Matthew West: Interview with Matthew West

MQ: That leads to my next question. On tour, what can we expect to see - an acoustic set or a full band for the set?

MW: We kind of have this laser-light presentation with smoke...and then this big snake comes...Nah - I'm just kidding. There's none of that.

MQ: We've seen our fair share of that in the 80s.

MW: Wouldn't it be funny though! (laugh) Right now, I'm just touring around mostly acoustic. I've got a drummer/percussionist guy, a friend of mine - so sometimes it's more intimate concert settings like that. But later we're going to go out and be playing festivals with a full band and that will be exciting too. I'm really anxious to have that chance. Ultimately, you will see me where I'll do a show with a full band but inevitably at some point in the show, it'll breakdown where it'll be just me with a guitar, or me at the piano. I think that's really cool - some of my favorites concerts have had that part of the show, where it's just the audience and that artist communicating like that. That's very cool.

MQ: So you play piano - as well as guitar?

MW: Yeah, in terms of piano though, I had to take it as a class in college and I almost flunked! (laugh) So don't expect anything - any good playing. I play good enough to accompany myself, and sing my own songs.

MQ: Where do you go to find inspiration for songwriting? Do you just write from real life - as you earlier mentioned this record was birthed out of a tough time you were going through.

MW: Yeah, I think the first types of inspiration for me come through the extremes of life, either extreme joy or extreme pain. I feel that I've been blessed with both - and I really consider them both a blessing because through the extreme joy that we see how good life can be and it's through the extreme pain that we learn to appreciate what we have and I think we grow stronger through those times. Where Matthew West finds inspiration But then there are those things that catch me by surprise, those everyday inpirations - maybe a book I'm reading, or a movie I've seen, or a picture I saw. I think the reason my first single really connected with people is because it was inspired by a little boy, and a game he plays with his dad where they say 'I love you more than' this, 'I love you more than' that. That really inspired me to write the song 'More.' That was just something little, something everyday, from the heart of a child. So, I try to keep my eyes open - so watch what you say to me, I may turn it into a song today...(laughing)

MQ: Don't worry, we won't be saying anything profound...

all: laughing

MW: Sometimes the simplest things strike me as profound. That's the irony in songwriting. Some of my favorite statements from other songs or what other people have said, have been so simple, but it's simply profound. I think when a lot of people attempt to write a song, they put so much pressure on themselves to say something that's never been said before. In my process of growing in my songwriting, I understand that because it's me, it will be said in a different way than anybody else could say it. It's trusting in your individuality and letting that come through instead of trying to be so profound. So a lot of my songs come out incredibly simple. My song, ' The End ' is totally a true story from my life. I woke up in my bed, I saw that it was raining outside so I cancelled all my meetings for the day and thought, 'I'm going to stay in bed.' So I laid back down in bed and I felt something dripping on my face. I looked up and my ceiling was leaking. I had this ceiling fan going on 'high' so it was spraying out like a sprinkler. I got up and wrote the words - I got my guitar - I was just laughing out loud as I was thinking, 'This is just my luck, you know?' I wrote down the words 'It was raining when I woke up this morning, so to escape it I went back to bed, but the rain started leaking through the ceiling, and pretty soon it was pouring on my head.' And then the chorus goes on to say, 'But it's not the end - the end of the world, it's just another day depending on grace.' Man, that's the everyday nonsense that I find inspiration by - go figure! Hopefully people can be uplifted by it.

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Matthew West interview continued...