After years of touring the world through different musical projects, Foster has branched into a solo career, where he can further create those meaningful moments with his audience and experiment with his latest songs. Matt spoke with us about the adventure that is collaboration, letting go as a musician and what he appreciated most about music.
How did you get involved in music in the first place?
I almost don’t know how. There’s no real music in my family, but my older brother had maybe taken some guitar lessons so there was a guitar around and I just felt like I wanted to. Maybe sports wasn’t working or something.
Oh yeah, like you just needed a hobby.
Yeah, and my parents are just like any parents trying to put their kids into whatever. I don’t know why I fell in love with it, but it ended up being a way to connect with friends. It was really about people. I learned the guitar in a sort of lonely guitar lesson kind of way. I don’t think I ever really loved it or not, but I knew enough by the time I was 12 or so to be able to make some noise in the basement with my friends. I’ve just been doing it ever since. It’s the connection to others that I think draws me to music.
So when you were learning, did you get formal lessons, or did you teach yourself?
I took weekly guitar lessons for a long time, and I think I learned a lot without actually knowing that I had learned a lot. I was terrible at practicing, but I was interested, so I absorbed it. I didn’t get any good until I started playing with friends in bands. I think the ability to play music sat dormant in me for a long time.
I’ve always been attracted to people with terrible voices, and that sort of bang-and-smash kind of attitude towards music.
Yeah, where the emotion and just the drive to do it is just as musical as maybe someone who can sing all the right notes and hit those beautiful melodies.
I hosted an open mic the other day, and I just love seeing people needing to get it out of them. I can relate. I try to be a better guitar player, and I try to become a better singer, but it’s always just about expression and communication and having a feeling and wanting it to explode out of you.
You’ve been playing with The Crooked Brothers, and now you’re going more into the solo realm. Is there anything about going solo that has changed you as a musician?
Every time I’ve put on a concert in the past two years, I’ve been trying to play with a completely different band, which is scary and so challenging. You don’t have the safety net of knowing what it’s going to be like. That’s been exciting. It has taught me a lot about letting go of preconceived ideas of what the concert’s going to be like and trying to embrace the moment.
It’s like trying to put on the same play every night but with a different cast.
Oh yeah. However, I feel like in theatre that would be a complete disaster where music is a bit more freeing.
Yeah, like there’s room. I like to think of the songs I write as little rooms I’ve discovered. I clear away the clutter, and maybe it’s dark in there, but I can feel the walls and discover the space for myself. Then you invite different people into it, and they find their own way of lighting the place up and decorating the room. Then we all create that space together and revisit it with different people over and over again.
That’s a nice way to explain the heart of collaboration, which can be pretty challenging for a lot of people. It’s nice to hear that it’s helping you expand as a person and a musician. On that note, spontaneous collaboration is a big thing at Harvest Sun. Is there anyone on the roster this year that you’re hoping to do something with?
I’m very open to throwing my songs into the dangerous waters of collaboration, but as far as specific people...Do you know who I love so much? Mise En Scene. Those folks are incredible. They have such good energy. I saw them at Festival this year, and I poked at them to see like, ‘would you ever?’ And we laughed about it.
I like music because the energy of it just brings people together, and you do meet people you would never meet otherwise. I’ve traveled all around the world and have met so many beautiful people because of that vibration of strings. It’s such a magical thing to me. I feel open to it, but I don’t want to call anybody out or put anyone on the spot and say let’s collaborate!
Do you have any upcoming projects you want to talk about?
I’m gearing up for a new album, with all this writing that I’ve been doing, and putting things in a little incubator after trying on a thousand different hats. When you record it, all of a sudden it does sort of get crystallized into one final form. After all of this free movement between different actors and players and sounds, I may be paralyzed a little bit by not being able to choose one [version], because I’ve loved the process so much.
What I would say though is I have been playing guitar with Leonard Sumner . I’m not going to pitch my music; I’m going to pitch his [laughs]. He’s a beautiful man, and a beautiful artist, with very important messages and music.
You’ve been playing the festival circuit just in the history of you being a musician, and you’ve been to Harvest Sun, so why do you think it’s so important to have something like this especially in Manitoba?
I think festivals everywhere are just my happy place. They have such a community vibe, and they’re something to look forward to in a place like this where we have such long winters, and very isolating climates and jobs. We are more connected because of the internet, but I also feel like there’s a lot of disconnect and so gatherings, celebrations, eating together and playing music together, and just being able to drop everything for a few days is one of the most important things in our lives and our culture. To celebrate one another and celebrate things that make life beautiful, we can all do that for each other. I think Harvest Sun is a shining example of that.
Catch Matt Foster when he hits the stage at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. Tickets are still on sale now! Grab your tickets by midnight on August 10th and be entered to win our Clear Lake & Harvest Sun GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY!
Tune into the Harvest Sun Instagram on August 8th, as Matt takes over our feed and takes you through some behind-the-scenes action.
Janet Adamana is the Founder/Editor-In-Chief of Sound, Phrase & Fury Magazine - a Winnipeg-based digital publication dedicated to promoting independent artists and industry professionals from all over the world. More than just about inciting hype, she interviews/writes to capture an artists’ essence and their greatest passions to ignite meaningful connections between fans and really great bands.