We heard Matt Longo for the first time earlier this year, and were mightily impressed by his lovely, melodic songs, which to our ears at least, bear comparison with Honeybus’ Pete Dello, Emitt Rhodes, Badfinger and Ron Sexsmith. We caught up with this native New Yorker for a brief Q&A session, and he was kind enough to gives us a free track from his wonderful forthcoming EP…
Where are you from?
I was born and raised on Long Island, NY, though I’ve since relocated to Harlem, where I write and record.
Who are your earliest, and current inspirations and influences, musically, spiritually, whatever. And why?
I was lovingly brainwashed with the Beatles at a very young age, so I have to say that Rubber Soul is the album that inspired me to start writing. Though their egos must have been fairly monstrous at that point, each piece of instrumentation on the album is played entirely for the sake of the songs. There’s a warm, all-encompassing acoustic sound there that has definitely influenced my recordings. Sweetheart of the Rodeo (the Byrds) is another example of that aesthetic. Gram Parson’s voice can make a grown man weep openly. Hang around a good jukebox long enough and you’ll see it happen.Currently, The National’s High Violet has been playing pretty consistently in my apartment. I’ve heard the criticism that they’re music is boring, but that’s just coming from people who have to immediately like a song the first time they hear it. I think their albums slowly creep into your subconscious and end up defining periods of your life. On a side note, I’d like Matt Berninger to do a reading at my funeral. He doesn’t know it, but he has to outlive me.
Why are you doing this? Gotta be an easier way to make a living?
I wouldn’t say that I actually do make a living off of this. I don’t think I’ve ever even had that mindset, which might account for my shoe-string budget. If I didn’t have the ability to express myself through songs, I’d be a mess. I have to write to make sense of my life and the choices I’m making, and recording has just become a compulsive action along with that, so somebody listening to all of it after it’s over has almost become an afterthought. I think it’s incredible when people tell me how much they like the songs, and it keeps me going. But I would do this if no one was listening, which, a few years ago, was most definitely the case.
5 words to describe the current state of the music business?
Destitute, Inundated, Reverbed, Pitch-forked, Promising
What has 2011 been like to you so far?
Busy! After releasing an EP late last year (Alexandria), I’m now finishing a follow-up EP (The Low Life). With the lo-fi bedroom tracks I used to make with my old bands, the costs of recording and the hours spent toiling were less demanding. But those methods weren’t suiting the kind of warm pop songs I’ve been writing on these EPs, so I had to make the change to a studio to get the sound I wanted.I’ve also had some meetings with various labels/pr firms in the New Year. These interactions just seem to mirror the dating world, with a lot of back and forth on both sides.
Free Download: Matt Longo – The Night
What do you expect to achieve the rest of this year?
I expect to release the new EP in April. Additionally, I’d like to put out both EPs together as a remastered full-length by the summer, hopefully as a physical/vinyl release (with a little help, of course), and to tour behind the album.I’ve also recently finished a novel that has taken me three years to write, so I’m looking to publish that as well. I’ll be pretty glad to get that off my hands. My level of obsessiveness knows no bounds. I think one can hear that anal-retentive quality in the music.
Name 5 great movies
The Wicker Man – The original, not the confounding and hilarious remake with Nicholas Cage.
There Will Be Blood
Dog Day Afternoon
After Hours – Who doesn’t love Griffin Dunne?
City of God
Name 5 great works of art?
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Grendel by John Gardner
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
The Wire – Yes, the entire series.
Heroes?
Even though my music doesn’t sound at all like his, Bradford Cox (Deerhunter, Atlas Sound) is someone I really admire. Cryptograms and Halcyon Digest are such different albums, and yet they both work in their own little worlds. He unapologetically marches to the beat of his own drummer. He achieves critical and commercial (to a certain extent) success while sticking to his vision. I think we all want that. Musically, I’d also have to say that my father is someone I look up to. He instilled a really keen sense of melody in me, and he has such a singular way of playing guitar. I learned how to fingerpick from watching him.
