Matt Lake

Bio:

I started playing guitar in St. Louis, where I grew up. Moved to San Francisco in 1995 and played in punk rock bands for 5 years. Groups I played in included 440 Six-Pack and Retardo Montalbaln. In 2000 I moved to Los Angeles, where I currently reside, to play in rock band, the B-Movie Rats, whose 3rd album Radio Suicide is out on Rankoutsider Records, which I played on. During my time in the Rats we toured the U.S. 2 or 3 times and Europe once. My focus for the past six or seven years has mostly been jazz music, but I've also studied classical guitar and continue to play rock, funk, and blues. Since 2004 I have played w/ jazz and blues group, the Downbeats, which includes Vince Meghrouni on saxophone and Mike Sessa on drums. We have the pleasure of playing with a wide variety of great musicians, which varies from gig to gig. Come down to the Downbeat Café in Echo Park. We’ve played there every Wednesday for the last 5 years from 7:30-9:30. I also play in another group called the Atomic Sherpas. We play a mix of jazz, blues, latin and funk. It’s a fun group which usually includes: Vince Meghrouni, Mike Sessa, Carey fosse (guitar), Michael Alvidrez (bass), and Carlos Alvidrez (trombone). If you haven’t seen this group, you should. Pick up our CD 'Blowin' it at Ya.' We've also been hard at work on a new studio album with mostly original material. Stay tuned as it should be available soon. Currently I’m working on earning a Master's degree in Studio/Jazz Guitar at USC. Looking for a versatile guitarist for recording or gigs? Contact me. If you’re looking for a guitar teacher I do that too.

Member Since:

June 24, 2007

Members:

Groups I play in: the Downbeats, the Atomic Sherpas. Little Chef Coat features: Joe Bagg-hammond B3 & Kevin Yokota-drums

Influences:

Kenny Burrell, Horace Silver, Wes Montgomerey, Hank Mobley, James Brown, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Tom Waits, Roland Kirk, Monk, Lee Morgan, Blue Mitchell, Rolling Stones, Baden Powell, Bobbie Bradford, Ray Charles, Buddy Guy, Bruce Forman, The Clash, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ron Berman, Grant Green, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Benny Golson, and many more.