EdgeofaStar.com was privileged to attend the Vienna show on Thursday, and we all agreed it was the best we’d heard Matt. We were thrilled that Liz captured on video every whistle, warble and pluck…even more so, Matt agreed to meet up with us the next night for an exclusive EOS video interview.

Matt arrived right on time and we sat down outside the Jammin Java in café chairs surrounded by flowers. He seemed interested, gracious, and in good humor, despite having been up late the night before and having had a whirlwind day in Washington DC.

The interview went brilliantly, but for one tiny glitch. It didn’t record. Well some of it did but not the “meat” of the interview.

Here’s the part recorded as we were setting up:

At this point, I dove into my list questions.
Needless to say once we discovered the interview hadn’t actually recorded, we were all disappointed that we would not be able to share every nuance of the conversation with you, but to help salvage something, with Matt’s approval I set to transcribing it blog-style.

Since I wasn’t writing during the conversation and I didn’t want to put words in his mouth, Matt reviewed this article prior to publishing so that it’s as close as possible to what was actually said.

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EOS: Hi Matt! Thanks for sitting down with us here at Jammin Java to answer some questions from your fans.

Matt: You’re welcome.

EOS: It’s obvious your career is really more a lifestyle than a job. What appeals to you about being a touring artist?

Matt: Well, I like traveling and singing my own songs. The other day, I heard about a contest that you could win $5000 everyday for the rest of your life and I thought wow, that’s so much better than winning $1 million all at once and then blowing it all. And my wife asked me if I’d won that, would I stop doing what I do and I thought about it for a minute. No. I wouldn’t change a thing.

EOS: We all thought your show last night was incredible…you were just “ON.”
Is there anything you do to prepare for a show? Does it change for the venue, and what, for you, makes it a “good show?”

Matt: Thank you. You know, after my set last night, I felt I’d started a little rough, but I’m glad you really liked it. As for preparation, I don’t really have any rituals other than drink a beer or two…listen to music just to get ready. I guess what makes it a good show is the audience and how they respond.

EOS: Do you think because it was a seated show that made a difference in our experience?

Matt: Yeah, well I think it helps

EOS: Two things you do are distinctive..well to us anyway: the vibrato in your voice and your amazing whistling ability. What do you think makes you unique?

Matt: I just try to be me and hope my songs are recognizable as “Matt Hires” songs. Oh, and the whistling.

EOS: Is there any question you get asked so frequently that you’ve developed a canned response? Any questions you’ve never been asked that you wish you had?

Matt: One question that comes up a lot is about my process for writing and the answer is there isn’t one. Sometimes it’s the lyric, sometimes the melody, and sometimes the chords. As for not being asked yet, I don’t know.

EOS: Guess it’s hard to define a negative.

Matt: right

EOS: What’s coming up for you in the next year?

Matt: Well, for the next little bit I have an EP coming out in August with some new stuff and a newly recorded version of “Honey (Let Me Sing You a Song).” Then in Sept. I start touring with the band.

EOS: And in five years? Where do you see your career?

Matt: I don’t know…playing bigger venues…selling more records… or whatever it is people are buying.

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I want to thank Matt again for doing this. I know he was pressed to get to sound check and we greatly appreciate that he took some of that precious pre-show time for us.

EOS: If there was a Matt Hires bumper sticker, what would it say?

Matt: “Matt Hires is my 3rd favorite musician.”

(Coming Soon to a bumper near you…)

Matt’s a witty guy.

Next week ~ Matt shares some music you might be surprised he owns.

Matt Hires is a good sport.

Subtitles provided due to poor audio quality.

In a recent interview with Mike Ragogna,  Matt answered some burning questions about song meanings and a little bit of everything else. Its a great interview.

MR: I think “You In The End” might be the best track on the album and a potential single as well as a country hit, although your label isn’t really marketing you that way. Lyrics such as “All I am is just a traveler with dirt on my hands, all I have is dust in my pockets and you in the end” and “Summer to Fall, we’re wrapped up in blankets, we’re wrapped up in everything we fear, it’s all what we make it” are simple yet really strong.

MH: I can’t take all the credit for that one. I wrote it with Sara Bareilles, she has that hit “I’m Not Gonna Write You A Love Song.” My producer also produced her album, so he had her come into the studio one day for us to play together and see what would happen. We ended up writing “You In The End,” and she’s a really cool songwriter, I just love the way she writes. Things flow from her in a cool way, very naturally.
“This isn’t the end. We’re just getting started. The road stretches on and on and on, we’re moving again…” – “You In The End”

Read Full Interview Here

Edge of A Star caught up with Matt last night in DC and asked a few burning questions of our own. Coming next Sunday

EOS:

We aren’t sick of “Take Us To The Start” yet – but of course have to ask about your next album. Have you started working on it yet, and what can we expect in terms of new songs?

MATT:

“Well, I’m glad you’re not sick of Take Us To The Start yet, because I haven’t even started recording the next one yet!   I’m definitely working on new songs, though. If you came out to any of the shows on the State Lines tour, you probably heard me play “A to B”, which is a new one…

I’m trying to figure out what I want my next record to sound like. I’m a fan of bands that create each of their records with a sound or feel that is specific to each one, while the heart of the records remains the same or similar. If that makes any sense… In other words, I want to make a record that doesn’t sound the same as Take Us to the Start, while the heart of it still sounds like Matt Hires.”

If you missed Matt performing his new song on tour, here is A to B.

Video courtesy of MissTurkeySue

EOS:

Do you prefer books, or movies?

What  character in a movie or book can you totally identify with?

MATT:

I enjoy both books and movies. I probably watch more movies than I read books, even though I feel like I should read more books than I watch movies.

It’s hard to think of a character that I identify with… Growing up, when my older brother and I would play, I always had to be the sidekick. He would be Batman, and I would have to be Robin. He would be Robin Hood, and I would have to be Little John. So in keeping with this sidekick theme, I would like to say I identify with Han Solo (not really a sidekick, but sort of), but I’m probably more like a Ron Weasley.

Everyone that wants to see Matt dressed up like Han Solo, raise your hands…..

While poking around on Youtube, I stumbled across a video of Matt singing a song I had never heard before called Fire and Dust. When further searches failed to turn up any information about the song, I asked Matt where the song came from, and what happened to it.

Here’s what Matt had to say about Fire and Dust:

“Fire and dust is an original song that I wrote with my producer (Eric Rosse) and a friend of his named Gus Black. Gus is a really interesting and creative artist, and I really enjoyed writing songs with him. We  also wrote A Perfect Day and Out of the Dark together.

I really do like the song a lot. It just didn’t fit in with the collection of songs that I felt were best for the record… It may find its way onto something someday.”

It’s a nice little gem of a song, but don’t take my word for it.