Award Winning Platinum Artist | MATT CORBY Chats To Us About His New Music

Matt Corby, achieved his commercial breakthrough with his fourth EP, Into the Flame (2011), which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and by April 2012, was certified 6× Platinum by ARIA. His 2011 single "Brother" and his 2013 single "Resolution" both won ARIA Music Awards for Song of the Year. He is the 26th Australian male singer and the 100th Australian act to reach the number one position on the ARIA albums chart with his debut album Telluric (2016). Matt reveals his first new music of 2020, with two brand new songs released via Communion Music this summer. The sun-drenched and optimistic ‘Vitamin’, released August 14, with the timely ode to empathy ‘If I Never Say a Word’ following on August 21.

Matt has recently been collaborating with Tash Sultana, The Riot, Great Gable, and a local musician to him, Budjerah. He has also co-written a song with Sia which will feature in her upcoming musical movie.

Matt had to cancel a North American tour due to the pandemic but will continue to tour when the time is right. He is currently working on a new album.

The pandemic happened at a time where you were in the midst of writing, producing, and collaborating. How has it affected your plans for 2020?

In a way, I was incredibly lucky when the pandemic first started closing everything down as we only had to cancel one tour through North America which, in the bigger picture of what has happened around the world is getting off pretty light. I was probably going to head into my own version of self-isolation as it was this year like most artists do when they are writing and producing.

If I Never Had' & ‘Vitamin' has been described as a ’snapshot’ of this moment in time - can you explain how they represent this period?

We had started working on If I Never Say A Word and Vitamin pre-lockdown and I think I was originally going to put them in the storage lockup until the record was ready, but with the extended period of time off the road I was able to dive in and bring them to light. I don’t think the pandemic has affected these pieces of music. Probably what I start writing from this point will be more affected, because of the pandemic and all the time in isolation. Not even being able to hang out with your mates who you would usually collaborate with has been funny. Making music completely on your own with not even one other person to bounce off has been doing funny things to me. When Matt, Alex and I work together we don’t judge anything until it’s finished. We run purely off instincts and if it feels good put it down and then at the end of the day go ‘ok what is this?’ and every now and then it can feel really great, and maybe the two days before that we didn’t feel that way with the songs that nobody will ever hear – but it’s always worth going down the rabbit hole and trying to find somewhere that you couldn’t find on your own.

What is ‘If I Never Say A Word’ about?

The song is about exercising empathy. Understanding where people are at around you, and sometimes the best thing to do is not say anything and not have an opinion – especially in a time like this. There are people who deserve a voice and deserve to be heard and there is a whole bunch of noise around them from people who are better off just listening. The big chorus is the moment where you see the good traits in someone and you aspire to be able to be like that, and be better yourself so to speak – based on their example and the way that they live life. It’s a challenge to not give your two cents sometimes, and I’m learning to listen a lot more.

What is ‘Vitamin’ about?

Vitamin is all about addictions and the things that keep you in a really unconscious frame of mind. The things that stop you from seeing the big picture and what’s truly important and the people around you that make life great – that give you a vantage point for your existence so to speak. It’s about valuing ideas when they come, and that only comes from being ready to receive those ideas and be conscious for moments and pull your creative mind into building something real – whether it is music or a house or a brilliant piece of writing. Whatever it is. That’s what we mean by vitamins. Where are your vitamins coming from? Most people operate in this quick fix day by day kind of scrambling, and it’s really hard to stop and find all the value in your existence and really come up with cool ideas to make it better. For me, it’s something to strive for. I think everyone has been really stressed. I think for humans, the thing that separates us from animals is our ability to predict the future and make decisions, based on what is to come and our ability to do that has been limited this year. It’s been hard on everyone. However, it’s given people an opportunity as well to overcome things – a chance to stop for a second – and I know that’s been a talking point among people I know, but it’s been really nice to stop and to be at home and to pay attention to the simple things.

Have you done anything different creatively during the pandemic, and/or as a direct result of it?

I’ve been working with a local musician Budjerah which was quite easy because it was only me and him. His family had been self-isolating and so we made sure we were careful and following the guidelines. I was very lucky that Budjerah and I lived in the same state and only a 25-minute drive from one another, it felt like in this time it was meant to be. Although we didn’t get to high five at the end of each day! Anybody who makes music by themselves knows that you can get stuck in your head quite quickly and lose all objectivity, and the pandemic has really amplified the importance of having one other person present so your ideas can either gain momentum or be somewhat objectively worked through because there are two opinions that can be greater than the sum of its parts. On your own it’s hard to know if what you’re doing is any good or not, and it’s very hard to see things through to completion before you dismantle them in your mind – and it might be because there’s no one else there to say ‘nah this is great’, or there’s no one else to tell you ‘you probably should have stopped working on that three hours ago and started something else’.

Have you been collaborating with anyone else over the last year?

I’ve been working in a production and engineering capacity with a number of different acts like The Riot, Great Gable, and Budjerah which has been really exciting and something I’ll be doing more of.

What are your plans moving forward and into 2021?

I’m really looking forward to a few things being released that I’ve been working hard on in that production land. Outside of that, I’ll continue working on writing and recording my own new music, and hopefully, we’ll get to tour it all when the time is right again in the future.

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