Latest Update: I have a surprise for y'all...

The MG Tab Archive celebrated her 4th birthday at the beginning of May. Apparently everyone forgot -- even me. I wanted to do something nice, though, and Matt was nice enough to agree to answer a few nagging questions, so without further ado:

JL: Over the years we've heard the vocals on your records change and develop significantly. Was this a conscious change as a result of more focus, vocal warmups, lessons, etc., or more of a natural evolution. (Or somewhere in between.) How did your throat problems and surgery factor in?

MG: After my throat surgery in early January of 2000 I had to regain my speaking voice and then work on finding out if the operation was a success and if I’d be able to sing. I was extremely lucky in that I had a single nodule, not bilateral nodules, and thanks to a fantastic surgeon my voice was undamaged.

Prior to the surgery I quit smoking as well. As anyone who’s known me for years will tell you, I used to be a very heavy smoker (roughly two packs a day for the better part of thirteen or fourteen years). Combined with the surgery and a concentrated focus on proper vocal health, my voice came back better than it had ever been. That would be the reason there is a marked difference in the way I sing starting with The Audio Of Being.

For further information about the realities of physiology and the voice please visit the site of Shelagh Davies, the speech pathologist who worked with me before and after my surgery. She is an authority on the subject.

JL: As a songwriter I've noticed there are certain chords, keys and chord progressions I often slip into without noticing. Have you noticed any that you have?

MG: I have a few that subconsciously find there way in here and there. I think most writers have a few that work in a number of keys. It also depends on your vocal style and how you phrase as well.

JL: Some artists go into studio to record an album with twice as many songs as they end up releasing on the record. From the few b-sides that have filtered out after some of your releases, it appears that this is not the case with you. Do you usually have a fairly coherent idea of what your record is going to sound like going into the recording process? How often is it accurate?

MG: Up until Beautiful Midnight that was the case, but following that I started to focus on themes. Not necessarily concepts for records, but rather on new ways of approaching recording songs, the instrumentation, and what the album as a whole was trying to sonically do. For me The Audio Of Being was a failure in that there wasn’t a singular mindset that was focused on accomplishing that goal. On subsequent releases it has been far more noticeable. Avalanche was symphonic, lush, and rolling – much as I initially wanted AOB to be. White Light was written more to perform, and was recorded as a test in abandoning much of that which is used to commonly flush out songs in the studio, focusing rather on the core of structures and sounds.

JL: Do you find that you're now using the recording tools you have at home as a part of your songwriting process? Has it changed how you write music?

MG: I’m a huge fan of Garage Band. I have all the Jam Packs and use it all the time at home in concert with an M-Audio interface. It’s fantastically convenient, great for the road, and a lot of the keyboard sounds are very usable in the studio. Just plug in a USB keyboard and run an audio-out. I used to use an MBox and, at one time a Digi02, but dislike that Digi’s stuff isn’t class compliant.

JL: People often ask me if there exist any Matthew Good (Band) music books. As far as I know, there aren't any. I'd imagine that something like that would be difficult to put together, and almost guaranteed to lose money without a huge audience. Am I correct? Have you ever had any interest in putting something like that together?

MG: To my knowledge one has never been released. To be honest with you, I have no idea why. My publishing company, EMI Publishing Canada, would be in a better position to answer that question than I am, I’m afraid.

JL: We know that you recently went into the studio to record. You've mentioned in your blog that you’re working with Pat, Rich and Chris, as well as something else with Ryan Dahle of Limblifter fame (among others). Beyond In A Coma & the few dates you have currently listed, would you care to give us an idea of what else we can expect in the coming months?

MG: Well, I’m really excited about the release of this collection. I think the package that we’ve put together is phenomenal. Obviously there will be an extensive tour of the country in the fall, so look for that. But at the moment I have no other projects on the go, nor do I really have the time at the moment. I would very much like to do an acoustic tour in the new year, so a lot of my energies may be spent re-working material.

JL: Perhaps I'm the only person wondering this - why the change from standard tuning to Eb between Underdogs and Beautiful Midnight?

MG: I did it originally to help save my voice when performing. It just sort of stuck and I’ve used it ever since. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I played a guitar in standard tuning.

-jl [julian@mgtabarchive.com]