 |
guitarist, songwriter |
 |
|
|||
 |
||||
Matt Backer was born in New Orleans in a log cabin he helped build. He has lived in Mexico, Venezuela, Belgium, the Caribbean, and Leamington Spa. He is a waste of a good education, residing in London with his wife and two children.
I promptly hared back to the UK to start the Steel City Tour with ABC, where we shared the bill with Heaven 17 and The Human League. Great shows, great bands, great company. Demand for shows at Glasgow, Manchester and Hammersmith Apollos (although it will always be the Odeon to me) were so great that they had to take the seats out, and the arena shows stayed rocking and vibey. A fitting seasonal celebration. Short family holidays in the UK and US (I just can't seem to keep away from those airplanes) were followed by filming Series 3 of "Lyrics" in January (nice to be working early in the year) and a chance to nip into the studio to work on some more of my new songs. But "The Impulse Man" refuses to die. At the time of writing, "Oh No Don't Cry", fifth track to be lifted off the album (do we still call them singles?) is number 3 most added on the NMW Top 40 chart and number 1 most added on the AC chart whilst entering the Hot 100 chart with such noble company as Katy Perry, Kid Rock and The Killers, amongst many other household names. Additionally, "Jump" the last 'single' is at number 3 in the AC/Hot AC recurrents, which means that radio still plays it. BMI featured "One Good Reason" on their most recent podcast, so it looks like I'm still out there. I'll have to arrange some gigs, if I can find the time! Which brings me to some interesting news. ABC will perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April 8th, accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anne Dudley. We'll be playing the entire "Lexicon Of Love", as well as some other songs you may know and love, so it should be a very special night. Following that, we have some Irish dates, and look to be returning to the US and Canada during June and July as part of another Regeneration Tour. Added to that, there's interesting new material from Noah Francis and Julian Lennon to which I've contributed due out imminently, and some possible live performances from both those artists. So, at least I'll be too busy to notice economic chaos descending on all and sundry! Matt |
| Last year... |
| Shock! Bewilderment mixed with delight! I've received four nominations for the 2008 New Music awards (for more information go to Newmusicawards.com or newmusicweekly.com). I'll be heading to Hollywood's famed Avalon Theatre on November 22nd, and anyone reading this who feels inclined to visit the aforementioned websites and to vote for me in the AC, AC Male, AC Single Of The Year (for "The Man Who Stole My Life") and Crossover Artist Of The Year sections can feel duly encouraged to do so. I write this on a southbound train from Manchester, a town I've always liked but never get to see enough. This visit has been no exception, as I've hovered between hotel and Granada Television studios, home of "Coronation Street", the immortal UK soap. A grueling yet pleasant four days of shooting has yielded the bulk of series 2 of the UK "Don't Forget The Lyrics". Six weeks of music rehearsals,( interspersed with ABC and Mari Wilson gigs) provided a brief introduction to some six hundred pieces of English Language popular music in every genre conceivable from the last 58 years. Any of these songs can reappear at short notice, which means a bandstand atmosphere vacillating between high alert and sheer panic. It isn't, however, boring. A couple of lucky winners have already scooped prizes of £125,000, which shows that people with an inordinate interest in Karaoke may now be more bankable than hedge fund managers. Let us not forget the continuing presence in our lives not just of "The Impulse Man", but of Mari Wilson's "Emotional Glamour" (which has been played lots on the good old BBC) and ABC's "Traffic", albums (yes, I still call them that) of quality and distinction. All are currently available and make ideal seasonal gifts. Songs from "Traffic" will be featured on the Steel City Tour, which will feature ABC, Heaven 17 and The Human League all over the UK from November 30. Matt |
| Having escaped the ravages of Hurricane Gustav on America's Gulf Coast, I have returned home to find flooding and chaos at home. Seems Mother Nature will smack your bottom wherever you go. The Regeneration Tour 2008 was enormous fun and a great success. We hit a number legendary venues including the Gibson Amphitheatre in LA, Pine Knob in Detroit, Jones Beach Amphitheatre and Chastain Park in Atlanta among others. I got to play with Belinda Carlisle as well as ABC with a cracking band that included my old muckers Lance Morrison on bass, Lily Gonzales on vocals and percussion and Steve Kelly on keyboards. New friends included Anthony Clark on keyboards and vocals and the groovy Pete Maloney on drums. An old friend who I got to play with for the first time was James Nisbet on guitar and vocals. A truly world class band with some of the best London and LA has to offer, in my humble opinion. Thanks to Naked Eyes, A Flock of Seagulls, The Human League and, of course, Josh The Nosh. Whilst traipsing across the US I saw a favourable review of The Impulse Man in ""Vintage Guitar" magazine and found out that, at the time of writing, "Jump", off the aforementioned album, is climbing the AC and Hot AC charts in the US. Just a little time to catch my breath before commencing a new series of "Don't Forget The Lyrics" in the UK. Phew... Matt |
| What a mad few months! No sooner had I finished the "Here And Now" tour with ABC than I found myself in the studio with my erstwhile colleague Ian Shaw finishing off some tracks for my Difficult Third Album. Ian has a spiffing new location in North London. I wish I could spend more time there. Ten tracks in - just have to do a final cull to see how all the material stands up and then tidy up a bit. Also did some recording with Stephanie Grace as well as contributing to the glamourous Mari Wilson's forthcoming album after performing at the Glasgow Jazz festival with her. I regret that I'll be unable to be at Retrofest with her at the end of August, but I'm looking forward to touring the UK with her in October. I write this from Tulsa Airport. I've been over this side of the pond for a few weeks doing the Regeneration Tour and have had the pleasure of playing both with ABC and Belinda Carlisle on a package which includes The Human League and a host of other bands like Naked Eyes and A Flock of Seagulls. Gigs have gone down great. En route to San Francisco to do a solo ABC gig before jumping back on the Regeneration bandwagon. Oh...I nearly forgot. "Jump" (co-written with the magnificent Suzanne Rhatigan) will be the fourth single from "The Impulse Man", impacting at American radio now, as they say. Itr's going to be hard to follow the number one position that "The Man Who Stole My Life" held, but it's worth a try! They're calling my flight so, as they say, better fly! Matt |
| Check out the new video! Imagine David Lynch and Gerry Anderson working on their ideal film noir. That was the theory... well, Marcus Thompson, the director, Roger the cinematographer, Amanda the costume designer and I all just decided to have fun. Thanks to Ashley for being the femme fatale, and the fabulous band who consisted of Hannah Vasanth on keyboards, Adam Evans on guitar, Troy Miller on drums and Jess Bailey on bass. Yes, they're my "Lyrics" cohorts, and they're also in your record collection, though you might not know it. They are absolute top drawer musicians, and they were kind enough to come out for my vid. How lucky am I? Thanks to John Kaufman and John Speer for all their help as well as the redoubtable Harriet Lester. At around the same time we were working on that, I was also all around the UK on an arena tour with ABC. Hello Wembley! How rock & roll is that? We'll be in the US in August. I'll post more details as soon as I get them. Just got back from New York, where Noah Francis (google him) was cutting some tracks with Shaheem and Prodigal Sun from the Wu Tang Clan. Choco was handling the beats, and I was thrilled to be involved. Wait 'til September and hang on to your hats! Big shout out to Top Of The Building, Maricela, cesar and Supreme too. They were all exemplary hosts. There. That's keeping things a little more up to date, isn't it? I hope?? Let's see if I can do better... Matt |
| Every year I say I'm going to update my website more frequently. Every year I also say I'm going to spend more time in the gym. I am clearly a failure on both counts. 07 ended with some Italian gigs with Sarah Jane Morris, It was lovely to play with her again. On one occasion, we turned up for soundcheck in a beautiful baroque theatre near Ascoli Piceno following a two hour drive from the airport in Ancona to find no equipment waiting for us. I hadn't played with Sarah for some time, and there was new material we hadn't rehearsed. The line up consisted of two guitars, bass and drums. I had never played with Dominic Miller, the other guitarist, and had brought a new Italia Mondial, an instrument I hadn't had a chance to check out. Faced with these daunting obstacles, we decided to conform with local tradition and repair to an early dinner which, needless to say, was utterly delicious. Upon our return to the venue, we found that a drum kit and some amplifiers had been sourced and we set them up hastily while the audience waited in the foyer. Guided by Henry Thomas on bass and Martyn Barker on drums, I proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the performance which was a testament to the joys of spontaneity. Sarah was the usual tour de force and the audience was warm and appreciative. Perhaps it was the truffles. The new guitar worked well too. A hastily arranged solo performance at the 12 Bar club became a duet when Chuck Sabo, someone else I hadn't seen in years, turned up in the audience. Without prior arrangement or rehearsal (of course), he clambered behind a drum kit that one of the other bands had left on stage and proceeded to turn us into The White Stripes. Then, as mysteriously as he'd arrived, he vanished into the night. Prior to the Christmas Holidays, I'd popped into Ian Shaw's swish new studio in North London and vowed to top up the ten tracks I'd recorded and have a new album for a new year. Alas, it wasn't to be that simple. Returning from a family break in Arizona and California (my carbon footprint is a size 12, if anyone is interested), I found myself in a situation vastly different to the improvisational escapades described in the preceding paragraphs, but no less enjoyable. Legendary man about town Graeme Perkins and musical director Jess Bailey had kindly thought to rope me into a UK television production which had been a hit in the US and other parts of the globe. "Don't Forget The Lyrics" is a karaoke game show in which the aforementioned verbal discrepancies have to be addressed for suitable remuneration. That's right. Missing words for cash. 301 songs were rehearsed in a very intensive three week period punctuated by show recordings. The band, consisting of Adam Evans on guitar, Hannah Vasanth sharing keyboards with Jess, Marcus Cliffe on bass (who I'd only seen once since we'd backed an impromptu trio consisting of Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and Daniel Lanois on "Later Wih Jools Holland") and Kim Chandler on vocals became united in battle conditions. Our only breaks were when Troy Miller, our drummer, had to play the Brits and the Grammies with Amy Winehouse. Smarty pants. The end result was much more challenging and much more enjoyable then I ever would have anticipated. Filming as live in front of an audience, we didn't know which song we would be playing until a contestant chose, at which point we'd have to race to get our music out, on the stands, and choose our sounds (and instruments, in Adam's, Marcus; and my case) and be ready to go. Any musical problems anyone may have had are protected by the Official Secrets Act. At the time of writing the show is due to be broadcast on Sky 1 in the UK in May. A trailer is available on YouTube, but I don't have the precise details at present. I then decamped to LA for some meetings and, as usual, had insufficient time to say "hi' to all the good people affiliated with the Independent Music Network and all the folk who refuse to let "The Impulse Man" die. The third single (available for download from all good computers) "The Man Who Stole My Life" is climbing various US airplay charts, and I need to do something about that. There are plans afoot to do some gigs in the US this summer which, if a posited ABC summer tour goes ahead, might tie in nicely. Which almost brings us up to date. Upon return to London I popped into Steve Brown's (fans of Alan Partridge may remember him as Glenn Ponder) studio where he allowed me to make some noises with an intriguing new artist he is producing called Rumer. And when I've finished writing this, I'll drive to beautiful Putney and rehearse with Carol Decker, Bananarama, Steve Strange, Go West, Tony Hadley and, of course, ABC for a jaunt to France where we'll be performing live and shooting a DVD. We're not flying and not using Terminal 5, so there's just a chance we may be able to make it... Matt |
 |
Free ! The complete Golden Boy track (2.6 Mo) is here ! |
| home page | credits | press | gallery | links | contact |