Matt Mays Howls Into The Indie-Rock Crowd of Fans in Toronto
Last Friday, Canadian indie-rock artist Matt Mays, played at Toronto’s historic venue, the Danforth Music Hall. Mays opened the show an extremely stripped down version of his single, “Howl At The Night”. During the performance he got the audience to howl along with him to set the tone for the remainder of the evening.
“I have a lot of those 'how did I get here' moments when there’s thousands of people staring at me,” said Mays. “When people start howling, it makes me feel more comfortable and it’s a good way to break the ice.”
Near the end of September, Mays posted a photo of a setlist on Instagram and wrote in the caption: “...I’m planning a show that’s going to start mellow and end wild to really push this band of monsters.” This officially announced his Canadian coast to coast Howl At The Night Tour.
“I really like playing mellow acoustically but I also like turning it up,” explained Mays. “It's fun to exercise dynamics and push ourselves to be better musicians.” Mays expressing that he enjoys to play acoustically and upbeat is not only reflected in his live performances, it is shown in his records as well.
In 2017, Mays released his sixth studio album titled, Once Upon a Hell of a Time. Almost exactly a year after Once Upon a Hell of a Time, he released Twice Upon a Hell of a Time. These two albums told a story and illustrated Mays’ musical talent.
Once Upon a Hell of a Time is full band and contains strong, rock anthems. Twice Upon a Hell of a Time is the same songs, however, they were done in an exceptionally stripped down and vulnerable way.
“I like the idea of how the same songs can come off completely differently,” said Mays. “I liked having that record done twice so you could have totally different listening experiences.”
According to Mays, lyrics do not always come off completely how the artist would like them to. Mays released Twice Upon a Hell of a Time to feel satisfied with his work and allow each of his fans to feel connected to the songs in unique ways. “I like to say that Once Upon a Hell of a Time is a Saturday night record and Twice Upon a Hell of a Time is a Sunday morning record,” said Mays.
Back in 2005, Mays was nominated at the JUNO Awards for New Artist of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Then in 2014 his album, Coyote, won a JUNO Award for Rock Album of the Year. Since his win in 2014, Mays’ sound has evolved but in his opinion that transformation is just natural progression. “The songs really just write themselves and I am the one who channels them and puts them onto a piece of plastic,” explained Mays. “It is out of my control, if I tried to take control of it I think it would sound contrived.”
Although his sound has evolved, one thing that has not changed with Mays’ music is his consistency with releasing records. On Oct.18, Mays released his newest single, “Let There Be Love”; a song Mays says is about loving yourself and the toughness that often comes along with living. “I think we’re in a very allude time right now and a lot of strong people I know seem to be very torn down,” said Mays. “I wrote this song to remind people that love is the one thing that never goes away and it is really the most powerful thing.” Mays said that along with this single, he is trying to get a record out very soon. He added that he has a selection of songs right now and is just looking for a place to record them to wrap up the album.
“I just want to let things happen, try different things and then release it and just enjoy that process,” mentioned Mays.
Catch Matt Mays on tour at: https://www.mattmays.com/tour/
