On September 18th 2015, Matt Dorgan will be releasing his latest album as part of the CityFolk Marvest shows. You can check him out at 11pm at the Original Burger Joint (free show/all ages).
Breaking Radio Silence was originally planned as a spring release earlier this year, but as things were progressing, Matt decided to take a different route. “I took a few courses to brush up on my mixing and mastering skills. This latest one was recorded on my own. Working out the ideas in my head was easier to accomplish this way. I could also control the sound a little more on my own.”
Matt continued, “Now that I’ve gone down that wormhole, I’ve kinda turned into gear nut. But it’s also freeing. It allows me to dial up the sounds that I want and the album is cohesive throughout.”
Breaking Radio Silence was then planned as an early summer release until Matt discovered he would be playing at CityFolk this year.
I asked Matt about how he felt the new album compared to his first effort, to which he responded, “It’s an extension of my last album and the electronic jazz sound. It starts off in that realm anyway. Nine Inch Nails’ “Hesitation Marks” and Thom Yorke were part of my inspiration. The Nine Inch Nails release was at the forefront of beats and I liked Thom’s latest for the minimalist sound. I was blending those 2 ideas and I think you can hear that influence throughout.”
He also added, “It’s my most most ambitious work yet. Jazz/rock has been my experience, but I also dive into pop a little bit. For the violin tracks, I went out and bought a violin and learned to get around it enough to lay down the tracks I needed. I incorporated some other instruments that I don’t normally touch like banjo and electronic sax.”
Our conversation then drifted toward Matt’s live show and the visuals he has started to incorporate. “As it’s just me on stage, I was looking for a way to add to my live show. I started to play with projections, like what you would experience at an EDM show.”
Matt has also incorporated his DIY attitude into the visuals as well. “I coded a tablet app that works over wifi in realtime. It allows the crowd to change the videos while I’m playing. Everything is in sync with the timing of the music. You can see how it all comes together in the video for El Pato. I have a partner that handles the tablet and walks it through the crowd.”
As for the content Matt stated, “It’s currently a combination of open source, but we are developing our own content. I’m hoping to cusomtize everything eventually.”
Asking about what people could expect to hear during a live show, Matt mentioned, “I’ll typically use the laptop to start off a beat. After that I’m looping and recording real time as I play. I try to keep the music similar to the album, but there is room for improv based on the crowd’s reaction.”
In addition to his own music, Matt has been collaborating with some rappers. You can hear his various contributions on Alex Silas’ upcoming remix album, where he remixed and added instrumentation for Mouton Noir. He’s also worked with Aspects and done a remix for Son Real (which you can hear on his SoundCloud page).
Up next for the Matt Dorgan Project is a POP Montreal appearance on September 19th. Later this fall, he’s heading out on a 15 day tour of eastern Canada, all the way out to PEI. Keep an eye on his website for future dates.
Finally, be sure to check out the video for El Pato, the first single off Breaking Radio Silence. The video gives you a good sense of Matt’s live show.
[youtube=https://youtu.be/nL8r6Ua_ZhI]