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The Review - MUSIC - grooves with RóISíN GADELRAB
Published: 23 October 2009

Local musician: Matt Motte

Sat with Mat

INTERVIEW: MAT MOTTE

Local musician Mat Motte, former frontman of indie-punk outfit Mower, unveils his individual new sound at Camden’s Enterprise pub this month

You put on quite wild performances. Describe what people can expect from your shows.
I’ll shake them around like a lunatic and belt out some high-pitched shouting along with chunky beats and guitars. We also like to encourage a bit of audience participation, so if you have a torch handy, bring it with you and all will be revealed…

Camden resident Graham Coxon (of Blur) spotted you performing with Mower back in 2000 and signed you to his Transcopic record label. What advice did he give you about the music biz?
I'm really grateful to Graham for giving me a chance and having my back at a young, impressionable age. His advice rang true with me. It was, basically, “Don't allow yourself to be bullied or manipulated by anyone!"

Is that because you were the weird kid at school?
Maybe. I was the kid that nobody liked. I had opinions and a big mouth – some people didn’t take well to that. I was always an outsider, which gave me a bit of a chip on my shoulder and something to prove. I went to an all boys school, so when I went to university [Mat studied History at Goldsmiths in New Cross] I discovered girls and got my heart broken a few times. But Goldsmiths also gave me a sort of liberal political realisation and really shaped my musical outlook.

Your new tracks like Business is War and The Brockley Boxer reveal influences like Captain Beefheart, The Rapture, Pixies and Parliament-Funkadelic. What new bands do you rate?
There are loads to choose from, but I’m really into Anchorsong, and I’m also listening to a lot of an electro group from Canada called MSTRKRFT.

Catch Mat Motte and his band at The Enterprise, Chalk Farm Road, London on October 30th.

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