Brisbane-based multi-instrumentalist, music auteur and composer, Matt Hsu and his Obscure Orchestra are back with the charming yet kooky song 'Eat The World'.
Known for his political activism and championing social causes with his music, 'Eat The World' is a change of pace for Matt as he showcases a cheekier, more whimsical side to his craft – his love of eating, particularly fried foods as well as ramen.Collecting a range of different sounds accumulated from found objects, orchestral scale and world instruments that's mixed together with a DIY punk ethos, 'Eat The World' is an otherworldly musical love letter to the joy of eating.
Add the 22-voice choir of Obscure Orchestra voices and 'Eat The World' has a strong Polyphonic Spree vibe to it.
"The creation story of this song is actually so silly," Matt says, who earlier this year won his second Queensland Music Award.
"People who know me, know that I'm obsessed with food, I love eating, so much so that this time last year, I ate myself to a dangerously fatty liver.
"My doctor was like 'you literally have the liver of a very old, very unhealthy man'. During an ultrasound, the technicians couldn't actually see my liver because it was camouflaged by the fat.
"All that was purely from going too hard on ramen, fried chicken and potato chips almost every day.
"So she put me on a diet of healthy food, strictly no fried stuff, and during that time I got massive craving for crunchy fried anything, but I stayed strong. But the cravings though, expressed themselves in different ways, like through this song."
The accompanying music video for 'Eat The World' was directed by Matt and features him indulging in the ultimate foodies cheat day (eating all his favourite foods) while sharing meals with the likes of Jaguar Jonze, Quan from Regurgitator and Sachém.
scenestr is stoked to premiere the 'Eat The World' music video today. Enjoy.
"For the chorus, in 10 minutes before a rehearsal with my orchestra, the 22 people who make up Obscure Orchestra as a live ensemble, I got everyone together to sing the chorus, the 'I want to eat...' and 'so hungry...' harmony parts," adds Matt.
"Then a few weeks later, I happened to be shooting a big group photo of the Orchestra, and while we were at, got them to pretend to be zombies singing the chorus for the music video."
When came time to recreate the sounds of his 'yearnings', Matt got creative.
"To express my yearning for delicious food, I kinda leaned into the found object, field recording approach I've used for composing in the past, and used the sound of chip munching, bowls and plates, and noodle eating, as percussion – and then while cleaning our sharehouse, I had the idea to use a vacuum cleaner sound to suggest the feeling of hoovering up food.
"Filming of the verses involved the biggest two cheat days of my life, having all the food I haven't been allowed to have. It was decadent and it's been hard to go back.
"In the music video, you not only get to see my orchestra members, but you'll also spot Jaguar Jonze, Quan from Regurgitator, Sachém, and video game maker Sophie Reid-Singer having eats with me for a food interview sieges I have at 4ZZZ."
The song also finds Matt biting into new areas of creation, using his own singing voice.
"I don't typically sing in my own songs, I like collaborating with vocalists and giving those moments to my incredible Obscure Orchestra singers, Saro Roro, Lucie Pegna and Kaya Tominaga. But my hunger cravings are very specific to me, so kinda had to commit to using my untrained voice and just go for it. It was fun!"
