROM ISOLATED AIRBNBS. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME THIS MUST HAVE BEEN AN EXTREMELY CATHARTIC PROCESS - WHAT HAS THIS EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE FOR YOU?
You’re right, it was extremely cathartic. But also pretty hard sometimes. Isolation can be daunting and the locations where I chose to work were more than often so remote that I couldn’t see or hear anyone else. Still, I loved the experience and I’ll be eternally grateful for being in a position where it was even possible.
I hate the traditional studio environment, it’s like working in a casino - a bunch of fancy machines, no daylight, no sense of time. They’re the least creatively inspiring spaces for me, which is something a lot of people I work with feel too. They’re also mostly unnecessary, unless you need to track a string section or choir, or something you can’t otherwise do yourself.
Being able to see more of this country I live in (while working) is probably the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. A true healing experience.
WE’RE SO EXCITED FOR YOUR UPCOMING MUSIC! WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOUR NEXT PROJECT?
An exposé of my personal feelings and lived experience, hopes, fears, all the weird shit I pummel my own brain with on a regular basis, all while trying my best to make an album that feels easy. The album I wrote is almost a low key rock album, which happened by accident. I tried to be more honest this time around too. This is probably the worst description of the album, but I think I’ll just go with it.
WHO WOULD YOU SAY ARE YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS IN MUSIC?
Prince, Joni Mitchell, Fatboy Slim, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Julia Michaels, Young Thug, Blink-182, Gracie Abrams, James Taylor, D’Angelo - the list goes on.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE NZ ARTISTS RIGHT NOW AND ARE THERE ANY SONGS IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU LOVE OR CONNECT WITH?
I honestly feel like we make some of the best music in the world and that’s not just blind patriotism either (does that even exist in NZ?). There’s honestly too many to count, but I’ll list a few in no order:
Lontalius - pretty much every song is perfect, so it’s super hard to pick, but Summer and Swim from the album All I Have are ones I’m always going back to.
Rory Noble - everything Rory touches turns to gold. I’m chronically spamming my ear drums with both his singles High Again and Team.
BENEE - this one is obvious, who doesn’t love BENEE’s music? Spider is the all time fav, but If I Get To Meet You and Winter are close behind.
Mikey Dam - easily one of the best songwriters on planet earth and probably the best in NZ, I love everything Mikey does. He’s maybe the most versatile writer I’ve ever been in a room with too. Time is still my favorite of his releases so far, it’s one of the most moving songs I’ve ever heard.
Paige - Paige has such an ease to her music, it’s like a soothing balm. I love the song Goodbye, the chorus on that song slaps me in the emotional center of my brain.
Wells* - Wells* has such natural pop sensibilities. Quitter is an amazing piece of work, a real highlight for 2021. I want to make a million songs with Wells*.
deryk - I just love her music, deryk is one-of-a-kind, and one of the nicest people you might ever meet. Brains is one of my favorite songs of life, the chorus is annoyingly good. S/O scary ppl.
Leroy Clampitt - not so much in the artist category of how we typically define it, but Leroy is an amazing producer and a true artist, and makes some of the best music you could ever hear. The song he made with Sabrina Carpenter called Skinning Dipping sets the bar way too high, not just in terms of songwriting and sonic quality, but also as a case study in restraint. Only the last quarter of the song really pushes and even then it holds back and never slams. I’m also fkn supremely jealous that he got to work with Julia Michaels.
Lévyne - one of the best songwriters / lyricists in the country - a real all rounder artist/producer who is way too talented. I love the song If You Want, it hurts so good.
That’s enough for now - I’m definitely missing some people, but these are the ones who inspire me the most. Outside Lontalius and BENEE, I already know everyone else on this list, but that’s Aotearoa for you.
SUCH AN EPIC LIST OF REMARKABLE SONGS & ARTISTS! WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND? DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVOURITE PLACES TO TRAVEL TO OR LOCAL SPOTS TO VISIT?
This entire country is paradise, I don’t think I’ve ever felt out of place anywhere I’ve visited or spent time in - feeling at home is what I love most tbh. Favs: Ōmāpere/Opononi, Martinborough, Nelson Lakes, pretty much all of Otago, especially the lakes (duh), but my heart lives in Tairua, mostly because it’s my second home. Also the entire West Coast of this country is bananas; unlike anything else.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNT IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR, AND WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER KIWI ARTISTS OUT THERE?
I think the best lesson is one that I’ve only learned recently; how important it is to surround yourself with other people in this industry and to try and find the people who challenge you, but also make you feel at home and add value to your life as well as your work.
Working alone is overrated. Even if you’re capable of doing everything yourself, it’s barely ever worth it. Making music with other people (from my own experience, at least) makes the job worth doing and weirdly, the end product often feels more personal to me.
It’s not always easy though, finding the right people, especially since Auckland has become the LA of NZ, in terms of being the place most music people end up. Not so ideal maybe, if you live elsewhere, but hopefully still not impossible.
LASTLY, IF YOU COULD SAY ONE THING TO EVERY PERSON IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Take your vitamins and don’t be a dick.
THANKS SO MUCH MATTHEW! MAKE SURE YOU KEEP UP WITH HIM ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, SPOTIFY OR APPLE MUSIC.
