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10 Questions with ... Matt Vasquez
September 29, 2014
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1. How did the band get together?
We all came up together in Southern California. Kelly Winrich and I went to rival high schools in Orange County. I met Brandon Young busking in San Diego. Jon Jameson came to a show of mine when I was 19, and Will McLaren worked at a guitar shop down the street from Jon.
2. For your new album you worked with veteran producer Ben Alleon. Tell us about that.
Working with Ben Alleon on our new album was something that needed to happen. We had spent about a year working out the songs for Into The Wide. In the beginning, Hurricane Sandy flooded our whole studio with waste water. We spent the next year building everything back up. It was a windowless room we nicknamed The Rat Cave. We had about 45+ songs written before Ben entered the picture. When Ben stepped in, he was super-assertive. He really helped build our confidence back up. Instead of working in the windowless Rat Cave, we drove down to Atlanta and worked in Ben's studio. Natural light also had a lot to do with how things perked up. Things just clicked down there.
3. What is your approach to songwriting?
I try to not have an approach. I want to be as formless as possible, so when something comes it can be itself. I don't really capture things. They brew up later after an epiphany. You can write a book off one really good epiphany. Basking in the idea is when you get the good stuff.
4. Do you guys have a favorite radio station?
Anyone that plays our music and our friends' music, we're thankful for. Homegrown Rock 'n' Roll isn't something that gets a lot of love these days. So we're very appreciative when it does.
5. What was the first song you fell in love with growing up?
"Come As You Are" (Nirvana). It was the first song I learned on guitar in the 3rd grade.
6. Who are some of the artists who inspire you?
EDJ, Peter Matthew Bauer, Nathaniel Rateliff, Jesse Marchant, Bonnie Raitt.
7. What has been your favorite music festival to play so far?
I love High Sierra Music Festival the best. People can camp right on the grounds. We also get to play two sets!
8. What was the inspiration for your first new single, "From Now On"?
The mysterious way in which people become friends. It's almost absurd how we meet some of the most important people in our lives. There's something that just clicks and there it is...
9. If you had the opportunity to work with any artist from the past, present or future, who would it be and why?
My answer always changes when I'm asked this question. Today, it would it would be fun to make drones while Willem De Kooning painted. He was part of the whole New York school (Pollock, Rothko).
10. What's on tap next for Delta Spirit?
With the new album just out, we'll be on tour throughout the U.S. starting in October.
Bonus Questions
Okay, cheeky question...who is your "spirit animal" and why?
Monkey, always has been, always will be. I like bananas and climbing things.
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