1. Artist Name...
Matthew Kenneth Munhall--- MATT MUNHALL ---
2. Hometown...
Worthington/Columbus, Ohio
3. Style of music...
Singer-songwriter who's been known to draw on classical, folk, blues, jazz, and rock and roll themes, rhythms, melodies, and vocal articulation. I write songs with a beginning, middle, and end. I perform songs with only that song in mind, in other words there is no construct or form that limits me except the construct of being the song.
4. Describe with emotions how music makes you feel…
Music gives me hope. It fills the space that is empty. It helps me realize how connected we truly are. It inspires, gives me energy, brings me up, brings me down, takes me to the countryside, and takes me back downtown. It puts you in someone else's shoes, lets you roll around in their bed, let's you see in side their head. Music gives you memories you can visit if you can only find that cd you left somewhere along the line. It elevates the normal, mundane, and quiet moments into moments where lights are going on upstairs and toes are tapping and something important is happening. And when there are a lot of folks around you having that same feeling, that gives a man hope. Hope that we can get this right, or at least enjoy it. That's a bit of what it makes me feel.
5. Quote yourself on your music philosophy...
Good music is ultimately made from the moderation of craftsmanship and creativity. Music is essentially expression tempered by communicable forms and that is why one needs to be a craftsman to a greater or lesser extent. I play and enjoy music that has only a little craftsmanship and much creativity, or vice versa. That being said, music made with the very best craftsmanship and creativity is what I would call great music. One step further is the performance of music. Here is where the philosophy ends and the mysticism begins. I believe in order to create and perform great music one must have some sort of idea of all this rolling around in their head.
6. What inspires you, what are your influences?
Just a list of some my biggest influences chronologically
Artist (for what?)
Beethoven(sonatas), Chopin(preludes), Joplin(rags), Gershwin(standards, orchestral work), Copland (americana folk arrangements for symphony, other modern symphonic works), Johnson(blues innovations), Ellington(pop/jazz standards, big band arrangements), Ella Fitzgerald (phrasing, articulation, personal and emotional ownership in performance of song), Frank and Louis for same reasons, Dave Brubeck (live jazz piano interpretations with trio), the slew of New Orleans piano players of whom James Booker is my personal favorite. Ray Charles.
Then we begin to see the singer songwriter, so here we go...Woody, Chuck Berry, Dylan, Van Morrison, Croce, Chapin, John Paul and George, Elton, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Nick Drake, Tom Waits, Harry Nilsson, RANDY NEWMAN, you get the idea. Bands...The Band, C,S,N, and Young, Queen, Pink Floyd, etc., anyhow a ton of bands from the seventies. The eighties are not my expertise. Moving on...Counting Crows, Wallflowers, Smashing Pumpkins, Tha Black Crows. Ok biggest influences alive and kicking today... Wilco,
Richard Julian, Andrew Bird, Ben Folds, Ryan Adams, Damien Rice, Coldplay, Radiohead, and the band plays on and on and on.
