Turning Neon to Wood - Matt Woosey
Charles Paxton February 3rd, 2008
Matt Woosey performing at The Nine StandardsI first saw Matt performing on Mostly Acoustic Cumbria’s stage at The Nine Standards music festival. Impressed by his skillful guitar work and phenomenal vocals, we wanted to interview him then and there, but he had to dash, so I asked him some questions by email instead. Since then we’ve seen him at Cafe No.15 and we’ve heard that 2008 promises to be a good year for Matt. Here’s the juice …The juice: Can you tell us a bit about your background?Matt Woosey: I started musical life as a drummer, playing in a Thin Lizzy tribute band in South Wales called Black Rose. As I got more and more into the guitar I slowly lost interest in the drums and the guitar became my instrument of choice. I had lessons at school but found them to be somewhat of a chore and it wasn’t untill I left school that I really started to develop my passion for playing.
Matt Woosey performing passionately at No.15The juice: What inspires you to do what you do?Matt Woosey: Other musicThe juice: How much impact does music have on your life?Matt Woosey: It’s always there in my head 24 hours a day, I get frustrated if I’m bored and I don’t have a guitar to play. I’m constantly singing to myself and imagining being on a stage.The juice: What music do you currently listen to, and why?Matt Woosey: Soundgarden, Fleetwood mac, Free. These are the bands I have listened to so far today. And why? Because I like them!The juice: Do you have a personal favorite song, could be your own or someone else’s, and why?Matt Woosey: NoThe juice: Who are your musical and non-musical influences? I can hear some Jim Morrison.Matt Woosey: Yes, I love The Doors, (best thing to come out of America!). My first musical love has always been Led Zeppelin. Others include Peter Green (fleetwood mac) Rory Gallagher, Sun House, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Paul Kossoff (free). I could go on and on but these guys are a constant in my musical life. non-musical: Me Dad, (he’s always bloody right!) My Girl.
Portrait of Matt Woosey performing at The Nine StandardsThe juice: How do you describe your music to people?The result of a combination between old school blues artists, a lot of blues since, and Rock and roll, from Buddy holly and Gene Pitney to Canned Heat etc. This combined with my own personal take on life, and experiences in love and the world in general give my music a feel of its own. I would broadly describe my music as covering a large array of acoustic temperaments, but always grounded in the blues in one way or another.
Matt Woosey’s strongly grounded in the BluesThe juice: What image do you think your music conveys?Matt Woosey: An honest portrayal of who I am.The juice: How do you go about writing songs?Matt Woosey: No one way, some songs I’ve written in 5 minutes in my room, others are the result of many different parts coming together over sometimes years. I just like things to come to me rather than search for them so they don’t sound forced or pretentious.The juice: What was your hardest song to write and why?Matt Woosey: Lovin me Aint Easy is completely different to most of my other stuff, and it is brutally honest so it’s kind of an open wound when I play it live.The juice: Can you tell us a bit about the set that you played for us in Cafe No.15? How many songs? Are there any anecdotes associated with any of them?Matt Woosey: I did about 15 songs. No real anecdotes associated with any of them really!
Matt Woosey entertaining at No.15 The juice: Please choose two of your favourite songs. What specific themes do they cover?Matt Woosey: Million Miles is a song about being away from someone who makes you very happy. Neon To Wood (in the city) describes my dislike of living in and/or going out in a city.The juice: Where have you performed live?Matt Woosey: Too many to mention, some of my favourites have been The Clapham Grand, The West Malvern festival and the Pig and Rat, Keele university.The juice: What’s your live show like?Matt Woosey: I put myself 100% into my playing and try to allow the lyrics to come through as much as possible to tell the story. Some say it is pretty intense but I like to think of it as involving for the audience, if you play songs which reside very close to your heart people generally find it captivating to be allowed into somebody else’s life for a while.The juice: How do you rate your live performance ability?Matt Woosey: Getting better with every experience, taking the good and bad from each performance allows me to improve.The juice: What is your best experience as a performer?Matt Woosey: Playing to 4000 people at the west Malvern festival with my old band Taxi.Matt’s vocals are rich, melodic and commanding.The juice: What is your worst experience as a performer?Matt Woosey: Getting too drunk and falling off my stool. (On more than 1 occasion!)The juice: If you could play to anyone, who would you like to have in the audience?Matt Woosey: Rory Gallagher. He is a huge influence on my acoustic playing.Matt playing ‘For You’ at No.15The juice: Have you had any previous print or broadcast media exposure or reviews?Matt Woosey: Yes I have a live session on the BBC website (just search for my name on their homepage)The juice: What are your immediate music career goals?
Matt wants to play to as many people as possibleMatt Woosey: To play to as many people as possible.The juice: And your long-term career goals?Matt Woosey: The same, to play to as many people as possible.The juice: For the latest news?Matt Woosey: Check out my new website www.mattwoosey.co.uk and my new Myspace www.myspace.com/mattwooseyandthestrangerainThe juice: Thank you very much Matt. Here’s wishing you large audiences and a happy and prosperous 2008!
Matt Woosey performing passionately at Nine Standards