Published: September 27, 2009 4:46 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Exclusive Spotlight October 2009 Edition
Juniors Cave - The Greenmatics
The Greenmatics photo by Joshua J Geoghegan
This next band is actually a solo female fronted band that has a backing accompanying her for live gigs. What makes this band particular special is the catchy hooks, strangely unique vocals, and overall crazy wonderful sounds that makes up The Greenmatics. The artist is full of life and energy, and she makes interviewing artists like her a treat for this interviewer.
But the best part to her music in my opinion is that it reminds me of music of the 1980s from to many iconic groups to name in this introduction. No matter what your taste in music is The Greenmatics will have something for all music lovers around the world. Here is an in-depth interview with Green better known as The Greenmatics.
Isaac: What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name? Have you changed the band's name before?
The Greenmatics: Wow, where to start....... firstly my name's Green (birth name is Mel, but the nickname stuck) and I am 'The Greenmatics'.
Music has always been number 1 for me, but sometimes it just takes a while to get things happening.,,, anyway, I was working as a music photographer until I could get the band thing happening, then I decided to quit all the magazines I worked for so I could concentrate on music full time. The magazines wanted to know what I was moving on to do instead (for interviews), so I had to very quickly come up with a band name and started looking at lots of atlas's, dictionaries and things like that and eventually I came up with 'Emerald Green'. I disliked it pretty much as soon as I had made it up, hahaaaa.
Moving forward a year or 2 I had spent about 1 whole year in total trying to come up with a new band name that I actually liked. I wanted a name that sounded electro and fun and finally I came up with 'The Greenmatics'. Just very briefly - I wanted 'The' as part of the name because It's kinda 'band-y', then I chose 'Matics' because it has an electro feel to it. Then finally for 2 reasons, I decided to keep the word 'Green' in the name. The first reason is because 'Green' had quickly become my nickname from the old band name and I kinda liked it, then secondly, I felt that including the world 'Green' would perhaps make people think "ohhhhhhh that must be the new 'Emerald Green'.......... yeah, so that's the shortish story of the whole name thing.
Isaac: This is an awesome origin Green!
photo by Mel
Isaac: What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
The Greenmatics: I consider my music to be electro, with a slight pop/new wave edge to it, but it's actually going to be heading in a way more "dancier" direction shortly when I start working with another producer who loves his Doof Doof music, but the songs won't be totally doof doof, they'll still be electro, just way more "dancey".
I grew up listening to Pet Shop Boys, Human League, Depeche Mode, New Order, Duran Duran,etc and I also like a lot of Crystal Castles songs, Ladytron, The Presets, Grafton Primary, Miss Kittin, Minuit, Mestar, OVNI, The Beatles...I guess you could say that my major influences are bands that have catchy songs, a unique vocal style, make you wanna dance and just kind of draw you into their songs in a natural way.
Isaac: This would definitely describe your music.
Isaac: How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
The Greenmatics: Well I started the band myself back in 2003 in Christchurch, New Zealand and have been through a few members since then. I'd find potential members on music websites or in music magazines or from a flyer I put up around my area. I had always wanted band members who were gonna be my best buds and we'd hangout all the time and tour and just have heaps of fun, it happened a few times with some of the members, but I quickly learnt that members come and go, they have babies, move Countries, get married, start their own bands etc. etc. and so I decided recently to promote The Greenmatics as a solo project with a very cool rotating backing band, plus a very awesome producer who is also in the band.
Isaac: When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
The Greenmatics: I formed the band back in Christchurch, New Zealand after leaving a band called 'Shocking Pinks' because I had so many songs in me that I needed to get out, so I had to go it alone and do what had to be done. I discovered that the hardest part of being in a band is actually finding the members...There weren't that many musicians in Christchurch who were looking to be in a band, so I ended up moving up to Auckland to find band members...did some tours, got nominated for 'Most Promising New Act' at the 2005 bNet Music Awards, got videos on TV, lots of #1's on lotsa different Charts etc, then not long after that I moved over to Melbourne to experience the larger music scene since I was finding NZ a bit small to do the music thing in. It's a beautiful country, but I needed to go where the action was.
Isaac: Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
The Greenmatics: I'm a member of APRA (Australasian Performing Rights Association) and also Arts Law.
I release a lot of the remixes through Silver Sneaker Records who then put them on iTunes and a few other websites and my other tracks are available from www.amplifier.co.nz.
I get emails from other labels, but right now I'm just concentrating on making a really good album and then seeing who's still interested in it and then I'll go from there.
Isaac: What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available?
The Greenmatics: You know what Isaac, I'd love to get to the point where a certain brand was going to supply the whole band with the gear we need because my synth just got broken a few days ago, I won't go into details incase it effects the legal proceedings or whatever I'm gonna have to go through with that....
What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/color preference?
The Greenmatics: For me it was cost, definitely cost I'm sorry to say.
Isaac: Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?v
The Greenmatics: I don't think I should say which venues I don't like performing at incase they read this interview (haha). I love playing at Revolver in Melbourne, Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney was heaps of fun, The East Brunswick Club here in Melbourne has won a lot of awards, it's amazing playing there. We played at Myer Music Bowl earlier this year and they had fantastic gear, plus fantastic soundpeople to go with it. We have a few upcoming shows, it's probably best to check out www.myspace.com/thegreenmatics, because that gets updated very regularly.
We're actually doing a few smaller shows at the moment due to recently changing the lineup, but within the next few months we'll be looking at playing festivals and things like that again.
Isaac: Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
The Greenmatics: We used to do a cover of Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics, oh and I got up and sang Human League's 'Don't you want me baby' with Melbourne band 'Squares and Zeros' at our last gig.... that was the most awesome experience because I'm a huge Human League fan and saw them twice when they came to Melbourne this year.
Songs we play most would have to be the latest 2 singles which Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo frontman) produced for us, they're 'I Love Technology' and 'She Fell So Well'. They're definitely the most played songs in our sets.
Isaac: Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
The Greenmatics: Well since I started the band, I've written 99% of the songs so far. The topics are quite random actually..... I usually write down interesting lines from what I hear people say in conversations, then I put that little piece of paper in a bag and keep adding to the bag when I hear more interesting random things. About 90% of the lyrics are from what I hear people say on the street etc. The other 10% is stuff that I make up myself and I just have to say that I generally always make sure I never write a 'love' song...there's too many love songs out there. My songs are about absolutely anything and everything and I should maybe, possibly admit that a few lines here and there are about 'love song' kinda things, but not whole songs...no way!!
Isaac: Could you briefly describe the music-making process?
The Greenmatics: I use Fruity Loops and Cool Edit and yesssssssssss I know there's going to be a lot of people laughing at me now, but I have been learning Reason, Ableton and heaps of others. Plus I've had experience with Pro Tools and Logic which was great.
To keep a long story short...well actually it's not really a long story....I just like to write music that's really catchy and fun and then grab my bag of random lyrics, put my hand in and pull out a handful of paper, then I use lines from those bits of paper and add them into the song where they fit best, So most of the songs are about many different things, but if a song feels like it's heading towards a really interesting direction then I'll go with it.
Since owning a synth I've been using that a lot in the writing process....but now that the synth got broken and I'll have to go back to my old way of writing songs until I can get a new synth sorted out.
photo by Joshua J Geoghegan
Isaac: What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
The Greenmatics: With the new lineup, we've actually been concentrating on getting the songs sounding bigger and a bit more doof doof, so not a lot of practicing has been going on, but we'll be starting rehearsals again in a couple of weeks since we've got some gigs coming up. I have a very flexible job so I can always put music first, but other people in the band usually have set hours, so it's not always as spontaneous as it could be.
Isaac: How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
The Greenmatics: I've written most of the songs up to this point, I can say that I've learnt a lot from previous band members and from new bands that I've been listening to, plus technology has had a huge hand in it. If I find a really cool preset on a plugin or on my synth, then I can write a whole song around it. It might not be the most creative way to write a song, but 'sounds' really influence me and I've always been one to write the music first and then fit the lyrics around the music.
Isaac: What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
The Greenmatics: Well, I'm repeating myself a bit here, but the whole band member thing was such a huge part of my life and deciding definitely to go "solo with a backing band", as well as moving over to Australia by myself.... that's was quite tough.
I've lost count of how many people that have played in The Greenmatics, but I guess in a way I always had considered it a solo project with a backing band because I've always been the one who writes the songs, books the gigs, makes the websites etc etc etc, so even when I had permanent band members they always took a back seat and did their own thing while I put all my energy into the band by myself.
Isaac: What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune?
The Greenmatics: Not at all. I don't want fame at all and I don't care about fortune - although it would be nice to be able to pay my rent and not have to rely on foodbanks when things get tough.
The whole fame thing freaks me out completely - I've been recognized a few times on the street. From my perspective, I see these people just stare at me, they don't say "oh hey, I saw your band play, it was fun"..... they just stare in such a way that it makes me think I've got food on my face or my skirt is tucked up into my stockings or that a bird just pooped on my head and I don't know.... so very ashamedly I actually end up yelling at some of those people and saying "WHAT!!!!! What are you looking at, do I have food on my face or something, what are you looking at"?????????????? And the poor people just say "I'm sorry, I just saw your band play the other night and enjoyed it, sorry to worry you".
I also need to do the band thing. I need to write music, I need to sing, I need to create songs that I like. If I didn't do it, I would feel naked.... like something was missing. I never, ever planned on being the front person.... I just wanted to be in a band and hide down the back and make fun music. But after failing to find a band to join back in Christchurch, I had no choice. I wrote all the songs and then realized that I'd have to be the vocalist and stand up front, but I made a rule in the band where we all stand in a line when we perform (when it's possible) and all of us are equally as important as the next. Just because I do vocals, it doesn't mean I have to stand up the front...... I like playing instruments with the rest of the band because I'm a classically trained pianist and LOVE synthesizers.
Isaac: What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
The Greenmatics: Please don't give up. Finding band members is like finding yourself a brand new family and it may seem like the most impossible thing you could ever have to do, but good things take time and you really just have to keep at it. Network with anyone and everyone you meet, you never know, somebody might know the perfect person for your band, you've just gotta get out there and make it happen because nobody else is going to do it for you, trust me on that one. I tried joining a band for years in Christchurch and it never worked out, that's the only reason I started up my own band. I figured that if I wrote all the songs, then the easy part would be finding the members..... turns out I was SO wrong!! If you still can't find band members then just hire a backing band, that works too, hhahahahaaaa.
Isaac: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
The Greenmatics: Here's a few websites where you can hear the music (MySpace is probably best for hearing the music). There's also the 'Out Of Limbo' EP for $10 from www.thegreenmatics.com.
Isaac: Is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
The Greenmatics: Absolutely, John Cameron. He's believed in The Greenmatics since pretty much the very beginning and without his support I wouldn't have accomplished even half as much.
Also, all the radio stations who picked up on my music right from the very beginning - RDU, 4ZZZ, Kiwi FM, all the bNet stations in NZ and so, so many more, they have all been so supportive and I can't thank them enough.
Isaac: Any last words?
The Greenmatics: Yeah, being an insomniac isn't fun.
I'm doing this interview at 4am and I'm still not tired...
