The Matinee have six years of music to share with Lethbridge

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It has been a while since Vancouver band the Matinee has been to Lethbridge, so they are excited to return as a part of a tour with the Fast Romantics, which stops by the Slice on Tuesday, April 25.


“Has it been since 2011? I don’t think we even play any of those songs in the set now,” observed frontman Matt Layzell, after being reminded of the last time the band played Lethbridge.

The Matinee play the Slice, April 25. Photo Submitted
They have released two EPS and a two full length CDs since then including their  debut “ We Swore We’d see the Sunrise” and the brand new sophomore effort “ Dancing On Your Grave.”
 “So it’s high time we get back there,” he continued.


“We’ve been through six tour vans,” he observed.
The band members experienced a variety of personal issues in between their two CD’s including deaths in the family and life altering breakups and on the more positive side– children and marriage, so they took tome time away from extensive touring to live normal lives.
 They returned overflowing with ambition and inspiration.

“I went through a really tough break-up. So I ended up  going on a lot of road trips on my own with just me and my dog,” Layzell said.


“ Recording the CD was a lot of fun. It was a very relaxing process. We all brought our ideas and we locked ourselves away in the studio for three or four days. We had no time constraints. And we discovered how much fun it is to just press record and just jam,” he continued, adding , from Layzell to band mates guitarist/pedal steel player/mandolinist/banjo player/vocalist  Matt Rose;  drummer/vocalist Pete Lemon and guitarist/ percussionist Geoff Petrie contributed  to each individual’s ideas.


“We all had our own perspectives and experiences which we brought. And they’re all universal experiences. For me it felt good just to get everything off my chest,” he said, noting that burst of creative freedom resulted in 40 songs the band sifted down to 15 and then to the 11 on the CD.
He noted the first single “ Dancing On Your Drive” was inspired by the death of his grandfather.

“ It’s about celebrating the lives of people we know,” he said.

 


He noted the band chose the songs which worked best together.
“A lot of life changing things have happened, so we think of each song as a chapter in the story,” he said.


“Daily life  can wear you down, so this record was a way to get back to celebrating what we do,” he continued.
“We’re interested in seeing what people think when we play them the record because we never played these songs live before,” he said.


They also have a fun and trippy video for the the title track created by artist Heather MacAuley who used a new virtual reality program Google Tilt Brush.
“It was a a pretty interesting experience. it]s new technology, google tilt brush and 3D virtual reality. She made up her own little world in our song. We didn’t even get to see it until we saw the finished product. I don’t know how the technology works. I don’t even understand Snapchat filters. So  It was interesting watching her do it,” he said, adding the video for the next single “ Blood Alley” will be completely different
“ Blood Alley,” is about gentrification.


“ Blood Alley is an actual place in the oldest part of Vancouver. There used to be slaughterhouses and a jailhouse there where they used to have hangings. Vancouver is an expensive place to live now, especially for artists. You can see that. On one side of the street it’s gentrified and the other  is completely different,” he said.
hey are excited to tour with the Fast Romantics.


“ We‘ve played with them before. And they just signed to our label,” he said, adding they will be opening the show.
“It is a challenge  planning a 40 minute opening set. But it’s fun making a set that will make people listen and dance. We want to make it fun for people,” he said.


The Fast Romantics and the Matinee play The Slice, Tuesday, April 25. at 9 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 April 2017 09:07 )