MATT TAYLOR
COMRADE
With a certain delay - as this article should have been online more than 6 months ago - we bring you a new focus to end 2024 on a high note.
We hope this year has given you the chance to catch some great waves and, hopefully, join us on one of our SURF NIGHTS!
Today, we're talking about Matt Taylor, American musician and co-founder of the band born in the early 2000s: The Growlers.
As principal composer and one of two guitarists in this Californian band from Dana Point, he has left his own signature on the group's unique sound, a subtle fusion of garage and surf rock pop.
The Growlers have toured the world, founded their own festival, the Beach Goth, and released no less than 9 albums.
We recommend the brilliant “Chinese Fountain”, “Hot Tropics” and “Gilded Pleasures”.
We still remember meeting Matt during their concert at the Iboat in Bordeaux, in 2015, where we had the pleasure of arranging the screening of Palmera Express, opening the show.
A surf film produced by the brand Vissla, for which Matt had composed the soundtrack.
In 2020, Matt decided to step away from the band to start a new musical adventure.
Last year, he released his first solo album under the name YASAWA GROUP.
Entitled “Enter the Chrysalis”, the album features 19 tracks of pure pop-surf-rock drive, both haunting and irresistible.
An avid surfer for many years, Matt shares his sessions with surfing friends such as Alex Knost and members of the Allah-Las band.
Enjoy your reading, let yourself be enchanted by his music, and if the album wins you over, don't hesitate to grab the vinyl version.
See you next year ♥.
- Hi Matt,
Where are you from and where do you live today?
"I’m from California, South Orange County.
I grew up in Dana Point.
Today, I live in a little farming town called Ojai about 20 minutes inland from the Ventura coast at the foot of a mountain."
- When did you start playing an instrument and writing songs?
"I was a late bloomer when it came to playing music, although I always loved it.
It was basically my entire identity in my teen years.
I’d listen to hardcore and punk and go to shows.
That was it.
Then I started smoking weed and listening to 60’s Reggae, The Doors and The Velvet Underground, etc.
I was about 19 when I picked up my Dad’s guitar that was always sitting in the corner of his room untouched.
I started the Growlers about a year later, still having no idea how to play anything but a handful of chords.
I think that was the magic of it though. "
I guess the ones with flow and style and have made their own paths in the industry. "
- Where and how did you start surfing ?
"My brother was an amazing long boarder when I was a kid.
He would compete for the Doheny Longboard Club. My dad was also in the club.
He tried to teach me when I was about 8 but I got over it because my Dad never had the patience to sit there with me.
He and my brother would give me some pointers then take off, haha.
It wasn’t until I was 18 or 19 that I picked it up again.
I would surf Strands Point, San Onofre and Salt Creek mostly but Doheny was where I had my training wheels on. "
- What bands did you listen to when you were younger, and what made you want to start a band?
"A lot of local punk / hardcore when I was a pre-teen and young teen like Gorilla Biscuits, Unbroken, Vision of Disorder, Earth Crisis.
Then I got into all the classic rock shit like The Doors, The Stones, Beatles etc. and that led to Velvet Underground, Iggy pop, and The Clash, Richard Hell but the bands that inspired me the most in the early Growlers days were The Coral (first album, magic and medicine, night freak and the sons of Becker, invisible invasion), The Ventures, Tryannosaurus Rex (T. rex or Marc Bolan. His early music pre glam) Devendra Banhart (rejoicing in the hands, Cripple crow) The Congos, Lee Scratch Perry, Captain Beefheart & his magic band (Safe as milk) and The Grand Elegance which is Kyle Mullarky's and Warren Thomas’ old band.
Kyle has been somewhat of a 5th Beatle to the Growlers and Warren was our bongo player for bit and then started The Abigails with Kyle.
As soon as I picked up the guitar, I didn’t care much for learning other peoples songs, I just wanted to make my own.
I think being surrounded by friends that played music pushed me in the direction of starting a band.
Honestly, It’s just fun.
Especially when you first start.
The Growlers formed because our friend was having a bbq and wanted a band to play so we put one together. Then just kept going. "
- Why did you decide to start YASAWA GROUP ?
"I think I’ve always wanted to start Yasawa Group since I started playing music.
By Yasawa Group, I just mean a solo project.
I just never had any time to commit to anything else besides the Growlers.
In the early days we might all show up with an idea for a song and jam it out but it became very clear really fast that Brooks and I were doing the grunt of the song writing.
I’d use a loop pedal or a shitty digital 6 track, write all the parts, make a drum track with a snare drum, keyboard beat machine or just my mouth, then hand it off to Brooks to sing on and write lyrics.
Every time I made a song, I would have a vocal melody in mind and would just add it in with keys or guitar.
I would make 30 to 60 demos for each record, then we’d rehearse, record, rehearse, tour.
There was hardly any time for a personal life.
Between all that and work, shows became where you hung out with your friends or girlfriend.
Plus I always wanted to save everything I wrote for the Growlers.
It wasn’t until the twist of fate of covid -19 and the hiatus of the band that I had time to focus on and form Yasawa Group.
It started off by just going through old demos I had and thinking to myself, I need to finish these. "
- How long did it take to write the 19 tracks on the album?
"In a way, a hand full of them I’d had for years and the rest were written in a span of 2 years.
But in another way, they were all written in the span of 2 years.
I say that because sometimes you have an idea, a melody, a bass line, a chord progression but it’s not fully done until it reaches the light of day with all the elements intact.
Some of the songs on “Enter The Chrysalis” were songs I wrote for The Growlers but were never sang on or used.
I felt they needed to reach the finish line.
I felt strongly that they were good songs, they just never got the chance or the wrong approach was taken.
I had to unearth some of these and let them shine.
That being said, having to revisit the musical elements I had previously written and then approach it as a lyricist and singer was the hardest part.
I believe when I made the vocal melodies, the lyrics and sang on them they took on a new life.
One that is Yasawa Group not The Growlers. Although one of the songs, “Mountains,” was a song I wrote in 2010 for my fleeting solo project, then called, “Matt Israeli cool and his experimental rugs” haha.
I felt this song needed some actual juice. "
- How do you compose?
"I usually start with a vocal melody, and some lyrical gibberish.
Then I’ll either convert that into a bass line and go from there or play chords to it and add a beat.
Sometimes I start on acoustic guitar and sing and build from there.
When all of that gets stale I’ll try starting with a beat.
I’ll pick the tempo based on the energy of the song I want to manifest.
I’ve always enjoyed recording opposed to jamming because it gives you the time to think of something outside of auto pilot.
You can really come up with something unique.
However, I do think the best part of jamming is gelling with other musicians.
Should we call it gelling instead?
But even if I am “gelling” I don’t come up with as quality content as if I had time to mess around and actually think about what I want the part to sound like. "
- Have you planned any concerts with YASAWA GROUP?
"I’m in the process of booking some shows.
They won’t be until March or April of 2024. (sorry the itw was made in January 2024)
I still have to wrangle some cats and get the live band together.
This is also a new project and I wanted to give the people some time to digest the music.
I want the crowd to be stoked when they see Yasawa Group.
I want them to sing along and have a good time.
Not just stand there staring, wondering if I’m going to play a Growlers song.
So, time is on my side.
I played everything on this album besides the drums and percussion so there isn’t anyone that's ever played these songs before besides myself piece by piece. I'm starting from scratch.
I’m not sure who’s gonna be in the group yet.
People keep offering to drum or play bass.
These are usually the hardest positions to fill and surprisingly the dime a dozen guitar players have disappeared. "
- If you had to sum up your albums, your tours and your life with THE GROWLERS, what would it be ?
"Buy High sell Low!
I feel like you get what you put in and I put in my entire life.
In return, I met so many amazing people, went to so many amazing places and I can look back on all the music we’ve made so far and be proud. "
- Can you explain why you left THE GROWLERS?
"Actually, I never left the band, that's a misconception.
When the band was hit with anonymous online allegations in 2020, we were blindsided and devastated.
I immediately denied the claim about me and consulted with a lawyer to figure out what I could do to find the person responsible for the anonymous post and to clear my name.
Turns out there's nothing you can really do unless you’ve got lots of money to pursue it.
At the same time, I also let people I trusted pressure me into saying I was taking a "temporary leave" from the band because they thought that would help calm the storm the entire band was facing.
In reality, this only wound up giving people the false impression there was some truth to the claims.
Since this is a surf magazine, I'll describe it like this...I got roped into a closeout. "
"Where I live there are only right points.
- What's your surf culture, your favorite spot and your everyday boards?
"Where I live there are only right points.
I’m goofy and love going left so I gravitate towards the beach breaks with peaks.
I usually go to Emma Wood and surf a fat dad V stoker shaped by Fowler.
Surf doesn’t get big very often where I live so I usually just ride this 8’6 Gato Heroi.
I also take out a Brown Microwave Television bonzer quite often.
I guess you can tell what pocket of surf culture I sit in by the boards.
I keep it pretty casual. "
I really enjoyed running into La Femme in Biarritz and surfing Cote des Basques
- Which surfers do you particularly admire?
"My favorite people to watch are probably Justin Adams, Tom Curren, Gerry Lopez, Occy, Dane Reynolds, Ari Brown, Ozzy Wright. Alex Knost and Jared Mel are always entertaining.
I admire the ones that choose to be themselves and actually have personality traits other than surfing like it’s an Olympic sport.
I guess the ones with flow and style and have made their own paths in the industry. "
- Would you like to compose soundtracks for surf films, like you did for PALMERA EXPRESS?
"Not lately but I’d love to.
Scoring anything is so fun because you get to remove yourself from all the stigma and expectation of releasing something as a band.
When I release music for a record, I’m so particular about the aesthetic and the direction of the song.
It’s almost like an extension of yourself and people judge who you are by the music you make, so it makes you self conscious and you only want to show your best side.
But when you’re making music to go with someone else’s art, it’s so much easier to bend and conform to what they want, or just experiment.
Palmera Express was directed and shot by my very talented buddy Edgar Obrand.
He sent over a couple of songs he wanted the tracks to be inspired by.
One song in-particular was an afro beat song from the 70’s.
I rarely use inspiration from other peoples songs to make my own.
It seems counterintuitive to the whole point of making your own music and it never sounds anything like the original but it is really fun.
This is what happened with the Inspo song Edgar sent me.
It took on a life of its own.
It turned into a tough funky song, one I’d never make on my own.
When it came time to make an album again we were sorting through my demos when we came across the song for Palmera Express.
Brooks loved it, so we gave it a go.
After a few tweaks and the help of Julian Casablancas, it ended up being “I’ll be around” on “City Club.”
I’ve done a few other things for my friend George Trimm as well. "
- What are your best surf movies?
"ENDLESS SUMMER
MORNING OF THE EARTH
SEARCHING FOR TOM CURREN
FORBIDDEN TRIM
I also love Jack Colemans films "
- Can you name 5 songs you associate with surfing and 5 other songs you're currently listening to?
"With surfing hmmm….:
The Lively Ones - "Surfrider"
The Sandals - "Theme from The Endless Summer"
White Fence - "Get that heart"
Link Wray - "Rumble"
The Surfaris - "Wipeout"
Or anything by Tekeshi Terauchi
Currently:
Richard Hell - "I'm your man"
David Reilly - "Surge"
Les Tres Reyes - "Odiame"
The Gizmos - "Bible Belt baby"
Dizzy K - "Sweet Music"."
- Do you take action for the planet?
"Just thinking about this question makes me feel guilty.
I suppose any action I do take is so minimal to what I cause but here it goes.
I pick up trash on the beach when I see it.
I turn the water off when I don’t need it when I’m brushing my teeth, shaving or washing the dishes.
I use reusable bags when grocery shopping.
I drive a hybrid.
I buy most of my produce from local farmers markets.
95% percent of what I wear is thrifted or second hand.
See I sound guilty.
This is all nothing.
I just saw the documentary “The Cove” and It broke my heart.
I’d like to get active protecting ocean wildlife.
I’m going to look into that.
Most of the time I feel like we have a long way to go. "
- What were your best memories in France?"
"Oh man, France!
Taking a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower and acting like I was holding it, going to the Louvre, taking a guided scooter tour of Paris, taking a tour of Notre Dame...haha just kidding.
I really enjoyed running into La Femme in Biarritz and surfing Cote des Basques, getting pick pocketed in Bordeaux is funny in hindsight, playing the hottest fucking show of my life at le Mecanique.
I really just loved being there.
It’s a country I’ve always romanticized.
I even wrote a song called “we think France sounds like this” before I’d ever been there."
Thank you Matt !
Published on Sunday, December 8, 2024