Already having two releases through Atlantic Records imprint F-Stop Records, songs featured on a handful of major network programs, and a nation wide tour under his belt since 2008, twenty-three year old Tampa native Matt Hires has done nothing but continue to see success in the last year. More recently the singer/songwriter has been featured in the soundtrack to the upcoming film When In Rome, and embarked on nationwide tour number two, this time headlining the six weeks of dates.
As he stopped by Chicago at Schuba’s Tavern Thursday night, playing with Jason Castro and Caitlin Crosby, Reviewsic had a chance to sit down with Matt and talk shop.
Raised in a musical household with a drumming Dad, Matt Hires got his start in music early on, with parents encouraging both he and his brother to pursue music in the form of piano-which, as kids tend to do, Matt rebelled against until he came to his senses around the age of 12. It was then that he took up bass guitar, and around 16 he made the self-taught switch to six-string and began writing his own music. Though the local music scene in Tampa had a tendency to feel a little hard to get things going in, being mostly dominated by punk and hardcore bands, Hires did begin fronting Florida band Brer around 19, often playing with local favorites such as Mike Dunn, Baron Von Bear and Alexander and the Grapes.
Eventually Brer turned out to be the catalyst for his solo career, when reps from Atlantic came across Hires music on myspace. From there an email that changed everything was sent, and soon enough Matt was in L.A. striking a record deal. It was there that he met producer Eric Rosse (Tori Amos, Sarah Bareilles, Lisa Marie Presley), and in whom he was fortunate enough to find not only creative credentials, but musical fusion. The two hit it off, and began putting together Matt’s full-length Take Us To The Start, which was released in June of 2009, preceded by the four song EP Live At The Hotel Café in 08.
The album features songs from the collection Hires has be corralling over the years, as well as a few collaborations with such people as Gus Black and Sarah Bareilles. “The whole co-writing thing was kind of hard for me to get used to at first, because my song writing process before was a very personal thing, just by myself, in my room, and it was hard to get used to opening up that thing to somebody else. But it was really cool to work with these folks- I feel like I learned a lot.” (Matt Hires)
Influenced by such greats as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Wilco, as well as Hank Williams, Ryan Adams, and Tom Petty, Hires has a sound that casually follows the trail left by these musicians, blending a style of alternative country taste, pop format, and the folksy wherewithal to set him apart. Adding to his sound is the return of a full band for the current tour, after having spent some time playing alone. Hires is joined by drummer Bob Matthews, bassist Aaron Bishop, and guitarist Mike Kopulos, who he met in the last year while playing with the likes Tyrone Wells and Kate Voegele. “They were off for these months, so I asked if they wanted to come on the road with me and it’s worked out. They’re all really awesome guys, fun to play with, and it’s been a blast. (Matt Hires)
Two weeks into their month and half tour, the three musician line up has already made their way through the Midwest and East Coast, soon to be headed West, then looping down South to make it back home to Florida. So far Hires doesn’t have any complaints about being on the road, though he isn’t a fan of the long through the night drives that tend to come with the touring territory. Luckily the rough nights balance with the good days, where when riding in the van the musicians “like to listen to
Harry Potter books on tape. We have a lot of fun doing that and watching South Park on our computers. We really haven’t had any bad moments so far.” (Matt Hires)
With shows selling out and fan numbers growing, it makes a whole lot of sense for Hires to feel so content with the tour thus far. His Thursday night show at Schuba’s maxed out weeks before the actual performance, and even in the hours before the music began there was a full bar and fans anxiously waiting outside. Seeing Matt Hires perform was an entirely different experience than sitting down with a recording, in a way that wasn’t necessarily a matter of better or worse, just simply different.
The young musician started his set out with the title to the tour, a song called ‘State Lines’ to which fans were singing along and dancing with right off the bat. A full-bodied song with great use of repetition in its lyrics, strong contributions from its bass and percussion parts, Hires showed off his Tom Petty influence without losing the acoustic-pop charm he has down so well.
Following up the opening track was ‘Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song’, now being featured in a number media outlets, including the When In Rome soundtrack. Despite his growing popularity, and let’s be honest, the intimidatingly large crowd of lovely ladies filling the room, Matt doesn’t deliver any boastful fanfare in his stage presence. He merely offers a simple “Hi, How are you, it’s good to be here” before diving into another song, or shares a witty anecdote about how he feels like he’s watching a discovery program on deep sea creatures living among inhospitable environments when looking at Chicago natives. Evidently seeing the mighty of the Midwest surviving the bitter winter makes the Floridian wonder, ‘How do they live here?’
We were particularly impressed by Matt’s ability to whistle not only in tune, but with just as lovely of a clear vibrato as he posses in his singing voice. He exhibited this talent with his song ‘Out of the Dark’, in which there’s a little hint of Conor Oberst’s warble wrapped between his sleeker likeness to Ryan Adams and Dustin Kensure’s solo work. His style branched off again, this time toward something more Jason Mraz or John Mayer pop inspired, with the track ‘A Perfect Day’, which was featured on ABC programming in the last year. Hires also delivered an excellent cover of MGMT’s ‘Kids’, in which he opted out synth-sounds for whistling, resulting in cover that came across with an urgency and deliberateness it’s Indie-dance pop original just doesn’t give off- a great example of the earnest and genuine sound Hires creates.
Playing a few songs acoustically while the band stepped off, the Florida native still managed to deliver a full-bodied and enveloping sound, making it no surprise that his solo work was so easily translated into a full band performance. After a few songs Hires was seamlessly rejoined by his fellow musicians, who accompanied him with a soulfully rhythmic contribution from drummer Bob Matthews and bassist Aaron Bishop, as well as backing vocals from guitarist Mike Kopulos. Though the band just recently came together for this tour, only two weeks into playing together they were undeniably polished and tight, giving a performance as noteworthy as their front man’s.
Matt offered a number of opportunities for audience participation, between his patient teaching of the whistle track for ‘Out of the Dark’ and the hand claps in ‘A to B’, creating a great energy throughout the venue. Taking a shine to a number of bands, from the previously mentioned to The Format, Old 97’s and Hellogoodbye, all in varying degrees, Matt Hires is musician that gives much more than one bargains for after hearing his studio tracks alone. There’s an organic quality in his live voice that doesn’t seem to come as clearly on the album, one with more hints to a natural inclination toward country rather than the pop persona that is so perfectly coined in his commercial track ‘Honey, Let Me Sing You A Song’. None-the-less, we are impressed by Hires and eagerly await what is to come for this ascending artist.
Matt Hires Online:
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F-Stop Records
Read Matt’s answers to some of our questions pertaining to his writing process, the first album he ever bought, and who would play alongside him on his dream tour. 
Be sure to check out the deluxe version of his debut full-length, Take Us To the Start, featuring acoustic demos and a previously unreleased song- available on iTunes Tuesday, February 9th.
Telegram Sam: Do you have a favorite venue or city that you’re looking forward to playing on the tour?
Matt Hires: Chicago is always- and I’m not just saying this because we’re here now- but Chicago is a place I love coming to and would live in if it weren’t for the cold. It’s always a place I look forward to playing and every venue-like the Lakeshore Theater, The Vic, House of Blues- has been really great. I also really like playing in New York and Portland.
T.S: What are the last three albums/artists you listened to?
M.H: On the way here I listened to some Ryan Adams…I think Demolition, which really isn’t one of my favorite Ryan Adam’s records, but I like some of the songs on it haha. Elliott Smith is someone I’ve been getting into a lot lately, I just bought his album XO, and Pheonix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Pheonix, which I really like.
T.S: Is there any particular concept or genre you aim toward when writing?
M.H: I try to let whatever happens happen and don’t try to write a particular way. What I write is more uniquely me, and whatever just sort of comes out.
T.S: If you were to do an album of strictly covers, what are three songs you’d include on it?
M.H: Most of what I know are Bob Dylan and Hank Williams, but one that’s kind of off from that genre is Kids by MGMT, which I play at shows. But if I picked just three songs? I’d choose Kids, Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used To by Hank Williams, and Maggie’s Farm by Bob Dylan.
T.S: Are there any instruments you don’t play already but wish you did?
M.H: Well I can noodle around on the piano, and I have a melodica that I play around on. I can also find my way around a banjo a little bit, play harmonica, and um…tambourine? Haha But I do wish I could play the banjo better, and I would love to play pedal steel, but I don’t know if that’ll happen. I’d like to play piano better too.
T.S: What are your plans for music once the tour is over?
M.H: In April I’m going out on tour with a band called Need To Breath, and from there I want to just keep touring. We’re recording tonight for a live record, and hoping to put out it out sometime this Spring or Summer. Before we released my full-length I did an EP called Live at The Hotel Cafe in L.A. and that was all solo acoustic stuff, so now we’re going to put this live album out with the full band.
T.S: What is the most memorable show you’ve ever played?
M.H: Probably my most memorable and what is still one of my favorite shows is the first night of my first real nation wide tour I went on. It was at the El Ray Theater in L.A. and I’m pretty sure it was sold out, if not close to it. It was the first time I’d played in front of that many people and it was just a really cool, fun show, and people seemed to like it, so that was awesome.”
T.S: How about one that you’ve attended?
M.H: I have three…well maybe 4. Probably my favorite show of all time- followed very closely by the ones I’m going to say next- was Sufjan Stevens at Fox Theater in Atlanta, which is a really cool place to begin with. He had a horn section and a string section, and it was just a really great show to see. After that, Bon Iver is one of my favorite live bands, and Wilco, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams…those are for sure my favorite to see.
T.S: What was the first album you personally went out and bought?
M.H: I think it was an MXPX record when I was probably 12 or 13? There was probably something before but that’s the first I really remember going out to get- MXPX’s Teenage Politics. Even though I haven’t listened to that stuff in years, if you put it on I could probably sing along to every word.
Tags: Artist Review, Interview, Upcoming Release, Upcoming Shows, Video
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