My attention was recently brought to Matthew Heller, a post-grunge folk-rock singer-songwriter from Portland Oregon.
His self-titled release is currently available online and he has a new album in the works.
Let’s jump into the interview, but first I want to say that when I first listened to this record I became an immediate fan.
Enjoy.
Let’s start with the basics. Who are you? Where are you from? What type of music do you make?
Matthew Heller, from Portland, Oregon, The type of music I make is Post Grunge Folk.
Its rock sauce that you try to spoon onto your ravioli but spill all over you face, and then your face melts all over the dinner table and your sister screams.
You have a very dark but interesting and inspiring background story. Is it safe to assume this energy and your experiences fuel your music?
“Howdy From Hades,” along with the hard rocking “Father’s Son,” alludes to my childhood. I grew up on a farm with a heroin-addicted mother who eventually succumbed to her demons.
“There were a lot of scary people around,” he recalls. “I sometimes lived in the barn because I was too frightened to go in the house. People feel like it’s a sad story, but I’m not about letting that define me. I learned how to do everything myself, and it’s informed the approach I’ve taken with these records.”
Through the female character in “Howdy From Hades” I do reveal some painful insights from growing up. That song is about a girl in NYC addicted to heroin. She would sometimes say she was coming by and I would wait for her for hours. It felt like I was reliving my childhood, waiting for someone to come by that never showed up.
Lyrics from the song include:
“She said Detroit seems like a nice place to die, and if the drugs don’t take me, and the saints wont save me, then I guess I’ll just have to stare at the walls and cry, cry, cry.”…..“Drunk into a stupor, drunk into a haze, shot into a dark hole at the mouth of the bay, and as the river ran past me, there was nothing I could do or say, except I already sold my soul to the devil how much more can a man pay?”
Do you have a songwriting process? Does inspiration hit you at random times?
Yes Inspiration hits at the most un-helpful and stressful times.
Do you write with others? Is there a favorite producer or engineer you like to work with to achieve your sound?
I don’t tend to write with others much, but this has been changing.
You have been compared to Smashing Pumpkins…does their music have any influence on yours? Are you a fan of their music?
Yes and no, I am a fan of the pumpkins and even know the current drummer Mike, he is from Oregon, and was in a band Bearcubbin with my bassist Anthony from Liquid Light, but my music is influenced mostly by my life, but its always nice to see that writers and bloggers want to allude to my music and me with the times of a famous band from my childhood.
The production on your self-titled album is excellent. What studio did you use? Any favorite equipment used during the recording process?
The album was done mostly in a garage, for my self titled, just me, Anthony and my producer, and really all the great aspects of the album I owe to those guys, but also some pieces of my own that were used on the album were my LA2A compressor and Neumann mics, both of which I worked through college to purchase for piano and other home recording.
My self titled as well as my upcoming album Invitation were both recorded in Oregon City at a small studio out there, where Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith, the Decembrists, and The Shins have all recoded. so it has a good vibe.
Is there one moment in your life when you knew music was your path? How drove you down this journey?
THIS BOUQUET by ANI DIFRANCO – after listening to that song, I realized I could be a songwriter too, well its a little more complicated then that. It’s happened in waves. I have always felt like high school and college were huge distractions to my songwriting, but also probably lessons, I think having the privilege of the education I have had, gives my songs more compassion and gives me the ability to write compassionately about situations in the world.
Is there one thing you can share with aspiring artists that you wish you knew when you started navigating the music biz?
Don’t waste your time trying to get things for free.
Any awards? Recognition? Other things you want to brag about?
Yeah suck or swag .com listed my song Snake Bite as “Swag” not suck. that was kinda nice.
Where can people find your music?
matthewheller.bandcamp.com // itunes // amazon //
Any last words or shout outs?
Shout outs to Tango Alpha Tango, Liquid Light, Shenandoah Davis and all the other great people who appear on my second album INVITATION out FEB26
