DRUM MAJOR INSTINCT (MATT VELASQUEZ)
Interview By: Brian Fortier
Matt Velasquez was a major contributor to Rebelution’s debut full-length album Courage to Grow, as a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. However, rather than sticking around to fully experience the success that the album and band achieved in 2007, Matt found the courage to grow himself and decided to leave Rebelution to form his own project Drum Major Instinct. Matt stopped by The Pier to discuss his reasons for moving on and more. As one of the more honest and reflective songwriters in the scene, we are sure you’ll enjoy the time Matt devoted to answering our questions.
The Pier: To start things off in this interview, why don’t you tell us when and how you started playing music? Are there any bands or people that inspired you to start playing? Do these bands continue to influence your musical style or do you have new influences?
Matt Velasquez: I started playing guitar at the age of 19. At the time, I was playing basketball in Junior College and my career was coming to an end. I wanted it to continue but I took it for granted and was too focused on partying and eventually that became my downfall. I realized that a new dream had to be born so I picked up a guitar and started to sing. I had no previous experience with singing (except for in my car) but there were these moments when I sang that felt so natural, like I had been doing it my whole life.
Initially, I would say Sublime had a heavy influence on the musical direction I wanted to pursue. I remember listening to it over and over, trying to emulate but realized that I was never going to be considered a serious musician until I found a style of my own. At first it was nothing but Sublime, then Incubus got a hold of me in my early 20’s and these last several years I’ve really become open to artists like John Mayer, Coldplay, Counting Crows, The Shins, and 2Pac.
The Pier: Did you start singing as soon as you started playing guitar? At what point after beginning to play did you realize you wanted to form a band?
Matt Velasquez: I started singing right away. I remember writing the cheesiest songs and trying to impress some girls with them. Looking back it was extremely corny. I always thought it would be cool to be in a band and early in my career Marley (Williams) and I formed a little band we called Funk Unit. We thought we were the shit, at least I did, but upon reflecting we kind of sucked. I would say after that experience I knew I wanted to be in a band but it wasn’t until four years later that Rebelution began.
The Pier: How did you and the other guys in Rebelution get hooked up with each other? What was your experience like starting out playing backyard shows in Isla Vista to growing as a band and releasing the full-length album Courage to Grow?
Matt Velasquez: Marley and I grew up in the same town and went to high school together. We stayed in touch through the years and when he moved to Santa Barbara for school he became pretty determined to start a band. He met Eric (Rachmany) and Wes (Finley) in school and at the time I was living in Monterey. He called me and said he met a couple of people and that I should come down and jam with them and I did. At first I commuted three and a half hours every other week or so and we would play once a month. We started playing mostly covers and had maybe three original songs too.
It’s funny we have some footage from one of our first shows and looking at it now, I realize that we were pretty bad. For the first year or so I would commute from Monterey but then I eventually moved to Santa Barbara because the band was showing promise. About a year into it we picked up Roury (Carey) to play keys and after that we were formed. It all happened pretty fast after that.
We recorded a five song demo shortly after and within several months of it’s release we got a call saying Safe and Sound is #1 on the radio in Hawaii. That’s when things really began to snowball. After our first tour in Hawaii, we came back super inspired to record a full-length album so we started to focus on more original material. Eventually we released Courage to Grow and it became the catalyst to most of the success you see today.
I definitely became better at my craft, but I also began to learn that in order for me to be satisfied as a musician I had to incorporate more styles. My taste in music had changed from when I first started playing with Rebelution, and I got tired of knowing that the next song we were going to create was going to be reggae. My taste had changed through the years and I realized that my musical integrity was more important to me than I had thought and I had to adhere to it soon or I would continue to be unsatisfied.
The Pier: Obviously, you came to a certain point in your life when you thought you needed to make a change and you decided to leave Rebelution. Can you elaborate for the fans what your reasons were for parting ways with Rebelution? How difficult of a decision was this for you?
Matt Velasquez: The decision was very difficult. I had been battling with it for months before I finally gained enough courage to leave. At the time, it didn’t make much sense to me because I was doing what I always wanted to do…touring, making money, and playing music but there was something missing. I felt it for sometime but it came to the point where I was having anxiety attacks and I knew that it was time. Overall, I didn’t feel like I represented them or that they represented me. I always felt like I had to edit myself and just couldn’t be myself when I was with them and eventually it exhausted my spirit.
I tried sticking it out for the fans; I tried for the money; and I tried for the success and for my career but those things weren’t strong enough to keep me. I wasn’t happy and nothing could have kept me in that band. I was very scared to leave at first but now I am much happier. I lost all the joy in playing music for a while but now I feel like I am rejuvenated. I had no idea what I was going to do and was almost going to give up but now I am starting to remember how much fun it really is.
The Pier: After you left Rebelution, did you take any time off to reflect on your musical experiences up to that point or did you begin working on new solo material right away?
Matt Velasquez: I kind of did both. I was trying to focus on writing new material and also trying to get over what had just happened. It was hard for a while. I was really unsure about my music career and didn’t know if I still had it in me to continue. I tried not to think about it for a while but the desire always came back to me and now I feel like it is definitely something I have to keep pursuing.
The Pier: How did your new solo project Drum Major Instinct come about? How did you come up with the name?
Matt Velasquez: I didn’t really want to use my real name, so I decided to adopt a different one for this project. I got the name from a college book my girlfriend had. It was some type of “Nonviolence Theory” book, and it talked about a lot of people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, people who believed and taught about nonviolence approaches to life. Anyways she came across this speech by Martin Luther King titled “Drum Major Instinct” and I thought the title and message of the speech was unique and relevant so I decided to use the name.
The Pier: What are your plans and goals for Drum Major Instinct? Is this a temporary project until you find new band mates or do you plan to do your own thing as a solo artist for a while?
Matt Velasquez: I am hoping that after I release my CD I can find some band mates and maybe start touring a little bit under this name. I am going to take my time and not rush this project. One of the biggest lessons I learned from Rebelution is that it is important for me to be playing with people who share similar values and ideas and not just throw myself in to something just to be successful. I attended a Counting Crows concert last year, and the lead singer told the crowd that not only was he happy to be as successful as he was, but to be playing all those years with his best friends. That’s something I want to be able to say someday.
The Pier: You’ve been working with Dave Escobar at his home studio So-Cal Sound Design to record some new songs where Dave has engineered and mixed the songs in addition to filling in on the drums. When asked about what his experience was like working with you, Dave said, “I have a lot of fun working with Matt. He is a very honest songwriter with lots of great ideas. He also nails his takes so fast that we will sometimes finish an entire song in just a few hours.” How did you initially get hooked up with Dave and what has your experience been like recording with him?
Matt Velasquez: I met Dave while in Rebelution. We recorded our 5-song demo with him and I always remembered how comfortable I felt working with him and how professional he was. I love recording with Dave. He always comes up with great ideas and I feel whether or not he likes your songs he still never loses his enthusiasm and excitement working on them. He is very honest and you can tell he has a true passion for what he is doing and I appreciate that very much. I look forward to finishing up my album with him, and I feel he is going great places.
The Pier: In terms of going into the studio to record, do you usually have the basis for your songs laid out before you go in there or is there a lot of improvisation that happens while you are in the studio?
Matt Velasquez: Most of the time I have a basic idea of how I want the song to be. I would say I go to the studio with 90% of the song finished but it’s that unknown 10% that usually makes the song.
The Pier: The songs you write have meaningful lyrics, and a lot of them are reflective yet they maintain a positive, optimistic outlook on life. Are there people in your life or experiences you’ve had that inspire the content to you songs?
Matt Velasquez: I mostly draw from my experiences. There was a time in my life when I was completely hopeless and felt like I had no purpose and was about to give up if you know what I mean. But one day I had a vision and felt like I knew what I was supposed to do. I try to write about believing, and I want to give people hope. That is my goal. I want to let the everyday Joe know he or she can become whatever they want and achieve whatever they desire. Those things inspire me to write and so does my girlfriend. She has had a tremendous influence on me and I never believed that I could have a relationship so amazing. You hear those stories and see those great movies about love and wish for those things but don’t really think they will happen to you, but when they do it is unbelievable.
The Pier: I know a couple people who personally relate to your song Running based on the time they are at in their life right now and the experience they are having. Is this song based on personal experiences you or someone you know have had?
Matt Velasquez: Yeah it’s metaphorically based on me, but I was hoping for it to have a universal effect. I wanted to write a story that people could see and possibly relate to not just women. I feel like there are a lot of people who try to be something they are not and try to live to please other people like their parents or peers. I wanted this song to bring awareness to issues like that. Also, I have been afraid of things in the past and found that the only way out is through and that is the message I was hoping to get across in that song.
The Pier: On your MySpace page, you say, “These past few months have been somewhat of a challenge for me as through my music I am learning a lot about myself. I have been in the process of finding what my true musical style is and believe that the next album I record will be a true reflection of my life right now and where I'm at.” Can you elaborate on this and explain where your musical and personal interrelationship is at now?
Matt Velasquez: I just don’t feel like the music I made in the past really defines and represents who I am now. I feel like I am finding my true style, and I have never felt like that before. Like I said before, I felt like there was something missing but now I feel like I am finding it.
The Pier: You’ve recently collaborated with a couple different artists in the scene (Stick Figure and Clear Conscience). What did you think when Scott Woodruff from Stick Figure initially approached you about collaborating on a song for his new album Burnin’ Ocean?
Matt Velasquez: I was surprised when he asked me. I wasn’t really familiar with his music, but after I listened to it, I was surprised at how talented he is. I remember having some doubt, but once he sent the track I came up with something the second I heard it and just went with it. With this song, I just started freestyling to it and I liked the melody I came up with. After that, I just elaborated on what was my first instinct with the song, and that’s how it developed. I thank him for giving me the opportunity to be on his album and he seems like a cool guy. We have talked about doing more songs together in the future and hopefully something will happen.
The Pier: You’ve also recently worked on a new track with Clear Conscience for his second album to be released in late spring/early summer. This is what he had to say about working with you, “Matt is an amazing musician and we are glad to have gotten the chance to share the mic with him on this track. This is one of my favorites by far on this new album.” How did this musical relationship between you two come about?
Matt Velasquez: I had been in contact with Jeff through MySpace for sometime and we have talked about collaborating. Then one day we talked on the phone about doing a song together and I suggested that he do a part on one of the songs that I had recorded called New Love. He said he liked that song and I sent it to him and he busted it out like the next day. The part for the song is perfect and totally what I had in mind. He has a cool style and is very diverse vocally. I am excited to have that song on his album because it was a song that I really liked but was debating whether or not it would go well with the direction the album seems to be taking.
The Pier: Do you still have plans for an album release in 2008?
Matt Velasquez: Yeah, I’m hoping to get an album out sometime this summer but the writing process has been a little challenging. I was struggling with writing for a while but lately I have found some inspiration and have been creating and singing like never before. I’m hoping for 8 to 10 songs but we will see how it unfolds. It has been taking me a bit longer because I am trying to become better at writing lyrics. I want my songs to be more poetic, artistic and more intelligent. I have really been working on progressing as a writer. I’m trying to “step it up” I guess you could say.
The Pier: Do you have any tour plans for 2008? Where are some places that you would really like to visit to play a show?
Matt Velasquez: I will be playing my songs acoustically. I create most of my songs on my acoustic guitar but haven’t played too many acoustic shows. I am really looking forward to it. My ultimate dream would be to play at the Grammy’s. Go big or go home right?
The Pier: Finally, as is customary at The Pier, what is your favorite summertime hangout?
Matt Velasquez: In general, I really like being outside when it is sunny. Hawaii is pretty nice, but recently I went down to Carmel with my girlfriend and fell in love with it. I used to live in Monterey but never realized how amazing and how much character the town has. There is this drive along the beach that is incomparable to any other place I have been. The beach there is amazing and I would have to say it is one of my favourite places to be when it is nice out.
Thanks Matt for dropping by The Pier to share your thoughts with us!
Check out: