Matt Saxton
Rock/folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Saxton lives in East Sussex, UK. In 2015 Google featured Matt’s acoustic guitar song “Seabird” on their homepage bringing him fans and downloads from across the world.
In 2016 Matt released the single “Greeneland” about the author Graham Greene on The Animal Farm record label. February 2018 – Matt released the album “I Wasn’t Looking For Love”. Produced and recorded by Ville and Matt Leppanen at their London studio.
It's only now that I know
Jetzt kommen wir zu Matt Saxton der heute seinen neuen Titel respektive Song "It's only now that I know" auf den Markt wirft. Irgendwann im Leben sollten wir zurückblicken und Erfolge von Fehlern unterscheiden können, falls uns das gelingt sind wir um einiges klüger. Auf der Suche nach Weisheit, die Reise dorthin, quasi ein Brief an das jüngere Ich, die Thematik.
Dieses Thema verpackt der, in East Sussex lebende, Multi-Instrumentalist Matt in seiner gewohnten Umgebung. Sein Terrain Indie Rock, dieses Mal mit einem kräftigen Schuss Folk versehen. Der Mittelpunkt der Sänger und seine Story, ganz im Stile von Neil Young gibt sich der Künstler der Geschichte hin, einerseits mitreißend im Refrain, andererseits nachdenklich durch das Erzählte, das Erlebte. Musikalisch getrieben von Gitarre, Klavier und Orgel setzt Matt Saxton seine Geschichte brillant in Szene und blickt zurück.
He has taken a look back and wrote a noteworthy song for the future or simply Matt Saxton and "It's Only Now That I Know"
Q&A
Matt Saxton is...?
A folk / rock singer / songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in East Sussex UK. I started off (many years ago!) playing the clarinet and piano doing all the grades but soon got into rock and folk music. That was when I taught myself the drums and guitar. I spent many years playing the drums in various bands but I always wanted to write and sing my own songs.
Who inspired you to make music in general?
The main musical inspirations would be The Who, Bowie, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen but of course the overall list is much longer including more recent musicians such as John Grant and inspiration from novelists like Graham Greene, John Updike and Karl Ove Knausgård.
I also have two old musician friends Tom Baxter and Sam Semple who have really inspired me to write and record my own music especially observing how they have done it with their songs.
What's the story behind your latest release "It's only now that I know", respectively what or who was your inspiration?
The song is the title track from my new album which will be released later this year. The message in the song is pretty simple. It is about finding wisdom and the journey we take to try and obtain it.
At some point in our lives we look back at the past and hopefully recognise the mistakes and the successes. It is a kind of letter written from an old timer like me to the kid I once was.
The single cover shows a photo of me in a pram and my older brother holding a gun. A toy gun that is. I would say the song hopefully has a bit of a Neil Young vibe, well that was the style I was going for anyhow, but you decide.
What is your creative process like?
It can be rather slow coming up with the idea for a song but once I have something I want to say I can then get it written down quickly and make a home demo.
I do force myself to play something most days to keep my hand in and more often than not an idea will form, even if it is just music without any lyrics etc. Most of my songs are personal or come from books I love.
When do you say/decide that a song is ready for a release?
I have a very limited budget for recording in a proper studio so I have to plan out everything beforehand and make sure I am happy with the song.
By the time it is mixed and mastered I need to be happy to release it. If I was recording at home I could tweak stuff for ever but that is not how I record.
You've been in the business for a while, what is the most significant change since your first release?
The first three albums and my acoustic guitar single and EP were recorded mainly by myself layering all of the parts in the studio. It therefore took bloody ages to make an album! Luckily the guy who owned the studio cut me a great deal, otherwise it would have been impossible.
The last two albums were recorded with the Producers Ville and Mat Lappanen at their Animal Farm Studio in London. They are brilliant musicians as well as engineers and Producers. They also have excellent recording equipment. We were able to play as a live band and then add other parts where needed. I really love Ville's slide guitar playing on It's Only Now That I Know and of course Mat's drums.
I do though come to the recording sessions with fairly elaborate home demos with a lot of the parts worked out to save time.
The big difference non musically since my first release is of course social media and the amount of PR you now have to do by yourself as an independent artist. It can be a full time job leaving little or no time to actually make any music.
At this moment what would be your "All time Top 3 Songs"?
A hard question!
Animal
It's Only Now That I Know
I Wasn't Looking for Love
What's your most useful talent besides music?
Being a Dad but my kids would need to verify that!Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
Afraid not! It is too long ago and I am sure is was awful! I can hardly remember last week...
What’s next for you?
Releasing one or two more singles and then the album. Making some videos and would love to play the album live at some point in the future.
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