Matty T Wall will release his new album, 'Sidewinder', in early July. The release will be followed by an Australian tour.
The Perth blues musician's first album, 'Blue Skies', went #1 on the iTunes Blues chart. Matt hopes his latest album will be just as successful. “This album is a big step up from the last one,” Matt says.
“Having [Grammy-winning producer-engineer] Bob Clearmountain onboard with this is a big thing for me.
“It's a whole lot more high energy than the last one. There's a lot of punch to it. There's a lot of my metal influences going on in this one, so it's a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing how people react to it.
“I wanted this to be more aggressive, more of a punch and have the guitar sounds that I was chasing. I've been on a bit of a journey with guitars and amps over the last couple of years, just trying to dial in different sounds. This album really helped with that,” Matt says.
When it comes to writing songs, Matt explains he usually begins with the basics. “I'll come up with a guitar riff – I always start writing songs with a guitar riff. And then I put a few together, try on some lyrics and then we start playing them live and they morph into different things. A lot of these songs came about like that.
“There's actually three songs in this album that didn't make it to the last album. We had to go back and re-write them and make them a little bit different to make them work. They turned out really well.”
Matty T Wall will set off on his album tour in early July, beginning in Western Australia before visiting the east cost of Australia. “I'm always keen to get out on tour. Being in Perth, it's just a very small place. It's always fun going over to the east coast and touring. You meet new people, [see] new places. I enjoy every tour for the same reason.”
Matt describes his shows and the band to be “a lot more dialled in”.
“I've been working on my vocals a little bit, so you'll expect them to be in a different place now. We are getting more professional. We are getting better at performing.
“Sometimes people are just there to come and watch. I play a lot of stuff on the guitar. The bass player is incredible [and] the drummer is incredible, so a lot of people just come to watch the musicianship. Hopefully by the end of it we have everyone rocking out,” Matt says.
In terms of music off the new album, Matt says he is eager to perform the title track, 'Sidewinder'. “[The song] was inspired by listening to Van Halen, but it's come out sounding a bit like AC/DC. AC/DC is Australian and Van Halen isn't, so there must be some sort of oriental influence in there somewhere.
"That's more rock than I usually do, but I'm looking forward to that one.”
'Sidewinder' is released 2 July.
Matty T Wall Tour Dates
Tue 3 Jul - The Perth Blues Club (Perth)7-8 Jul - The Ellington Jazz Club (Perth)
Thu 12 Jul - The Old Museum (Brisbane)
Fri 13 Jul - The Beach Hotel (Byron Bay)
Sat 14 Jul - The Sly Fox (Sydney)
Sun 15 Jul - Stag & Hunter (Newcastle)
Fri 20 Jul - Pistol Pete's Food And Blues (Geelong)
Sat 21 Jul - The Catfish (Melbourne)
Sun 22 Jul - Way Out West Roots Music Club (Melbourne)
Fri 27 Jul - Echuca Winter Blues Festival
Fri 10 Aug - The Ellington Jazz Club (Perth)
Sat 18 Aug - Settlers Tavern (Margaret River)
Sun 19 Aug - Settlers Tavern (Margaret River)
