Matt Marque: Archive

Jul 19th

Jul 14th

1 tag

Jul 8th

2 notes

1 tag

Jun 17th

2 notes

dearnotabby asked: Shit dude, I just saw you posted your tumblr on SomethingAwful, and I was wondering if it was the same Matt Marque whose music myspace I had added years ago, and sure enough, it was. I'm glad to see you're still doing music, I always dug the shit out of it, Makeout and Blowback in particular.
-Jason / The Banned on SA

Jun 14th

1 tag

Jun 14th

For one brief, glorious moment, both of my neighbors were playing R. Kelly today at the same time.

Jun 13th

1 tag

This article just rode its tall bike straight into... →

From the article: I know you. You’re a male between, what, 18 and 35? Probably well educated but slightly underachieving, kind of nerdy in an ironic-so-it’s-okay kinda way, and a huge fan of independent rock music. And if you’re like most people in this demographic, it’s always been a dream of yours to be in a band. Not just any old local band that stinks up basements and...

Jun 12th

1 tag

Nilatir

The A-side to the Disconap 7” record. Probably dating from around 2000. This was my first attempt at “real” lyrics, and while I can’t say it holds up too well, I’m still partial to it for purely nostalgic reasons. And yes, the fact that it spells ‘ritalin’ backwards was my ham-handed attempt at being clever. Nilatir by mattmarque

Jun 11th

1 tag

I will feel so good when you're gone.

This isn’t the first song I ever wrote, but it’s close. I’m actually a little embarrassed by it from my vantage point of over a decade. Still. I will feel so good when you’re gone. by mattmarque From the out-of-print demo tape ‘Lightbulb, Fork, String.’

Jun 11th

1 tag

Department of the Interior

I’m actually excited about this one. Like everything else, it needs a ton of work, but I think it’s starting to resemble a real song. Or at least it will if I can find the right vocal melody. I’m including the original loop for comparison’s sake, since there’s a fair amount of changes that have occurred since I wrote it. (Warning—it hasn’t been trimmed,...

Jun 10th

1 tag

This Dream I Had.

First song I started working on after Nothing Personal, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. It’s really just an extended part, so it’d need a lot of work before it became something I’d want to sing over. I’m including it here mainly because I keep forgetting about it otherwise. This Dream I Had by mattmarque

Jun 10th

1 tag

A Darkness in the Glare

Here’s another one I’m working on. Apologies for the audio in some places, as well as the lack of vocals. I’m still trying to nail down the overall framework, so a lot of this is still a rough sketch. On the one hand, I like the speed of the final version, and the way the bell/chime sound comes back in towards the end. On the other hand, the second half seems forced and...

Jun 10th

1 tag

You Who Enter

Somewhat of a before/after of a song (tentatively) called You Who Enter from my upcoming record. The original draft lacks vocals, organ and embellishments, but I figured I’d include it here anyway. I should also note that the final version here isn’t actually final, because it still needs to be recorded in a proper studio. More of this hereafter. New Recordings by mattmarque ...

Jun 10th

1 tag

Oh My Darling

I wrote this song when I was 20 or 21. The actual title, if memory serves, was ‘Flip and Fuck,’ and was a reference to a friend’s oversized (and eminently collapsable) red chair that doubled as a bed. I’m not sure when I started referring to it as Oh My Darling, but it was probably not long after seeing the words Flip and Fuck in print. It was originally the B-side to...

Jun 9th

“When your hobby becomes your job it can sometimes lose its appeal so it is...”

May 25th

I can has studio.

I’m the proud co-owner of new studio space. For the past few years I’ve been recording at home, but, after realizing that my aesthetic was calling for less car horns and shrieking pedestrians, I decided to get a Real Place to work on music without interruption. As it just so happens, a friend of mine was looking to share her space, and so here I am. Right now I’m busy futzing...

May 25th

Apr 27th

12 fun facts about Nothing Personal.

If you listen closely to the lyrics in Blowback, you’ll realize that (surprise) they don’t make any sense. They’re the original placeholder sounds I used while adding all the backing tracks so we would know where we were in terms of the overall mix. I did at one point have actual lyrics written out, but they didn’t…sing right, and when we compared them to the...

Mar 26th

1 tag

Steal this business model.

Ever since picking up a copy of The Baffler in High School, I’ve taken a keen interest in the record industry. The actual mechanics of it I mean. How records are made, how they’re marketed, etc. I’m certainly not the first to make the observation that the music industry doesn’t so much resemble a mature, vibrant enterprise as an incomprehensible foreign soap opera, what...

Jan 11th

Dec 7th

1 tag

I swear I'm never writing another record review...

Bobby Conn: King For A Day / Trans Am: Sex Change (Thrill Jockey) Over the course of a decade, Bobby Conn has managed to carve out a curious niche in the already-crowded panoply of Chicago’s music scene. Once known primarily for his frenzied live shows (seminars really) and style-a-minute recordings, he has naturally resisted easy categorization due in no small part to the sheer grasp and...

Nov 17th

1 tag

Elliott Smith (1969 - 2003)

N.B. I started writing this before I realized I hate writing about musicians even more than I hate writing about hating to write about musicians. Elliott Smith (1969 - 2003) To the millions of Americans watching at home during the 1997 Academy Awards, Elliott Smith must have seemed a strange sight. This was the year of the juggernaut, of Titanic and Celine Dion. The question that night was...

Nov 9th

1 tag

Sleep deprivation rears its pretty head.

This morning, as I was walking back from getting coffee, something caught my eye. I almost don’t want to say what it was because it’s one of those things that people will look at you funny if you bring it up, or worse, think you’re angling for some sort of Mr. Artist Guy-type consideration. And it wasn’t anything special, really, just a puddle lying between the curb and the sidewalk on Ashland...

Mar 5th

I will write you a song. For money.

The Romans got a lot of things right. From erecting aquaducts and roads, to inadvertently starting major world religions to kicking the shit out of their neighbors, they were badasses. I’ve been reading about them again and I came across something else I liked: the patronage system. How it works is: you have a patron and a client. The patron is usually a wealthy (or wealthier) person. The...

Jan 23rd

A Very Minor And Inconsequential Defense Of...

A friend of mine recently asked me about 4-tracks, and I wrote her a response. Not a very good one I guess, but it got me thinking– I’ve long since retired the ol’ trusty Tascam Portastudio, but I still harbor a certain, perhaps sentimental fondness for them, and some of my happiest memories date from the time I lived by myself on Southport and, armed with nothing but a 4-track and the prospect...

Dec 26th