| HOMETOWN: |
Toronto, Ontario |
| CURRENT CITY: |
Los Angeles, California |
| URL: |
myspace.com/matthewgenovese |
| PUBLICITY: |
Daphne Gray Publicity
daphnegraypublicity@gmail.com |
Not much can stop 21-year-old Matthew Genovese. He’s been focused and goal-oriented since he made his first album at age 15. Now, with his new EP, Change, the Toronto singer/songwriter guitarist has moved on from Boston’s world renowned Berklee College of Music to pursue a full-time music career.
Matthew already has hook-ups in L.A, a city where he feels most comfortable due to its incredible creative energy. He has written and recorded with Jude Cole (producer of Lifehouse and partner of Ironworks Music with Kiefer Sutherland). And he recently recorded Change in L.A. with producer Justin Gray (Joss Stone, Alex Parks, ADELE, Emma Bunton). Songs like “Tonight”, “Key to My Kingdom”, “The Girl I Knew Before”, and “Don’t Change Yourself for Me” show a young man who knows how to work within a pop framework without sounding trite.
It’s a skill he learned at Berklee as a songwriting major and a guitar principle. “I always look to Cole Porter and the Gershwins, who composed many classic musicals, mainly in an AABA song form. Part of their philosophy was that the simplest idea is almost always the best idea. I think I first became aware of songwriting “tools” at Berklee, in Pat Pattison’s Lyric Writing classes, but I really got to understand how to use them by studying writers like Sting and Paul Simon. I’ve spent countless hours just sitting in my room with full scores and lyric sheets analyzing songs by both of them…really trying to find out what, where, why, and how they did what they did, both musically and lyrically. Songwriting is a very complicated process. Whether you think about it or not, things sound good for a reason, and things sound bad for a reason. There have been a lot of great songwriters that can write great songs without having a solid musical background. They just sit down and write what they feel, and don’t get too caught up in process. But whether they are aware of it or not doesn’t matter, there’s always a reason for greatness – it could be a great melody, cool internal rhymes, appropriate lyrical phrasing, etc. and that’s what I’m interested in. It’s never enough for me to hear something great and just accept it for what it is. I have to know why it’s so great.”
Matthew is already a seasoned performer, playing with a full band and solo acoustic since the age of 14 in cities such as Toronto and Boston. He has studied stage performance with Livingston Taylor, James Taylor's younger brother and was invited to perform this past summer at the 5th Annual Toronto Independent Music Awards in the Best Live Showcase Series.
When Matthew was introduced to producer Justin Gray in early 2009, he immediately identified Justin’s versatility as a producer. “He’s produced some pop records, and he’s done a Joss Stone album that’s a little more organic and rootsy. So I knew that he was able to produce all of the genres that inspire me,” says Matthew, who flew to Los Angeles earlier this year to work with him. “I was looking forward to co-writing with him, combining my songwriting skills with those of another professional songwriter. Co-writing is something I always look forward to – two people sitting down to create something bigger than themselves. It’s always exciting going into a writing session and knowing you’ll walk out with a new song.”
The songs on Change are all about relationships and personal reflection. “Don’t Change Yourself for Me,” a slower number, is about knowing when someone is holding a greater expectation for you than you can live up to. “They think you are or expect you to be this perfect person when you’re not, no one is.” says Matthew. “Stop Wait Turn Around” is about someone who has kept themselves sheltered and has finally decided to step out into the world, while “The Girl I Knew Before” is about a girl who had once led a perfect life but now she’s down and out.
Matthew has always been focused. Growing up in Toronto, he was surrounded by music. At the age of 9 he began taking guitar lessons and at 14, he went into the studio with producer Gerry Mosby and recorded 2005’s Today, Today, Today. By that time, Matthew already had a catalogue of songs to his credit, and found it hard to choose 12 for the album.
“There was always music in my house. My sisters both studied music and we were all in choirs as kids. When I first started getting into music professionally, I was more into songwriting than guitar playing, but once I discovered the blues, my guitar playing started to take priority. It was guys like John Lee Hooker, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the emerging new sounds from John Mayer that really inspired me at a young age, and because of that I think I became more guitar influenced. I’m really glad it worked out that way. I don’t think my writing would where it is now if I didn’t spend all those nights in my room playing guitar as a kid.”
When he was 16, he recorded his second album, 2007’s The Rhythm & The Reasons, with Nashville producer Tommy Sims (producer of Bruce Springsteen’s "Streets of Philadelphia" and writer of Eric Clapton's "If I Could Change the World"). This album was a lot bluesier/R & B than his first album.
“I’m still proud of both of those albums,” he adds, “but with the combination of my experiences from my first two records, and studying at Berklee, I was more able to develop the sound and direction I wanted for Change.”
Between The Rhythm & The Reasons, and recording Change, Matthew has been recognized in various international songwriting competitions, such as the 2008 Song of the Year Songwriting Contest, where he achieved an honourable mention; a nomination in the Independent Singer-Songwriter Association (ISSA) Songwriting Competition, and in the Song Wars Songwriting Competition, where he achieved Songwriting Honours for Composition. Many prestigious A&R label people have noted his live shows, and his fan base continues to grow daily.
Matthew will be working on his next full-length album, as well as co-writing for other artists. He has started his own songwriting blog, matthewgenovesesongstudies.com, about the songwriting process. “I really wanted to narrow my blog down to a specific focus that also lets me share a bit of myself with others. This isn’t a blog I write daily. I think of each entry in ‘song studies’ as a chapter in a book about the process of songwriting.”
The past 5 years are proof positive of Matthew Genovese’s growing ability as a songwriter, guitarist, and live performer. The next few years are guaranteed to take us on a journey that will establish him as a force within music circles, and set him up for a lifetime career involved in his goals and passions… music.
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