Feast your eyes on this!

Peter Matthews has an insatiable thirst for classical music, great performers, and live guitar. And as he makes his winding journey throughout the musically-inclined NYC, you can follow him along and read all about his rapturous adventures on his blog, Feast of Music.  

By day he's a hard-working digital media professional. By night, he masquerades as a band groupie.  Ok, not exactly.  Peter does, however, spend most nights going to different music shows around NY.   Whether it be Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, or a hole-in-the-wall dive bar, you'll find Peter there satiating his thirst for the best mainstream and underground music of the city.

Perhaps he's no expert in guitar, but Peter Matthews certainly knows what he's hearing.  After all, he's seen and heard the music buzz on the vast NY city streets.   And that's why we had to talk to him about what he's seen, what he's done, and what he knows.

You’re a digital media professional, who lives in NYC but your passion is music. How did that start?

Actually, I was originally planning to pursue a career in radio, and had a pretty solid lock on a gig at a classical radio station here where I’d worked during breaks from school. Unfortunately, two months before I graduated, the station changed format to classic rock, and most of the people I knew there were laid off. Fortunately, one of the folks I’d met in the sales department referred me to an agency called MBS, where I became a broadcast media buyer and planner. Did that for seven years, before making the switch to digital media in 2001, which I’ve been doing ever since.

Can you tell me more about your experience playing guitar when you were younger? You said you fooled around with friends' guitars but never had a formal lesson.  Can you expand on that?

I wouldn't say i really ever played guitar: it really was just fooling around. I'm pre-beginner. (Any tips on a decent model I should consider?)

What was it like hosting your own radio show on WSND-FM at the U. of Notre Dame? Who did you interview?

It was as amazing and formative an experience as I’ve ever had. I hosted the show – which was called “Music Notes” every week for a year, prepping my questions on Thursdays, recording on Fridays, editing on Saturdays and airing on Sundays. I made ties with both the university and the South Bend Symphony to interview every touring musician that came through town – mostly classical. Probably the most memorable was interviewing composer Lukas Foss, who used to conduct the Brooklyn Philharmonic and told stories about his close friend Leonard Bernstein. Oh, and pianist John Browning, who brought his Bichon Frise to the studio.

What are your favorite kind of shows to attend?

Anything that’s new, vital and/or sincere.

Do you have favorite kinds of shows or favorite entertainers?

I wouldn't say I have any one favorite kind of show/entertainer. I've had some of the most musically transporting experiences of my life in the smallest, dingiest venues. And, I've been at performances in places like Carnegie Hall or MSG that have completely fallen flat. For me, the ultimate criteria for any performance - be it rock, folk, jazz, bluegrass, classical or experimental - is that the performer puts true effort and emotion into what they're doing, so that at the end of the night, you get the distinct feeling that they've left everything they had out on stage. See my recent post about Akron/Family's show in Portland for a sense of what I mean. (Seth Olinsky's a great guitarist, btw.)

You say you hear live guitar four or five times a week.  What kind of shows with guitar do you see? What kind of guitars (electric, acoustic, classical guitar, etc.) Can you give me examples of a few of the performers, genres, anything you can give me.

Well, ok, maybe 3/4 times a week. Mostly electric, some acoustic, rarely classical. I'd say most of the guitar stuff I see falls into the indie rock/noise category, though there is this electric guitar quartet Dither  that plays what I'd call new music, composed by each of the four members. For example, there's Eric Chenaux, who's a singer/songwriter in a very broad sense, but plays his acoustic like a classical musician, often with dissonance. (He also spends a lot of time doing free improv.) And, of course there are folks like Nels Cline and Bill Frisell who just transcend category (and change their sound any given night.)

It seems that you enjoy lots of classical music—you’ve traveled to Berlin to experience an education program by the Berlin Philharmonic and completed the American Symphony Orchestra League’s “Essentials in Orchestra Management” but do you have any strong ties to guitar?

Other than the fact that I have at least two dozen close friends who play guitar and that I probably hear live guitar in some form four or five nights a week? Not really.

What is the role of guitar in neo-classical music? What do you think of people who play classical music with a guitar?

Interesting. I used to really be into classical guitar – Albeniz, Rodrigo – but it kind of wore out for me. These days, I’m more blown away by guitarists who aren’t necessarily classical, but play with a classical feel. I already mentioned Eric Chenaux, but I must do it again! He's an amazing singer songwriter from Toronto, with an absolutely brilliant classical technique. Composer, too.

Do you play guitar or any musical instruments?

I used to play clarinet and a bit of sax, but gave it up in high school. I’ve fooled around with several friends’ guitars (mostly acoustic) but have never had a formal lesson. Would love to change that, if for no other reason than to join in on late night jam sessions at friends’ houses.

What are your musical influences?

You mean what do I listen to? A very abbreviated list: Beethoven, Bach, Bruckner, Wagner, Messiaen, John Adams, Steve Reich, Coltrane, Miles, Monk, Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, Beirut, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, various electronica

Tell me about the heavy music scene in NY, especially for guitar.

It’s around, like pretty much every type of music you can imagine, though not excessively so. To be honest, not very many clubs feature that kind of music here.

Where do you see NY music going in the future?

More variety, more experimentation and improvisation. There seems to be a trend toward more orchestral, acoustic music on rock stages, which I’m obviously thrilled about. People’s tastes are becoming more and more sophisticated, mostly due to the iPod and people’s insatiable appetite for new sounds. If they only knew what kind of crazy shit went on in concert halls…

Tell me about your blog, Feast of Music.

It’s about live music, mostly here in New York, but occasionally other places. And the word “live” is key: I love recordings, but there is something truly powerful that can take place only when you’re sharing the same space with artist(s) fully in the grips of something they themselves don’t control or comprehend.  

What I try to do is write about all types of music with the same mindset: classical, jazz, folk, indie, experimental. I try to keep things simple, and concentrate on conveying the essence of the experience, rather than evaluating it on some kind of subjective quality standard. Looking back on nearly 1,000 posts now, music has given me some of the most  mindblowing experiences of my life, both in gilded concert halls and graffiti-covered rock rooms.  

Oh, and people tell me I take nice pictures, which sometimes gets me into trouble at places like Carnegie and the Met Opera. But, I’m not going to stop.