By Collin Quick
December 16, 2002

It’s an hour and a half after Matt Nathanson’s final show of his fall tour and he has just sat down with me after ordering dinner. The past two nights, Nathanson and fellow friend/cellist Matt Fish played to two sold out crowds at Chicago’s Schubas Tavern. Over those two evenings, Matt played a variety of songs from his four CD’s and his new EP, When Everything Meant Everything, and even some sing-a-longs from the ‘80‘s. I was able to sit down and talk to Matt about the tour, his music, his view of life in general and how his year went.

Me: I’m going to steal something from Rolling Stone Magazine...they had their people of the year sum up their year in 5 words...Matt, sum up your year in 5 words.

Matt: Um, oh boy. (Counting on his fingers) Way beyond my wildest expectations.

Me: Why is that?

Matt: I think because everything just kept getting better, you know? More people kept coming, more records, people kept buying records, more positive shit. More people, like I was just able to do it, it became a lot easier to do it, it was a lot less banging your head against the wall.

Me: How did the fall tour go?

Matt: The fall tour was great. Mason Jennings and I did some co-headlining stuff and then I did some headlining stuff, and then opened for O.A.R. They are the best human beings. I really locked into touring with O.A.R. and Howie (Day) and just these really good people and stuff and its fun.

Me: I heard that you and O.A.R. did some U2 songs as well.

Matt: Oh yeah my favorite band of all time. It was a blast. I get to sing with the band, I feel like I have a band.

Me: Congrats on signing with Universal Records.

Matt: Thanks.

Me: Are you going to miss running everything yourself?

Matt: You know, I think there’s, I don’t know if I’ll miss, It’s gonna be, I’m excited to delegate work. I think I might miss it if things getting annoying, you know what I mean, if it become all fighting and all battles. But I think things are good, I have faith in the label, to some extent, that things will go well. They are really nice and their intentions are good, so we will see.

Me: Hypothetical Question. If Universal asked you to pick any one of your songs for radio play, which one would it be?

Matt: I’d say “Answering Machine” because everyone seems to react to that, so that’s why I’d pick it.

Me: Have you ever had just a really, really bad show?

Matt: Oh my God, I have them weekly (laughs). I played Summerfest in Milwaukee, and its just certain times where it sucks awfully.

Me: Yeah, what happened at Summerfest?

Matt: I just shouldn’t have been there. They didn’t want me, I shouldn’t have been there and I didn’t want to be there, so I have bad shows for sure.

Me: Does the audience make or break the show all the time? Or can you have those nights where you just get up there, give it your all and even though the crowd didn’t get into it, you know you did a damn good show?

Matt: They kinda do. It’s like, cause if I’m putting it all out, I can still get off and go “Well, I did my best but I wasn’t good enough” My thing is so much based on getting them excited. There’s so much more fun when there’s energy. So, sometimes the crowd can be kinda like sedated, and I won’t take it personally, but most of the time I do take it personally (laughs).

Me: Are the reps the best thing that can happen to an up and coming artist?

Matt: Oh my god, for sure. For fucking sure, yeah. They are the shit. And its funny, some of them don’t do anything and its a bummer but the one’s that are fucking really good make up for everybody. They rule.

Me: What are you listening to right now? What’s in your CD player?

Matt: Faith Hill’s new record cause I really like that Angie Aparo song. I went out and I went crazy at Tower Records. I bought Highway to Hell by AC/DC and I’m listening to the new Tori Amos. So those 3 things were in the car today.

Me: I’m gonna give you a line from Almost Famous.

Matt: Great movie. I love that movie.

Me: Do you have to be depressed to write a sad song? Do you have to be in love to write a love song? Is a song better if it really happened to you?

Matt: I do. For me, very much. I’m not a very good liar, at all. I don’t lie at all. I really need to feel it and it’s almost a disservice, but I would say yes that I would have to experienced it to know it, for sure.

Me: If you could have written any song ever, what would it be?

Matt: Oh my god. With or Without You. If I could have been a part of that song. I think the production of that song, the lyrics, the writing, the band, the vibe, the fucking magic that song is perfect.

Me: Congrats on the new EP.

Matt: Oh cool thanks.

Me: Are you ready to back into studio again?

Matt: Oh yeah! I psyched.

Me: Is it going to be full band?

Matt: It’s going to be some acoustic stuff and some full band stuff and I'm psyched cause I have six songs that didn’t make it on the EP that were going to be on the record. You know, “Curve of the Earth”, “Bare”, “I Saw”, “Sing Me Sweet”, “Prove to Me”, and its gonna be fun to do those songs up again and then it’ll be fun to write some new stuff. I’m psyched.

Me: Would you like to go out full band?

Matt: Yes, yes. I would love it. I just gotta make sure that its cost effective and it would be now, but I just really want to make it super and do it right.

Me: There’s a line in “Pretty the World” of the new EP that goes....

       I never thought that I could be who I am
       I never thought that I could see where I was
       I always thought that all this was just wasn't me
       I always thought that all this was could never be

Are you writing this now and looking back at where you came from and the fame and fans that you have now?

Matt: No it’s funny. I would say those moments of clarity, like this lyric shows, are intermitted in my everyday life. There’s moments when I don’t feel that way and there are moments when I feel like “Oh my god, I finally got it.” I’m pretty late in the blooming process and so I think this is a realization of like “Oh my god, I finally think I've got a little bit of a handle on it, on me.” You know what I mean? It’s pretty new, unfortunately, for me (laughs).

Me: What exactly is a Little Victory?

Matt: Oh my god. Its funny it’s like, In the world, I just realized that there are no triumphs, no humongous triumphs. When I can sell out 2 nights at Schubas, or sell out one night at Schubas, or when I can get anyone to come to my show in Chicago, or when I can get a record deal, then I’ll be happy, then I’ll be smiling, then I’ll be psyched. And there’s just these little victories along the way of this long, long walk, you know what I mean? Sometimes its uphill, sometimes it’s downhill, but it’s always just a constant walk. And so that’s it.

Me: So for every high point, they’re 10 low points?

Matt: Sure. And you just have to dig the high points and when the low points come, don’t be surprised.

Me: Going back to selling out Schubas. I don’t know if you knew this or not, but Dave Matthews Band was in town last night and there were definitely more people here tonight then there were last night. Do think it amazing that you sold out both nights, especially last night, when you have DMB halfway across town?

Matt: I think its pretty fun, its pretty kick-ass. But DMB sold out so quick too. But it was neat, I was glad, I was worried, but I’m glad that people came. I don’t know why (I was worried), but I’m glad they did, for sure.

Me: What up and coming artists have you shared the stage with that you think will make it big?

Matt: Oh I don’t know, I’m terrible at that kinda thing. But there are people that I dig. I love O.A.R, Howie, Jump Little Children, Blu Sanders who opened for me last night. And I love Andrew Kerr and Stephen Kellogg, and there’s these great human beings making music and I’ve been lucky enough to play with them. Mason Jennings is the shit. That kid is the best. So those people are just great human beings and their fun and I hope they get what they want.

Me: What would you say to someone who wants to be an artist themselves?

Matt: It’s all about being to stupid to stop. Don’t listen to anybody, you don’t look around you, you just put your head down and go. And that’s it. There’s no magic potion or secret recipe. It’s just, fucking, being persistent and too stupid to listen to anybody else.

Me: Thank you very much Matt.

Matt: Yeah, you bet, your welcome.