Music:
Member Since: 01/04/2007
Band Website: www.vanderwant-letcher.com
Band Members: Matthew van der Want - songs, vocals, guitar, hysterics
Sounds Like:
Matthew van der Want (only better)
South African songwriter (and attorney, ex part-time arts journalist and one-time lecturer in law. )
I have been on myspace since April 2007.In 1996, Tic Tic Bang! released my debut solo CD "Turn on You", Licensed from Shifty Records.
Then in 1997, Chris Letcher and I released "ep Tombi", through Tic Tic Bang. Chris and I met while his former band, Urban Creep, were recording in the same studio in which my debut, "Turn on You" was recorded by Lloyd Ross of Shifty.
"ep Tombi" was a giant raspberry directed at the South African music fishbowl and a fantastically bad career move. It made lots of people hate us - think they got over it, though. It made a couple of diehards laugh. I still think the liner notes are inspired.
In 1998, Tic Tic Bang! released the "van der want/letcher: low riding" CD. It was hailed by the critics: "two of the country's best songwriters unite on an exceptional...". Chris and I toured SA for the next two years pretty much non-stop. Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Grahamstown, Northam, Wilderness, Kimberley (perhaps the worst gig in the history of music...ever), Stellenbosch etc. It was gruelling and felt like we were not making a difference. Since stopping doing music full-time, I've realised that we were making a difference. A small one.
In 2001, during a lengthy break from the recording of Chris and my next full-length album, (occasioned (mainly) by my histrionics), I released "play my way", a solo CD through my own label, bichin' pitchin. Produced, recorded, written, directed and starring... My "Clint Eastwood" record. I recorded and toured this album while studying a law degree at Wits University, Johannesburg. In fact, as I recall, "play my way" funded my studies, as I did not have to give 88% of the profits to a record company. I had, in a previous life, obtained the Bachelor of Arts and English Literature Honours degrees from the same university.
In 2002, Sheer Music released "van der want/letcher: bignity". Sheer is Chris Letcher's current label. At around this time, Sheer offered me a distribution deal for "play my way". These negotiations ended with me asking a Sheer minion to resend his emailed deal proposal, as every time I opened it, my screen kept filling up with sh!t... True story. Burning bridges has never been difficult for me. I can be impossible.
In the meanwhile, I fooled around in my home recording studio and in 2003, I produced "Kombuis Musiek - various artists sing the songs of Koos Kombuis" which was released by Benjy Mudie of Fresh Music. A fight with Gary Herselman, who had worked on the album with me, ended my interest in the project and I did not take up Benjy Mudie's offer to extend the contract.
I started my legal articles at Wits Law Clinic in 2002 and finished them at a glamourous Johannesburg law firm, working for a madman with a calvinist work ethic, before returning to Wits Law Clinic, where I worked for a year as an attorney doing evictions work for the extremely poor.
Chris and I got together for a whirlwind, whiskey-soaked (nothing younger than 15 years) tour of SA late in 2005, and released a tour CD called "Casual Killing". Well, "released" is a little strong, really. We sold it on tour. Some of those songs now appear on a twenty track "best of" CD I put together in May 2008 called "Matthew van der Want: best & worst". With Lloyd Ross' blessing, I put "best & worst" together while working as a senior associate regulatory and natural resources lawyer at a massive commercial law firm in Johannesburg.
I play the occasional gig solo or with Chris (when he's in SA, although this hasn't happened for a while). The New Plan is to put a band together...scratch that. The New Plan is the same as the old plan - I'm a solo artist who sings about himself. Deal with it. Yes, the "putting a band together" thing didn't really work out. I fired the drummer, who then stole my guitarist. I did some solo shows with the bass player, who, for a while, was also my guitarist. Happy families. The most memorable of these was an "acoustic encounters" slot with Harris Tweed at the Grahamstown Festival in July 2008
I have sat through 3 (three) SAMA award ceremonies as a nominee, but I have never won anything.
I read the Amises - Kingsley and Martin. And Julian Barnes. I recently found Martin Amis' myspace page and asked to be his "friend". Feels a bit creepy.
I smoke and drink.
I am divorced and have two daughters, Emily (6) and Sarah (1.5). I live in a flat in Linden, Johannesburg, next door to Chris Chameloen's mother.
I'm seeing a lawyer.
Record Label: unsigned previously Sheer, Tic Tic Bang and Shifty
Type of Label: Indie
