March 8th, 2007
Interviewed by Harvey Cline

We recently sat down with up and coming guitarist, Matt Marshak.  It was great insight into the Indie movement and to hear the determination of one of the newer artists on the scene.  This upbeat, positive musician is already giving back to the community and continues to grow as an artist and person. 

Smoothviews (SV): First of all we want to welcome Matt Marshak to Smoothviews.com. Tell us a little bit of what you’ve been up to lately.
Matt Marshak (MM): Well we’ve been out supporting our new release called Groovosphere. We’ve been everywhere from Florida to New England and to Europe this past year. The reaction to the record has been good. We’ve been lucky enough to perform in front of some great crowds. Before you know it, we’re ready to work on the next album.

SV: This is the third release for you, I understand.  How has it gone for you this time around?
MM: So far as an Indie artist I can’t complain. As an Indie artist, I have to run production to recording and as a business. I’m running everything myself. It’s a lot of work, but in the end you know we’ve been pretty satisfied and thankful that enough festivals and shows have invited us, and a nice amount of stations have been playing the record, so we’re happy.

SV: That’s great!  Speaking of the new disc, what songs are you playing on the road and what are some of the singles?
MM: The three singles that we’ve had out from the record most recently have been “Windchill Factor,” which was produced by Tim Regusis who plays with Patti Austin.  Prior to that we had “Summer Funk” and “Montauk Moon.”  Those three have been the ones we’ve been playing at the shows. “Summer Funk” is sort of our crowd pleaser, so we usually wrap it up with that one. More and more the audience is starting to recognize the tunes, which is a good sign.  As a new artist, that’s one of your biggest hurdles. You’re playing shows and you really have to perform. They may not know your music, so your show and your energy are going to make the impression. If you can come across and they know your music, then that shows that you’ve done the ultimate job.   

SV: “Summer Funk” really seems to be a fun one and one of my favorites from the disc. Tell us a little bit about that one.
MM: That song was an idea.  I was playing at some rehearsals and was lucky enough to be playing before Peter White one time. We played it at that show for the first time and a friend of mine who is a reviewer, mentioned to me that Peter heard that one and mentioned something to her about it that it was a catchy one.  A few other people had mentioned that I should record that one. I brought it to Billy Heller, who is the keyboard player for the Rippingtons, and he produced the whole track. We had David Mann on horns. The way it came out, we thought we captured initially how we sketched it out to be. I think people were affected by the energy. It continues to be the song people request and ask for.

SV: That’s one of my favorites.  Another one that I liked is the haunting tune entitled “Big Skye Dream,” in reference to the Montana wilderness. Tell us a little bit about that one.
MM:  Sure. That was sort of the umbrella of smooth jazz. I listen to so many other types of music. I don’t think a disc should be limited to smooth jazz tunes. Many of my idols and inspiration stretched out and went in different directions. That tune sort of expends to my mysterious side of my music. I do spend a lot of time out in nature. It’s sort of a mirror or echo of those explorations. 

SV: It really comes off well. You told us earlier that “Windchill Factor” is the current single. Tell us how that one came about.
MM: That tune was written, as you can imagine, on a really cold New York night.  (laughing) There seems to be a lot of those lately. I had been listening to a lot of European music, so I sort of blended the two of some American urban vibes with some European themes and I came up with that song. Hence, the name “Windchill Factor.” It has sort of a chill sound yet some New York elements as well. That tune I did with a keyboard player named Tim Regusis. Tim’s a great keyboard player who’s played with Najee and Jonathan Butler. He produced it for me right here in New York. We were really lucky that Blake Lawrence at CD101.9 liked the tune and he added it in December, which has really helped us here in New York.

SV: Keeping with the New York theme, one of your songs is called “Montauk Moon.” Tell us about that one.
MM:  Wow, that’s another theme of New York.  There’s a little town at the end of Long Island called Montauk that really looks out into the ocean. As any musician that’s grown up in New York, you’ve done a gig out in Montauk because it’s a beach sort of resort and lots of places to play. And as you go over the hill of Route 27, which is called Sunrise Highway, you’ll see this big moon. It was sort of like “Big Skye Dream.” It was a sort of a sketch of our world through music. If you ever go out to Montauk you’ll see this huge moon. So I decided to dedicate a song to that.

SV: It takes all there.  I like it a lot. The album sounds like it’s doing really well. Has that surprised you with this being the third time around?
MM: I’m real delighted that stations are playing it, and as any new independent artist knows, that airtime can be a big challenge.  I think people are sensing that I was genuine with the record and, of course, there’s some radio sounding things. I really tried to be an artist and stick to some of my visions as an artist and also blend commerce. I have a belief that this is what I feel inside and I should put that down, rather than thinking I have to play this, this or this to sound like this person or that person. It’s very, very tempting to do that. I was happy that I was able to find a blend of art and commerce.

SV: I think one of things that set it apart is that it sounds so much more different than anything that’s out there.  You can’t really peg it into smooth jazz or chill either. You’re sort of kept your own “voice” and stayed the course and went through that.
MM: I appreciate that, and it’s heart warming when people recognize it. It sort of confirms the belief that you set out to do. I listen to all kinds of music and I’m always intrigued wherever I am. It could be a non-jazzy situation.  I always look for something in those people to pull away from. I think every musical artist has something to offer. If you can put those all together you can have something that isn’t your typical jazz format, but can still be commercial.

SV: I just saw where your new tour schedule has just been released.  Where can fans find you this spring?
MM: We’re headed out to Colorado, Reno, Modesto, Palm Springs, and San Diego. Then we’ll end up in Dayton, Ohio as well. We’re hoping to go back across to Europe again in the fall.

SV: Sounds like you’re going to be busy! What’s been some of your biggest challenges as a new artist?
MM: I guess the biggest obstacles have been radio play to be honest about it. It’s a vehicle for people to find out about you. When people find out about you, you’re inclined to get more live shows. We sort of did it in reverse. We have a great show and we really strive to make it exciting. We have all of these little features in our show, like we have a bass solo, a drum solo, and some surprises.  We were able to get that documented on a DVD. Once people see the DVD, they’ve been buying the show out of that. So we’ve kind of doing it in the reverse. Now that the radio is starting to play it as well, we’re noticing it’s supplementing that. We’re confident that if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, people will give us a chance.

SV: It’s funny how the whole thing just blossoms and then all at once you’re just “there.”
MM: Yea, I think you’ll have it as faith. I try to enjoy life every day and have faith in it. You can’t just wait on things.  You have to be productive and continue to create. Sure enough things come back and people get what you’re doing. My advice to any new artist is to just stick to your creativity, and be persistent.

SV: Keep on keeping on?
MM: (laughing) Yeah, keep on keeping on.

SV: Let’s change gears here for just a moment. I understand you have an educational initiative in some of the schools. You’re doing some teaching with some of the students there. Tell us a little bit about that.
MM: Sure.  Besides playing, I visit lots of schools and many different levels when I’m traveling by myself or bringing the band. The whole mission is to expose kids to music, real instruments, jazz, blues, and world music. We go to the schools, play and we talk to the kids about the instruments, about styles of music, important musical figures, and play original music as well. It’s been a great way to bring smooth jazz to the next generation of potential listeners who may not have exposure to these art forms where American Idol or mainstream music may be their only exposure to music. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve played for little kids and they ask “When’s the singing going to start?” And we tell them that in jazz sometimes the music’s instrumental and there’s only a piano or guitar playing. We find it important to spread that message, and also found it a great way to cope with the new fads.

SV: You were in the D.C. area for Capital Jazzfest last year with the competition and a lot of exposure. Tell us about your experience there.
MM: Wow, we were blessed to be invited to what’s called The Challenge where new artists get to play It was a great time, and a great flute player won the competition. What a festival with an incredible line up of artists. They treated us kindly. We had a chance to meet so many new people and sell a lot of CD’s. We look forward to hopefully being invited back soon.

SV: That’s always a great weekend. I’ve been numerous times. We talked earlier about the Indie movement in jazz today. Tell us a little bit about what you see in the Indie movement versus what’s out there in a traditional sense.
MM: I think Indie has become norm. As any new artists know, there are only so many slots for a traditional label to sign you, and only so much money to break a new artist in. I understand why labels aren’t signing new artists. I experienced that maybe three or four years ago. I submitted stuff to labels and went through a process of back and forth and then I just realized if no one’s going to build your house you have to build your house yourself. I’ve done that and a lot of other people have as well. It’s an incredible liberating experience to really create your own destiny. You have full control of your records, your career and how you want to shape yourself. It’s liberating in many ways, but you have to also take on the role of business person as well, which can be time consuming. It requires a lot of dedication in that fashion, too. But I see it becoming the norm and I see a lot of great music coming out of Indie land. I also had the great pleasure of playing with the founder of CD Baby’s band. I played guitar for them. So I guess I was sort of mentored in this world of do it yourself. (laughing)

SV: Do you think that will be the norm in the years to come?
MM: I see it as that. I’ve personally started working this new label call Nuance Musical Group, which is a hub for Indie artists where we all contribute to the label. May be we’ll move to something like that. Its independent, yet organized in some way, as well. We all share the same need and same passion as independent artists. We all want careers and to shape this music and this art form. Sometimes we find as independent artists, it’s good to work together and share resources and build a new destiny, just as the traditional labels have done in sort of an independent way.

SV: With that in mind, do you see that changing the way the brick and mortar stores are today and new distributions of that type labeling?
MM: It’s apparent to me as an artist whose music is on I-tunes; I’m just amazed at how many people access music that way. I didn’t realize it until recently. In some ways I think it’s a great thing. People can access music that quickly and find out about you in ways that they never would have come across in traditional ways. So for the independent artist, I think the digital downloads are incredible vehicles for people to find out about you.

SV: It really seems to be a changing landscape out there for sure. Matt, you’re a fairly new artist out there. Tell us a little bit about yourself so that the fans can get to know you a little bit better. 
MM: I guess you could say that I’m a new artist, spiritually minded. I really love playing and besides, playing is a message that I have to better this world and to give back through the music. I hope I can do that more and more and play in schools that may be budget challenged or financially challenged and give back to communities where a lot of this art form originated from. That’s one of my ultimate goals. Besides the music, I love the outdoors, and I love fishing. I have a beautiful wife, Dionne, who’s a great photographer, by the way.  She takes some good album photos. As an Indie artist, you recruit family members. (laughing) I have a great band:  Kenny Harris, my brother, Chris Marshak, plays drums, and our keyboard player, Tim Regusis. Where ever we go, we bring a positive happy vibe. We hang out with the fans, shake hands and tell stories because we look at it as an extended family and build a following and build our name. At the same time, we like to create a nice family atmosphere too. 

SV: And I think that comes across in your music, too. You can feel that warmth and genuine goodness about yourself. 
MM: Oh, thank you.

SV: You mention Larry Carlton as and inspiration on two of your discs. Have you ever had a chance to play with Larry or work with him?
MM: I haven’t had a chance to play with him or work with him, but that would be an ultimate dream to get him to play on a track.  So Larry, if you’re reading this please give me a call. (laughing) He’s one of those artists where, as a teenager, I saw him at the Blue Note; it was his music and his personality and his warmth that fell off the stage into the crowd. That’s what caught me. He had these blues tunes, smooth sounds, and had an acoustic thing. The next song he created this wide landscape of material. It was very inspirational hearing him play. And to this day, every time I go see him I’m just as excited.

SV: Well Matt is there one last thing you want to tell your fans out there today?
MM:  I’m thankful for all the support.  I’m thankful for the wonderful e-mails. I ask you help me spread the word. If you feel so compelled and want to request my songs, that’s something we really appreciate, and it does help. We look forward to getting a new disc out to you this summer.

SV: Wow, we heard it first that there’s the possibility of a new disc?
MM: Yeah back-to-back years.  We’re going to try to get it out by the summer.

SV: Would we be able to read about that on your website?
MM: We’re going to get that up as it’s nearing completion. (www.mattmarshak.com)

SV: We’ll be sure to get that up for you so that everyone can click on it and see what the latest is with Matt.  Well, Matt, I just want to say thanks a bunch for taking the time to be with us this evening. We wish you the best out on the road this spring and this summer. It’s been a real joy listening to your music the last couple of years. We just wish you the best here from SmoothViews.
MM: I thank you for that, and I thank you guys for having this wonderful website.  It not only includes the established artists, but it gives new faces, like mine, a chance. Thank you.