Thanks to On-Airstreaming for a little Christmas gift.

Thanks once again to Matt for taking the time to answer fan questions. Here are the final questions to the 3 part interview. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t already. Hopefully, Matt will take the time to do something like this again some time next year.

Music as a career

When did you KNOW that music was what you wanted?
Submitted by Sara

I guess it was when I was to the point where I thought I was good enough to be able to do it professionally. Looking back, I really wasn’t good enough at that point. It took a little while longer. But after a lot of shows and practicing, it eventually happened.

If you could be something other than a musician, what would it be?
Submitted by Sara

Batman, of course.

Personal questions

Burger or Steak? Wine or Beer?
Submitted by Faith

In-n-Out and Rogue Dead Guy Ale

What kind of tattoo might you be tempted to get, if any? And where?
Submitted by Mary Ann

I’ve been thinking about getting barbed wire around my right bicep. Thoughts?

What did you think about the ending to Lost? If you were stranded with only one LOSTie who would you want with you?

I thought the last season was really good, but I didn’t really like the ending that much. Throughout the whole series, no matter how crazy things got, I kept telling myself that everything was part of some master plan the writers were weaving, and that everything would fit together in the end. It didn’t. I’m mostly just pissed that we never figured out what the big deal was about Walt.

If you could time travel, what time would you like to visit and why?
Submitted by Laurel

I would choose the American west during the latter part of the 19th century, more fondly referred to as “The Wild West”. But only the version from all the movies and TV shows and books and stuff. The real version was probably fairly lame.

What is it about plaid? I mean, what about stripes or solids?
Submitted by Nancy

This cover has a very “Indigo Girls” vibe that works nicely with the song. It’s great to see someone appreciating some of Matt’s newer material!  You can hear more of Melissa’s music on her facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/melissawhelanmusic).

A to B is available on Matt’s latest EP (the link is in the right sidebar).

Last week, we posted the first part of a Q&A with Matt that focused on questions about songwriting. You can read that interview here. In the second part of the Q&A, we asked Matt several questions about performing and about his career as a musician. Thanks to all the people who submitted their questions and to Matt for his responses.

Performing

How did you discover that you could sing well?
Submitted by Olivia

I don’t really know. I guess that once I got up the nerve to start singing in front of people, they reacted well to it, so I figured I didn’t sound that bad.

What makes one concert stand out from others or do they?
Submitted by Amy

They do. There are a lot of factors involved, but it’s mostly the level of attentiveness and positive reaction from the crowd and how I feel about my own performance. The size of the crowd can play a part too, but not necessarily. I’ve had some great shows with small crowds and not so great ones with large crowds.

What’s the best thing about touring? What’s the worst thing about touring?
Submitted by Joan

The best thing about touring is being able to do what I love and share my music with people every night. Being able to travel a lot is pretty good, too. The worst things are being away from home and sometimes keeping a pretty grueling schedule. Also, hotels without free wifi.

Music interests

Who do you go listen to when you go listen to live music?
Submitted by Meg

Since I tour so much, it’s become somewhat rare for me to get the chance to go to shows. When I’m home, I usually try to see Alexander & The Grapes and The Grecian Urns. They’re my favorite local bands from the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. Next week I’m going to see Steel Train, a band I’ve listened to for a long time. The last touring artists that went to see were Needtobreathe and Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers, and I ended up doing a song with The Sixers, so even at that show I sort of “performed”… That was back in March. I really need to try to get to more shows in 2011.

Which current artists influence you? Do you have any current artists faves who are guilty pleasures or would surprise fans?
Submitted by Amy

Some of my current favorites are Band of Horses, The Killers/Brandon Flowers, Dr. Dog, Mumford & Sons, and this band I’ve been listening to recently called Free Energy. The question about “guilty pleasures” comes up in interviews a lot, and I can never seem to think of any artist that I like that I would consider a guilty pleasure. I was actually thinking about this the other day and, while this artist isn’t current, Iron Maiden would definitely be a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, Iron Maiden.

On some of those favorites, you can listen to Matt’s favorite songs from 2010 here. And come back next week for our last group of questions.

If you follow Matt on twitter, you might have seen him comment about some of the music he was listening to throughout the year, from Brandon Flowers to Sufjan Stevens. If you don’t follow him, you need to get on that asap (@matthires). Because Matt has killer taste in music and because I knew he’d introduce me to at least one song or artist, I asked him to send us a list of his top picks from 2010. And he sent a great one, including even more than one song or artist I wasn’t familiar with. Thanks Matt!

Against Me! – Because of the Shame
Alexander & The Grapes – Breathing
Arcade Fire – Ready to Start
Band of Horses – Blue Beard
Boots Factor – Trying to Try
Brandon Flowers – Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas
Brandon Flowers – Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts
Dr. Dog – Shadow People
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes – Home
Free Energy – Dream City
The Grecian Urns – Summer Salt
The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
Jakob Dylan – Everybody’s Hurting
Johnny Cash – Ain’t No Grave
Mumford & Sons – Roll Away Your Stone
Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
Sufjan Stevens – From the Mouth of Gabriel
Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
The Vig – Impatient Man
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Something Good Coming

A little while back, I sollicited questions from fans, via this blog, twitter, facebook, etc. (Yes, yes, it’s taken me forever to finally get this up, apologies… But better late than, never, right?) I appreciate the response and the excellent questions that people sent in. I took these questions and grouped them into broader themes that will be presented in 3 parts. Today, I’m posting Matt’s answers to some great questions about song writing. Check in again next week for Matt’s answers to questions about performing and his musical interests. I want to thank Matt for taking the time to answer these questions so thoughtfully.

Do you think of ideas for songs all of the time or only if you’re “writing”? How do you know if a song is done?
Submitted by Amy

Actually, I probably come up with more ideas while I’m not “writing” but just doing regular stuff. I tend to come up with ideas for songs while I’m doing things like driving and mowing the yard. I used to work in a cabinet shop, and I would sometimes write whole songs in my head while sanding cabinet doors… As far as knowing when a song is finished, it will usually let you know.

What’s your favorite song among your own songs?
Submitted by Schibbie

Well, my favorites among my own songs fall into three categories, favorite songs to play live, favorite recordings, and favorite songs lyrically. My favorite songs to play are Out of the Dark, Pick Me Up, A to B, and State Lines. My favorite recordings are O Sunrise, A to B, and You In the End. Lyrically, my favorite songs are Tangled Web, Turn the Page, and Honey, Let Me Sing You A Song. My all time favorite one was a song called “October” that I wrote about four years ago. I could never get it to work out musically, though. I guess it was just more of a poem than a song.

Do you think of your songs more as story-songs or mood-songs?
Submitted by Rereader

It depends on the song, but I would say most of them are somewhere in between. There’s usually a story in them, but not like a Johnny Cash song, and the lyrics often are used to set a mood, but not like they would be in a lot of Wilco or Beck songs.

You have said that “I Always Lose When I Gamble On You” was inspired by a game of Scrabble. Would you be willing to share that story?
Submitted by Liz

While we were on tour together, I was playing Tyrone Wells in a game of “Words With Friends”, which is basically Scrabble on the iPhone. I kept trying to strategically set myself up for some high scoring words, but Tyrone would always have that one letter that I was hoping he wouldn’t have and beat me to the punch. I texted, “I always lose when I gamble on you.” to him. And it sounded like a good song title to me. I think that’s the only time I’ve ever written a song based on what the title is.

When will we get another new song? Any hints about what you’re currently working on?
Submitted by zip2zap

Well, I’m taking the next month or so off to work on writing some songs for the next record, which I will probably start recording early next year. I’ll have another release before that, but you’ll just have to wait and see.

Watch for parts 2 and 3 in the next few weeks.

Have you been practicing your Matt Hires cover songs in a dark room, alone, when nobody is home to hear you? Or is that just me? Well now’s your chance to show off your skills to the world and possibly get a little recognition from Matt himself. Check out his video at www.matthiresmusic.com for the details. Sounds like fun, right?