Standing out in a blues-making crowd is not something that guitar player Matt Schofield spends his time worrying about. Hailing from the United Kingdom, the up & coming blues player feels that he just needs to be himself, following his own pied piper visions and letting the others fret about trying to be different … or trying to fit in. With four studio albums and several live compilations to his name already, Schofield released As Far As I Can See earlier this year. Bluesy with hints of boogie woogie, he has again challenged himself to be better, to explore his instincts just a little bit deeper and in the process has created one of his strongest works to date. I caught up with Schofield while he was in Toronto and talked to him about his music, his influences and how he sees his place in the hotbed of young blues talents today. But first he had food on his mind after learning I was near New Orleans. “That’s one of my favorite places,” he tells me enthusiastically.
What do you like most about New Orleans?
It’s so real and they are a major source of the music I love so much. So much of it came out of New Orleans in the first place. But it’s soulful and it’s just real. When I went down there for the first time, it just had it in the air. It’s in the food, it’s in the air, it’s in the people, it’s the source, you know, along with several other spots in the US but that’s definitely one of them. It’s a thrill for me to go there.
You mentioned food amongst the music. What do you have to have when you are down here?
That’s a good question – pretty much anything is good down there I’ve found (laughs) but we found this place that does goose fat fries, which you don’t usually get that. Most people cook french fries in animal fat, but it’s definitely the way to do it (laughs). That’s my must-have when I get back down there, some goose fat fries.
You’re going to gain like twenty pounds
And that’s the problem, isn’t it. It would be easy to do down there. And we were eating po boys and fried chicken sandwiches and stuff. It’s all bad for you the stuff that we like but it’s good, isn’t it (laughs)
As Far As I Can See is your fifth studio album but you released it on a new label. Why?
Cause I’d left my other one (laughs). It was time to do something different. I was completely reaching where I wanted to reach on the other one. It had run it’s course for me so then I just took a step back and took a little break from being on any label. Sometimes you kind of got to get off the train and see where you are and then regroup and get back on the train you want to be on. That’s what happened basically. So yeah, we went and spoke to Mascot and they’ve got an incredible artist roster now with some incredible guitar players and it seemed like a good home and they were very happy to have us. So here we are now.
So what were you looking to do to make this album unique from the other ones?
Well, they are all unique to me and the only way I can make a record is to accept that it’s a moment in time. Every time we play, it’s going to be different. So if we went and did those songs again it’d be different again. So I always just have to embrace that whatever song ends up on the record is a moment in time. We do four takes of the song, it’s going to be four different versions and somehow you have to pick which one is your favorite. Not really the best, it’s just going to be different cause we improvise and I can only play what I feel in that moment. I don’t have the ability to play the same thing the same way over and over again. So it’s mainly embracing that it’s going to be in the moment and then figuring out the best way to capture that. That was really the whole goal with this, being as comfy as possible in the studio environment cause we’re very much a live band. So we played very live and very spontaneous and dynamic. That was the main goal with this record, perhaps more so than any of the others. We just went for the feel rather than this kind of arbitrary idea of going for the perfect take. Everything was based on what felt right. It was a very honest, genuine record, just us playing all kinds of stuff that we like so it was quite diverse. But I just wanted to do that this time, just a lot of different feels within the big umbrella of the blues that I love. So we didn’t cut ourselves off at all. It’s very honest. Whatever came out is what’s on there.
And you wrote most of these songs yourself.
Yes, there’re two covers, two older tunes, one by the Neville Brothers, actually, from down there in New Orleans. That’s a big part of it for me as well, is the whole writing process. I mean, I’m known as a guitarist and the guitar is like the easy bit, the icing on the cake at the end, you know. But the whole making the cake (laughs) is the important bit when I’m making a record. Songs, singing, production, all that kind of stuff. Then I can just play guitar finally and that takes care of itself.
Most of them are written with my partner Dorothy here and we’ve done all my past few records together. And a couple of songs are with Simon Law, who co-produced it and who I’ve known for twenty years. He’s my live sound engineer in Europe and also builds my guitars and is one of my oldest friends. So he came in and engineered and co-produced this record cause he knows my sound as good as me. So why don’t he come into the studio with us as well. So it was a real kind of all hands on deck. But the band brought a lot to the arrangements, I must give credit for that. I was very open to everybody’s ideas. I took sort of the framework of the songs in but they weren’t too fixed in any way so if something better happened, then that was good too.
That’s always good
Yeah but you’d be surprised a lot of people are pretty precious about their stuff and tell the band what to play. But I think people play better when they can bring themselves to it. It was like, everybody got involved and collaborative, you know.
You end your record with a song called “Red Dragon.” What can you tell us about that one?
That one’s actually co-written with Simon and that’s my fairly deliberate tip of the hat to Jimi Hendrix. I’ve never really ventured that far towards Jimi’s territory before. And that’s all late at night, one take, everybody live in the room. And that’s just what we played. That kind of thing is largely reliant upon the vibe of the moment being right. So you just have to kind of get in there and feel your way through it. And we were only really able to do a track like that because of how we were set up in the studio there. But, yeah, it’s a real nod to Jimi and I don’t normally obviously sort of tip the hat maybe that much on other stuff but it was something I felt we could get right this time. So if you’re going to do it, do it properly.
Are you more comfortable writing with somebody?
Some stuff is just me. I just don’t have the opinion that only my ideas are going to be the best ones, really. I enjoy collaborating because I like other people’s input, cause people bring stuff in that I don’t think of. So there’s no reason to think all of my ideas are the best ones (laughs). I get final say, of course, cause it’s my music but I find it’s good to be pushed into new directions and people are able to do that. It tends to work that way. The music comes really relatively easy for me but turning it into an entire song with lyrics and all that kind of stuff is another art. So I’m always open to people’s suggestions on that, you know.
What was the surprise song on this album, the one that was the last to come in or changed completely from it’s original version?
Probably the opening track, which I suppose is one of the biggest songs on the record in terms of layers, “From Far Away.” I had a verse and a chorus on that when I went in but it wasn’t a song. So everybody kind of pitched in, Simon pitched in. Jordan John who is playing drums and singing the backing vocals on the record, he’s a very, very talented young musician from up here in Toronto. He has his own band but I managed to persuade him to play drums on one of my records cause I knew him as a drummer first. But he gave some melodic ideas with that and sort of came up with the sort of little hook section. So yeah, that one was a skeleton when I went in and we didn’t quite know where it was going to head. I knew what I wanted. I did most of the lyrics on my own and I knew what I wanted it to be about but I didn’t know how to get it there, you know. That was the real building a skyscraper one there.
What was THE song or album that literally changed your life?
It was actually a video and you can go on YouTube and get it in these modern convenient times that we live in but back then it was something my dad had taped off the MTV when it actually used to show music. It was a video of BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins jamming together at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, as it would happen, in 1988. They’re playing “Texas Flood” with Stevie’s band. I was already a massive BB King fan from a very early age but it was almost too majestic to think I could do it. He was my hero and I didn’t even know where to start trying to be BB King. It was just beyond me. Then I saw this video with Stevie and Albert Collins jamming with him and I thought maybe I could do it too. That really was the moment. I was already listening to stuff, lots of stuff, but seeing how they were having such a great time, and seeing how they sounded like total individuals. It’s like you can’t say he’s better than him. They’re just individuals properly expressing themselves with their own voice through each instrument. So that was it. Pretty much I went back and started a band right away (laughs) within weeks of seeing that.
How old were you?
I was twelve, just turning thirteen
Have you been able to meet BB King?
I have, yeah. I got to sit down with him for a little bit a couple years ago at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands and he was gracious. Somebody told him there was a kid, I guess cause I’m still a kid by BB’s standards (laughs), but there was a kid that he was my hero so he said, “Send him in.” I got to sit, just me and him, in his dressing room and talked for a little while. He actually signed my guitar and I’ve never had anybody sign anything before that. It’s not my style but BB King, he is an amazing human being, beyond just the music, you know.
I was lucky to see him back in the day. I think it was the first proper gig I ever went to, the following year after my dad showed me that video, and my dad lives in California. I used to spend every summer there so that’s where I discovered all this stuff. So it was one summer that I seen that video. The next summer he took me to see him. That was my first real blues gig at thirteen was BB, Buddy Guy, Dr John and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. That was the line-up so it was a hell of a show. And BB still stood up all night back then, twenty years ago. He was only in his late sixties back then (laughs). He’s one of the few guys, of my heroes, that I did see. Everybody else was pretty much dead by the time I was old enough to go to concerts.
You’ve also mentioned Albert Collins in the past. What was it about him and his music that really attracted you and continues to inspire you today?
He’s like the fun version of the blues. It’s so positive, so much energy, so much fun; it’s funky and also a completely unique style. I mean, no one can really get close to that. But just overall, his whole energy is such a positive uplifting, just makes you feel better. Albert Collins just makes me happy. And incidentally, speaking of these people as human beings, everyone that I know that worked with Albert said that he was a wonderful guy as well and you can kind of hear that in his music. I’ve never heard bad words spoken about him. He wasn’t one that was a bitter, angry old blues man. He was a fun guy who liked to gamble and have a good time (laughs).
What would you say would be THE song that defined everything about him, if you had to suggest it to someone as an introduction to Albert Collins?
Oh my goodness, that’s so difficult to say. These days we live in an era of video. People need pictures to go with their sounds and his Austin City Limits performance as a whole just really nails it for me. That’s got everything I love about him. He’s playing the funky stuff. He played slow blues pretty much slower than anybody else. It’s so slow but so incredible. I’d say to just go get the whole late period live Albert Collins or the live 1992-1993 record, the year before he died but he just kept getting better.
When you first started doing this, what gave you the biggest rush – performing, traveling or just being around creative people?
Probably the other people. Well, playing in front of people, first of all, for some reason that is the real thing. Even today, I hate rehearsing and I hate it not being for real because you don’t have to be in the moment when you’re rehearsing. So at a gig, it’s that moment to be clear of what’s happening and what’s coming. You have to be totally right there at that second and without a real show, you can cheat so I don’t like it (laughs). I like it to be the real thing always when I play. So it’s that combined with sharing the experience with others; cause there’s a language, a communication. I’ve never enjoyed being the only one saying anything. It’s about getting up with other musicians and working together cause it really is like a language.
When we go on stage, everybody is communicating in the same way. It’s improvisational and you follow where the conversation goes. Those are the bits I need and those are the bits that always attracted me. I was never nervous, even at my first gig. The desire to do it far outweighed any thought that I might not be any good (laughs). So I always just did it and it felt totally natural to get together and play music and improvise and create with other people.
Have you ever felt pressured to find new ways to do blues since there’s such a wealth of young blues guys out there trying to stand out as well?
I don’t really look at it. I don’t try and do anything. For me, it’s about being true to yourself, so the only thing I’ve considered myself being is the best Matt Schofield possible rather than anything other than that. To me, the only music I like has got huge amounts of integrity so that’s why rather than trying to do anything, it’s more about being open to what comes out and not going, “Oh is this traditional blues anymore?” I don’t worry about any of that. Yes, I’m known as a blues artist and yes, I’m known as a guitarist but what I always wanted to be was a musician. End of story. So that’s what I try and be true to, just being a musician. And if that means going off past what people expect of blues then that’s fine and if it means I feel like playing something more traditional, then that’s good too. So it’s just about being true to yourself. All my biggest heroes, the real blues guys, have a completely unique voice, totally identifiable within seconds and you can’t even compare them to each other. They’re all great in their own way so that was all I was ever concerned with.
What was your first guitar and what was your dream guitar?
My first guitar was a 3/4 size nylon string classical guitar that I bought when I was about eight or nine when I first started thinking I might want to play guitar. When I decided I was going to play blues when I was twelve, into BB and Albert and Stevie Ray and stuff, I picked that guitar back up. So my first year of playing blues was on a nylon string and I was doing gigs on borrowed electric guitars, borrowed from my school cause I didn’t have one myself (laughs). So I was going home and practicing playing blues on a nylon string.
I finally got my dream guitar in late 1999 maybe, 2000, which is my original 1961 Stratocaster. That’s my benchmark guitar. I managed to get one of those with the help of my dad. It was not as expensive as they got but I was like, “Can we go and get one of these now? I need a hand here to get it.” (laughs). That’s still my benchmark guitar. I did every gig on that guitar for ten years but the airlines loose it too much so I couldn’t take it anymore. So Simon, who co-produced the record, has built me a few I suppose replicas of it, or tributes to it, so it’s pretty cool now. He makes things for me that are basically the same as the vintage that I can tour with and not worry about.
Who was the first blues star you ever met?
Well, one of the very first gigs I went to was the original Blues Brothers Band. The actual Blues Brothers Band, which is basically Booker T & The MG’s. This was in the UK and I was really young and those guys were already my heroes. And also Eddie Floyd, the soul singer. He got me up on stage, just out of the audience, cause I was like one of the youngest people there, just to dance around with him. It was completely insane (laughs). So I guess being on stage with Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn and all the original Blues Brothers. They were the first guys I ever met at all.
Are you a Beatles fan?
Not really. I don’t dislike them, I admire them but I wouldn’t put Beatles records on. Funny thing, when they do come on, like I was back in the UK and I borrowed my step-dad’s car and he had a Beatles CD in there and I knew all the songs and I never owned a Beatles record but I knew all the songs. So that is a testament to their songwriting cause I know all their songs without ever owning a record (laughs)
What would you say was your most nerve-wracking experience on stage?
I don’t really get nervous about playing so normally it’s something else to come along but probably the most nervous I’ve been was playing with Buddy Guy. I definitely had a moment of like, “Right, I’ve got to be good here.” (laughs) Or with Robben Ford as well, who is another one of my big influences. I don’t really worry too much what other people think of my playing or music. If they like it, great; if they don’t, no big deal. But I do care what those guys think about it cause they’re who I learned from. So I want them to understand that I paid attention to them. So those are the two biggies: Buddy Guy and Robben. Playing with those guys would probably be the most I’ve ever paused for a second and thought, let’s not screw up here. But generally I don’t get nervous. I have tripped over on stage. That’s more of the problems I worry about but not my playing. But I did fall completely over, flat on my back, tripped over a guitar cable in Canada a couple years ago. That was quite embarrassing. I fell back into the amps and the drum riser. The cable just got twisted around my legs. And it wasn’t even my gig. Someone had invited me out as a guest so it was like really embarrassing and then you think, “God, people are going to think I’m drunk or something,” but it was just a guitar cable around the legs, feet tied together (laughs). So those are the things that I’m more worried about. As long as those things don’t happen then I can generally always play alright.
What are your plans for this year?
Just lots of playing and supporting the new record. Lots in the US. I mean, I’ll go play anywhere people invite us but we keep getting bookings in the US. I’ve got some nice festivals down there [Florida] and a brief trip back to Europe in May. My first UK shows of the year, just three shows in June, so if that gives you any indication of where we’re playing mostly it’s not in the UK anymore (laughs).
I’ve always wanted to do a gig in New Orleans and I’ve always wanted to play the Jazz Festival because that was that video I saw but I have to build my reputation. A friend just moved back out there cause he loves it so. And my friend John Porter, who produced the last record, and Jon Cleary, the piano player. Jon’s on the previous record. It was a bunch of Brits in New Orleans a couple of years ago to make a record. Hopefully we’ll get there at some point but people are still learning about us so we’ve got to get more people to catch on and then we can get down there. We’re going back to Chicago in the summer as well, which is the first time in a while. It’s a big country so we reach a little bit further each time. So that’s it. Just lots of playing and then maybe around the end of the year we’ll start thinking about making a new record cause we’re going to need to do another one of those.
Where is the best place that people can keep up with you?
www.mattschofield.com and also our Facebook page is really picking up these days. The Matt Schofield Official Page is where the latest stuff gets put up. I’m fairly new to the whole Facebook thing myself. Got a late start to that but we’ve been sharing and all that kind of liking (laughs). It’s all new to me.
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