EPK
“I’ve been aware of Matty for a while now and have been a fan a long time”-Walter Trout
“I’m, sure everyone will love this. The guy is a picker”-Eric Gales
“I’ve watched as he’s gained in stature to become a major league blues-rocker”-Dave Hole
Matty T Wall
Over the last decade Matty T. Wall has established himself as one of the Australian blues scene’s most unique artists, all the while summoning acclaim from Europe and the US for his dynamic, bold and spirited take on the art itself.
As far as news from the recording studio goes, however, it’s been a while between drinks. Matty has released three studio albums 2016’s Blue Skies, 2018’s Sidewinder and 2019’s Transpacific Blues Vol.1 (the latter featuring collaborations with Dave Hole, Walter Trout, Eric Gales and more). The road ahead looked bright, but the intrusion of COVID 19 in 2020 saw Matty’s gig and touring plans scuppered, as lockdowns were enforced around the world.
The quiet time at home in Perth, however, saw Matty hit a purple patch of songwriting. It was a burst of colours that has resulted in his fourth album, Dust And Dynamite.
“This album sort of came out of nowhere,” he says, still sounding surprised. “The biggest thing would be the time and space that my brain had available for it during COVID and lockdown. There was a lot of time to reflect, and I wasn’t working my butt off thinking about bills to pay and all those sorts of things. Then the riffs started coming, the lyrics started coming, and I wrote about 30 songs in the space of six months. It was just like someone turned a tap on, and it all came out.”
Eleven of those songs have ended up on Dust And Dynamite, with other gems earmarked for future releases, and it seems the energy of that furtive songwriting period transcended into the recording sessions. The result is an album that captures what Matty feels is the inherent guitar style he’s always strived for.
“The core sound I’ve been trying to make ever since I started is somewhere between Metallica and Stevie Ray Vaughan,” he explains. “They’re two of my favourite artists – blues and metal – and that’s what I’ve always been trying to mix together: to create my own thing that still sounds like blues but still appeals to someone who likes metal.
“I’m always trying to create that sound, and on some of my albums I’ve managed to pull it off on a song or two here and there, but on this recording it seems to me that I’ve pulled it off more than on any other recording I’ve done.
“It’s organic, it’s not pre-thought. I love playing blues shuffles, and I love really heavy metal guitar tones. They’re things I love so they’ll come out anyway. It just seems to have matured – the style that I’m naturally leaning towards is starting to mature.”
With lyrics written out and rough demos captured on his iPhone, Matty took the songs into a huge space in a private house alongside his powerhouse rhythm section of Ric Whittle (drums) and Leigh Miller (bass). Whittle’s kit sat in the middle of the room, producing a massive drum sound, and over a fortnight the band laid down all of Matty’s new material, with the songs that sang to and with each other now residing on what is an epic new release.
Meanwhile, Matty is singing better than ever, with more howl and grit than before. “It’s less generic, less polished,” he says. “It’s more me.
“When you’re younger you want to be as good as all these other people. The older you get, you just want to sound like you. It took me a few years to get the confidence to embrace my own sound. I’m never going to have someone else’s voice. I’ve got Matty’s voice, and I’m happy with it.”
For the first time, Matty also handles all the backing vocals himself rather than using a female vocalist as he did on his earlier releases. “I decided that if this is going to be my album, I should really be courageous,” he explains. “I’m not the best at harmonies, so I had to work on that quite a bit to nail them.”
From the stillness of lockdown to what marks the realisation of his core sound, Dust And Dynamite stands out not only as Matty T. Wall’s most powerful artistic statement, but a blues-storming good time to boot. The train ride continues…
MORE ABOUT MATTY T. WALL
A guitar player in the great blues tradition powered by his own metal roots, Matty T. Wall has walked a unique path both nationally and internationally over the last decade, notching eight nominations in the prestigious US Independent Blues Awards, and a WAM (Western Australian Music) Award for ‘Best Blues/Roots Act’ in 2021.
Joe Bonamassa included him in his ‘Cutting Edge Blues – Best Of 2019’ Spotify playlist, and Matty boasts three back-to-back #1 Australian Blues albums – 2016’s Blue Skies, 2018’s Sidewinder and 2019’s Transpacific Blues Vol.1.
Released internationally via Memphis label Select-O-Hits and by Only Blues Music in Australia, Transpacific Blues Vol.1 featured collaborations on classics with blues guitar greats Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Kid Ramos, Kirk Fletcher and fellow West Australian, Dave Hole.
“I’ve watched as he’s gained in stature to become a major league blues-rocker,” Dave Hole said of Matty.
“I’ve been aware of Matty for a while now and have been a fan for a long time,” echoed Walter Trout.
“I’m sure everyone will love this,” Eric Gales stated. “The guy is a picker.”
Matty also released a live album/DVD, Live Down Underground, in 2021.
2027 brings Matty’s first album of new, original songs since 2018. It’s been a while coming, but it’s a whale of a time. Preceded by the first single, Tornado Of Love on October 26, Matty’s fourth studio LP, Dust And Dynamite, is set for release in March.
“Matty T Wall, an extraordinary blues-rock guitar player, singer, songwriter. Echoes & elements of rock from the 60’s, but Wall’s voice hurls it into the 21stcentury, his dazzling guitar licks and solos not of this world. Wall is entitled to a little swagger—he has the chops to pull it off. Extraordinary guitar player. Jazz flavors, soul. Gritty blues-rock, rock & roll, with outstanding musicianship.” -Martine Ehrenclou, Rock and Blues Muse, Los Angeles USA, Sept 2018
“infectious exuberance for, and an extraordinary command of, his instrument… the prodigiously talented Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist takes the listener on a 12-song musical journey that runs through an impressive array of sounds and styles…. Matty T. Wall Turns In a Six-String Gem” – Guitar World Magazine, International (July 18, 2018)
“Aptly titled[Sidewinder] by the young ax-weilder, the track is no more and no less than a warning for those who might try and stand in Wall’s way. Guitar fans: Stick around for the solo at 2:55. No seriously…stick around…One last shameless plug: Let’s support this kid and bring him to the states so he can make some noise over here! WHOSE LOVECHILD…?
MichaelHutchence meets GaryClarkJr…
OR,
Van Halen meets Chuck Berry…” – TheArkOfMusic (Jul 2018)
“The bones of Sidewinder are pure electric blues, and the duo of “Shake It” and “Going Down” pretty much sum up why critics – including myself – are calling Wall the Eric Clapton of his generation. I haven’t heard another guitarist with as much relaxed composure in the studio in years, maybe even decades, as Matty T Wall displays in this record, and that’s a big part of the reason why I think rock music has been suffering so much in the 2010s. Even in slower songs like “Ain’t That the Truth,” it’s Wall’s guitar that steals away the spotlight from everything and everyone else in the track.” – Loren Sperry, MusicExistence USA
“Matty T Wall is playing the types of music he loves while simultaneously being creative with such a familiar bunch of genres. It’s all pretty fresh sounding stuff; in that it doesn’t really sound like anything I’ve heard at least in the past couple of years, but you can still clearly hear where Wall is pulling inspirations from. He’s making some really cool music and I can only hope he will get some more exposure across the pond, in the world’s biggest Blues and Blues-Rock loving nation; the U.S.A.” – BluesRockReview (Jul 16, 2018)
” Australian-born guitarist Matty T. Wall proves the blues is alive and well Down Under….Infectious chops and a swagger that’s soulful enough to rival that of any blues-fueled, American shredder…an album that’s bound to leave a big smile on your face.” – Guitar World Magazine, International (May 10, 2016)
COOL STUFF……
7 times nominated in the International Independent Blues Awards
Winner Western Australian Music Awards 2020 for Best Blues/Roots Act. 9 times nominated for WAM awards (most popular act, most popular live act etc.)
#1 USA/RMR Blues subgenre chart for Blues Albums airplay in USA (July, 2016)
#1 USA/RMR Australian Blues Rock Album airplay in USA (September, 2018)
#1 USA/RMR Australian Blues Rock Album airplay in USA (December, 2019)
#1 iTunes Australia Blues and Roots Albums Chart – Blue Skies Album (May, 2016)
#1 Australian Blues and Roots Airplay Chart – Blue Skies Album (May, 2016)
#1 Australian Blues and Roots Airplay Chart – Sidewinder Album (July, 2018)
#1 Australian Blues and Roots Airplay Chart – Transpacific Blues Vol.1 (November and December 2019)
#1 French Blues Airplay Charts (November 2019)
Guest columnist in one of the biggest European Blues Magazines, Blues Matters (2019)
Special guest Australian guitarist on 7mate’s “Guitar Gods TV” on at least 4 episodes (2018 & 2019)
nominated as Best Blues Album 15th Annual Independent Music Awards (international)
nominated as Best Blues/Roots Act Western Australian Music Awards 2016 & 2017
nominated as Most Popular Live Act Western Australian Music Awards 2018
“Broken Heart Tattoo” awarded as Best Original Song 2017 – Kool Breeze Blues Radio – USA (international judging)
“Walk Out The Door” & “Sophia’s Strut” semi-finalists in the International Songwriting Competition 2018
Charted on the Netherlands Top 100 Pop charts with 5 separate singles.
Played: Blues On Broadbeach, Melbourne International Guitar Show, Bendigo Blues & Roots Festival, Blues At Bridgetown, Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival, Blues Mountains Music Festival, Marysville Jazz & Blues Festival, Mitchell Creek Rock & Blues Festival (upcoming), WAMFest, Boddington Music Festival, Beaufort St Festival and many others.
BOOKINGS HERE: Cole Bishop – colebishop51@hotmail.com
Contact Matty Here:
https://www.facebook.com/mattytwall