Capitol Hill Block Party and My Summer of Nostalgia

July 21, 2011 By Matt Leave a Comment

Having moved to Seattle last May, this summer has been full of one-year markers and anniversaries. With each annual event I’m forced to reflect on a year ago and I am repeatedly stunned by how much has changed. This weekend, that process is triggered by Capitol Hill Block Party – a weekend-long, nationally-acclaimed music festival smack-dab in the middle of my neighborhood. Last year I bought my 3-day pass the day they became available without any idea who I would go with or what bands I would see. I just… Read More…

Cobalt & the Hired Guns “Of Summer” Video

February 17, 2011 By Matt 3 Comments

cobalt and the hired guns of summer video

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you snow, you make snowballs. When life gives you ThunderSnow, you invite a bunch of people over the next day to shoot a snowball fight / snow frolicking music video! For those who don’t know, Cobalt & the Hired Guns is the band I played in from it’s origin in 2003 (2002 if you count Tom and I collaborating) until I moved to Seattle this past May. I watched this video with sheer joy this morning, missing them a… Read More…

My All-Chicago Mix, vol. 1

November 26, 2010 By Matt 4 Comments

Convergence. Sometime earlier this year I started creating a couple fun new iTunes playlists: “Music By People I Know” and “Chicago Music.” Upon moving to Seattle I stayed with my friend Phil who is famous in his social circles for his mix CDs (he calls them “comps”). The mix playlist below, which I made for Phil back in June, is a direct result of these two events. In the spirit of Thanksgiving and feeling very thankful for the community of great musicians I’m connected to in both Chicago and now… Read More…

My New Music Project: The Local Strangers

October 18, 2010 By Matt 3 Comments

//**EDIT – I’ve wanted to put up an updated post, as this band has done some really amazing things in the last year, but I’ve failed. If it’s for nostalgia’s sake, read on. If you actually want to check out the band, go to www.thelocalstrangers.com and ignore these old demo videos, for now **// As I’ve said many times on this blog, upon moving to Seattle I didn’t know anyone who did music here. I was fortunate, however, to receive the wisdom of many great musicians – often via interviews… Read More…

A Recorded Music Conversation with Shareef Ali

September 1, 2010 By Matt 1 Comment

The first true indie show I saw in Seattle was back in July at a little Capitol Hill hole in the wall called The Faire Gallery Cafe-Bar for an old friend’s new band: Shareef Ali & the Radical Folksonomy. We all packed into the tiny venue – broken A/C on a hot July night – and were treated to some orchestral-indie-punk-folk from the Bay Area. With a handlebar mustache and a many-gallon hat, that is. Locking down a genre or these folks is not easy – but I don’t mean… Read More…

Quick Hits: Lots of Live Music and Good Interviews Coming

August 27, 2010 By Matt 1 Comment

One reason for my radio silence here as of late – I’ve seen the following bands live since my last post: The Hold Steady, Ha Ha Tonka, The Avett Brothers, Hey Marseilles, Yeasayer, Atmosphere, The Drowning Men, !!!, Fruit Bats, The Young Evils, The Maldives, Blitzen Trapper, Beach Fossils, The Dead Weather, Blue Scholars, and more. OK so a lot of those were in one weekend at the Capitol Hill Block Party – but then I went back to Chicago/Detroit/Milwaukee for a while to see a bunch of people, Tom’s… Read More…

What Makes for a Good (or Crap) Open Mic?

July 19, 2010 By Matt 20 Comments

I’ve been to enough open mic nights in my day, specifically since my move to Seattle, to develop some concrete thoughts on what elements can make or break the event. I’d like to have some sort of defined rubric to judge them – especially in future blog posts. Here is the spectrum model that has been bouncing around in my head lately, and I’m hoping that all of y’all with open mic experience (performing and observing) will critique it, add your own elements, or just comment in general. Have at… Read More…

New Song o’ Mine: Quick & Dirty YouTube Video

June 28, 2010 By Matt 3 Comments

These oages haven't filled up so fast in a LONG time

I finished writing this song about 26 hours after starting it, which I haven’t done in since like 2005. After the feelings of shock and exultation for converting emo feelings into song-form so efficiently wore off, I was suddenly at a loss. Normally I would now play this song for my girlfriend and she would tell me which parts were stupid, but she’s working in Vermont for most of the summer. Then, normally, I would play it for my bandmates and workshop it with them for a while and wait… Read More…

Quick Hits: Open Mics, Road Trips, and Diana Ross

June 18, 2010 By Matt Leave a Comment

1) I am currently on a road trip with my dear friend Rada, writing from beautiful Silver Lake in Los Angeles. We’re about to head back north toward Seattle with stops in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Portland. It’s been a fantastic trip thus far – L.A., especially, has been a blast. Diana Ross has been a prevalent theme: our host Dan is currently on a huge Ms. Ross kick, and my producer/friend/therapist Brian couldn’t hang out with us on this trip because of his engineering obligations to the one-and-only… Read More…

Hopvine’s Open Mic Night – First Impressions

May 13, 2010 By Matt 4 Comments

Okay, so I’m really spoiled when it comes to open mics. I know that not every stage is going to be like the dedicated music room at Chicago’s Uncommon Ground with a captive audience and great sound system. But that’s what I’ve gotten used to, so I just want to fess up to that upfront. That being said, the open mic at Hopvine – just a few blocks from where I’m staying in Seattle – was a good place to pop my SeattleOpenMic cherry, if you will (and you will). … Read More…