U&U INTERVIEW :: Matthew Heller
Matthew Heller is a rock n’ roller with a sound that invokes the past and ignites the future. If you are a fan of DIY, good old fashioned indie rock music then this is a band you can’t afford to pass by. Matthew was kind enough to answer some questions for us. Check it out:
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What kind of ray gun would you most like to have? Freeze ray? Death Ray? A Ray Romano gun?
I think I’d prefer to use a freeze-ray. Tobin Sprout from Guided by Voices did the album artwork of different rayguns, and I like the look of the atomic raygun, but I just didn’t write the song about a raygun that kills people, more like a raygun that makes people, heh, but I like the freeze-ray because it only freezes people for a little bit, I don’t like the idea of lazer ray guns that kill people.
Just getting this out there, whoever named your label Heller High Water is a damn genius! Was that you? Tell us about it.
I have always been a huge Ani DiFranco fan, her record label Righteous Babe Records, was started from the ground up on her own, she has put out some of the best known records by artists like Dan Bern, Bitch& Animal and Andrew Bird. Her folk career is a tribute to American life, and her record label is an important American institution. I always wanted to have a record label like hers that did just what I wanted, that’s what Heller High Water is, I’m saying, “…come hell or high water, your record, my record and our careers as songwriters will become a reality.”
Your sound is rock n roll’, your approach seems punk, and your riffs are bluesy. Describe your sound without using any genre titles.
Townes Van Zandt once did a short session with Steve Jay Shelley, from Sonic Youth, the session itself didn’t work out to well, but I like to imagine our “sound” coming somewhere from the aurora of the friendship built between these two musical people and styles.
If you could battle any super villain (or hero), who would it be?
Is your backing band a full time set up or do the members rotate?
It’s pretty much a full time set up, but they also play in other bands, such as TigerFace and Liquid Light, two really rad Portland Bands that I love very much. My band-mates are like family, I love them.
Would your 14 year old self like the music you make now? What kind of music did listen to when you were growing up?
There are a lot of songs I listened to when I was 14, which I did not understand fully. I think if I was 14 I would like some songs, and not understand others, when I was 14 I loved Ani DiFranco, John Lennon, The Cure, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash, The Pretenders, and Dada. Also, when I was 14, I was listening to CDs, more than music on the internet, because music on the internet was more difficult to find, so chances are, if 14 year old me, had a step-parent with one of my CDs in it, then I would probably like my music.
Name an artist that your fans wouldn’t expect you to like.
Beyonce. She’s just a magnificent performer, no one can argue with that.
It’s good to have goals. What is one of your musical or life goals? (Play on the moon, stop a burglar with a guitar, etc.)
I’m looking forward to our festival run, and also to playing large concert halls.
What can your fans expect from you this summer and fall?
Piano version of Raygun! And also the whole EP will be out before the summer is up including lots of awesome new videos and songs.
Anything else you want your fans to know?
You can keep up to date on the EP at HELLEREP.com
Also keep up with the band and our tour at Hellermusic.com
