Matthew Barber is back in Australia for only his second visit, and his first to the west coast. He sits down with The AU Review before his first showcase at the One Movement Festival to have a chat about his music, his influences and much more.
Welcome to Australia! Is this your first time here?
Second time actually, first time in WA
Any fun stories from last time?
All kinds really, it was all fun, going to the beach everywhere, celebrating Christmas day on the beach, and celebrating Christmas Eve by having a street party outside with all these people – pretty wild coming from Canada. There, Christmas is a very indoors
kinda thing, huddled ’round the fireplace, so that was a wild experience. Also played the Woodridge Festival, which was pretty cool. Mostly couldn’t believe how hot it was, spent a lot of my time staggering around looking for shade.
You have played a couple of shows already this tour, how have they been for you?
Yeah, it’s been good, been great. Doing shows with Angie Hart and she’s great really cool to work with. We are singing a duet together at the end of night which is pretty great, I sing the part Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy plays on the album, and it’s a really cool song. But it’s been good, though it’s just been NSW so far.
How would you describe your brand of music?
Um, I don’t know, that’s always a tough thing to do, no one really wants to put their music into a category. Generally speaking, I am a Singer-Songwriter, who really loves the tradition of kinda rock ‘n’ roll and folk singer-songwriters. You know those that have a story to tell, the older music… I have a lot of older influences, that kinda general feel, you know.
Who do you consider to be your main influences?
Well, you know a lot of big names, like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, that kind of thing, and then Tom Waits, and some newer bands like Wilco, a lot of Canadian bands that you might not know too much about. Yeah, I don’t know, I could go on and on I guess.
What was the inspiration or the story behind your latest album?
I wanted to make an overall positive album like that, and I think it is. Some of the songs are about love, some of the songs are about, you know, how I perceive the world around me. It’s a personal album, most of my songs are, they are about me at this point at my life, how I see myself in this world, and trying to comment a little on the things that affect my own everyday life.
What has been your greatest or most favourite moment in music so far?
Wow, that’s a hard question. I don’t know. I have played lots of great shows. Opening for Chris Issac was pretty cool though, I got to open for him in all these great arenas. I don’t know. I got to master one of my albums, at this studio. A mastering studio that I would have never thought of going to. But my record label at the time was able to pay for it.
He had tons of stories, a letter on the wall from John Lennon to him, thanking him for mastering his album for him. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with achievements, but it was definitely one of those moments.
Are you familiar with any of the other bands on the bill tonight?
No, I mean, I have never played with any of them before. I definitely know The Trews. I am not too sure who is playing. Elliott Brood, I definitely know them, I have played a couple of shows with them before, they’re great. Final Flash I don’t know, I just met them in Sydney a couple of days ago. Colin Moore, I have heard his name before, but never met him. JP Hoe I don’t know at all. Don’t know anything.
Are you going to be going to the festival as well?
We were just talking about that actually, maybe if we can get passes.
Anyone you would be looking forward to seeing?
Don’t even know who is playing, to be honest.
There seems to be real demand or recognition of Canadian music at the moment, what do you put that down to?
Well, they are all good really. I mean, I don’t know. There are a lot of bands; a lot of people play music up in Canada. I think it’s a part of our culture, I mean, I am sure it is in Australia too. When I grew up, I knew a lot of people who were playing in bands, or wanted to play in bands, you know. If enough people do it, some good ones are bound to come out eventually.
What do you make of the whole One Movement set up?
I don’t know much about it in particular. But I’m really happy to be here. I am glad it worked out for a chance for me to come to Western Australia and play, so you know, that’s great.
I don’t know too much about how the conference works, but I have played a few other
things similar to this in different places, I think they are good, a good way for a lot of the people to meet one another, maybe more so for the delegates than the bands that are playing. Except for the people that are playing the big festival, they get to play to lots of fans. I don’t know, a focus on live music can never be a bad thing.
What are your plans for the future? Touring? Recording? Holiday?
I feel like I am kinda on a bit of a holiday now, even though I am touring, can’t really be wishing for more holiday. Well, I am free when I get back to Canada, I only have a few shows in November, so I am going to take a big chunk of that time to record and work on an album. I am coming back to Australia though, around Christmas time again, to play a few festivals and a couple of other shows.
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