It may be your first instinct to push singer-guitarist Matt White into the same category with artists like James Blunt, but there’s a lot more than simple balladry on his debut record Best Days. Although he never completely enters into the rock genre on the record, he does try out a little bit of everything else – whether that means laying down a funk line or going falsetto.
As a child growing up, Matt learned to appreciate musical diversity thanks to his family, which includes an opera-singing aunt and a grandmother who led an orchestra. Piano was his instrument of choice during those formative years, but that all changed when he was met with a major obstacle: a small entryway. When White couldn’t fit his piano through his dormitory door, he had to think quickly. Rather than give up playing music in his room, he decided to opt for the next suitable choice, the guitar.
It’s exactly that piano-guitar combo that you hear a lot on Best Days, and White is currently taking those sounds on the road for his latest tour. Although White was exhausted from a particular long stretch of touring when he recently chatted with Ultimate Guitar, he said that he was never too tired to write a new song. In fact, don’t be surprised if White heads straight to his guitar after a live show to pen his latest creation.
UG: You’ve been on a touring whirlwind lately to promote the new album. How is it all going?
Matt: Things are going great. We’re in Austin, Texas, right now, which is a great town and fun market. Austin is just a great music town. We played like 10 shows in the last 11 days, so I’m a little tired!
Are you someone who thrives to be on the road?
Yeah. Absolutely.
Just as much as being in the studio or writing?
I like both, definitely.
Gibson guitars released a statement about you that said, “Some folks choose to pick up a guitar and play, while others have the call of the six-string encoded in their DNA.” Do you consider that a pretty accurate statement?
Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. My sister is a violin teacher. My aunt is an opera singer. My little sister played cello 13 years. My dad is an accomplished concert violinist/singer. My grandmother, my mom’s mom, used to be an orchestra leader. She was the first female to step up to that. We’re like the first incarnation of a Partridge Family. We’ve got a lot of classical musicians.
When you were growing up around that musical atmosphere, did you already know that you’d probably be a musician?
Yeah, sort of. They were really like teachers and educators more so than anything professional, although my aunt was a big opera singer in the 80s. I wasn’t sure. I always knew it was something that I would definitely want to do.
I heard that you were a pianist first and only switched to guitar because your piano didn’t fit in your dorm room. How easy was it to make the transition?
If you’re musical, you can kind of navigate it, but it’s definitely different. There were definitely hours and hours and hours every day of practicing. I have no theory in guitar, so I just kind of play how I play. It’s not really a normal way of playing.
Is it true that during your first days performing you were a subway busker for a while?
That’s true. I did that really just to get myself comfortable. I used to take my guitar to the park and just jam with those people and learn different ways. So I really didn’t know what was going to happen from that. I’d go to Washington Square Park. You go and you have a beautiful day, taking your guitar out. It’s like a free and open kind of atmosphere. There are people with styles like country, R&B, and there was a guy who played all the time and he was a studio guitarist who played for Dionne Warwick and all these big artists from the 70s.
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| "I have no theory in guitar, so I just kind of play how I play." |
Was that around the time you started to write the bulk of your song material?
I would say that’s correct. I came up with a lot of that in college. I wrote a quarter of it right after that, and then a quarter of it after I got signed.
You’ve got a wide variety of styles on Best Days, with everything from funk to ballads. Do you have a pretty eclectic taste in music?
Absolutely. I think I’m inspired by whatever I’m listening to. For example, I began to write the harmonic for the song “Wait For Love” when I was really getting into a live recording of “Thunder Road.” So I bought a harmonica on the way over to the studio. I’m definitely influenced by what’s around and what I’m listening to, more classical stuff. I’m referring to classic rock and not classical music.
Who are some of your favorite classic artists?
The Stones, Dylan.
Considering that you’re a fan of bands like The Rolling Stones, could you ever see yourself in a straightforward rock band?
If I was in the 70’s, absolutely! It’s a different thing now.
Do you listen to artists like John Mayer or James Blunt as well?
Absolutely, I love them. I love a lot of Hotel Café stuff. There are artists like Regina Spektor that I like. It’s a wide variety, I think.
Talk about how you originally started writing “Anybody Else,” which is probably the funkiest track on the record. Did that start off with a guitar line?
I wrote it actually on piano. There’s that beginning line and then I put this guitar on it – I think songs just kind of take form. They either take form or they don’t. There are many that have not for recording. There can be something that just makes it happen. It’s like baking a cake. Sometimes you’ll get it almost right, but hey, you’ll try it again. Then you’ll try it again and now it’s overcooked. Now it’s undercooked. Now I didn’t mix it properly. But then by the 7th time, it’s good.
Do you ever nail a track on the first take?
Sometimes, yes. I would say that most of the time you’ll do certain things, and then you overdo it. Then you want to do it over. I think being a musician and a creative person, if you’re not told to stop, you’ll just keep on trying to pursue that perfection.
Would you consider yourself more of a songwriter than a guitarist/vocalist?
Yeah. I would say pianist-songwriter.
So the piano is still your primary instrument.
Yeah. It’s definitely my strong point, but I’m definitely a songwriter first.
Are there more styles that you’re still wanting to try on the next album?
I definitely want to try certain things out. My mind is constantly being inundated with ideas. Sometimes you can kind of get them out, sometimes you can’t.
Going back to your mention of classic rock, would you consider grabbing an electric and trying for a classic rock sound for the next record?
Yeah! Absolutely! I would love to.
Your song “Best Days” has been popping up on not only radio, but on an ABC TV lineup promo as well. What’s it like to hear your song all over the place?
It’s just exciting. It’s definitely great playing those songs and seeing the reaction, seeing what people gravitate to. With TV, that’s the way artists are breaking, more so than radio even now.
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| "Sometimes I'll come offstage and I'll just grab the guitar and write." |
What guitars are you currently using for the stage show?
I usually use a J-200 Gibson, just because Elvis used it. It is the guitar used in “Space Oddity,” and it was in just a lot of things growing up. I always just loved the way it looked. Martins are great, too. It just depends. I think it’s whatever inspires you.
Do you primarily fingerpick?
Yeah, absolutely.
You bring out the harmonic when you play live as well?
Yeah, I do.
How different have your live shows become since “Best Days” has become a little more prominent?
It’s been significant. It’s happened pretty quickly. My band, they’re really amateur players (Laughs). No, no! I’m kidding. We drove the night from New Orleans yesterday, and then I did radio. I did Kiss-FM Dallas this morning and then I did a TV show right after it.
Are you planning on releasing a DVD?
The video just went to VH1, and I have a Secret commercial coming out, with my single being sung in the subway. That comes out before Oct. 31. I’m doing Carson Daly and some other shows. I think I’ll be recording in January, and then we’ll go full speed in January.
Are you still consistently writing while you’re on tour?
Sometimes I’ll come offstage and I’ll just grab the guitar and write. It’s weird. You’ve got to just go for it when it’s there. There are so many times that I get song hooks and ideas in my head, but I forget them.
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