Matt Springfield: "Without love we can´t live"

Making music is a dream for many people, especially the young ones. Matt Springfields love for and work on music started early, but it took time to let his dream get true. Now, in a good, eperienced age, he finally released his first album Erase All Data, a wonderful piece of wave inspired art, filled with lots of special and perfectly worked out tracks.
I was given the chance to ask Matt some stuff and he gave many interesting and inspiring answers.

Otti:
Hey Matt, thanks for answering my questions. First of all, how did your project start? What was the point you knew that you wanna make this music?

Matt:
It's my pleasure answering your questions!
I'm found of music since I'm a kid. I started playing the violin when I was 6. When I was a teenager I was deeply fascinated by new wave culture of the previous decade and dreamed to make music like the bands I listened to :
Depeche Mode, U2, Talk Talk...
I've written my first tracks at the time and already new that I wanted to make this kind of music.

Otti:
Erase All Data is going to be released now. What are your own feelings about the record?

Matt:
Erase All Data is my first album and so, it’s like my baby. It contains tracks written at different times of my life that's why they mean a lot to me. It’s the reflect of emotions and situations I lived so far and most of all the way of expressing my dreams. Since I’m a kid I’m fascinated by pop culture - especially by English/American bands. I’m also fascinated by travelling and discovering the world : I hope that I’ll take people for a wonderful trip in the world of pop music! My goal is to entertain, to make people smile, feel different emotions, and get them out of their problems for a moment.
The album contains energic tracks (Poplife!), even a bit dark and sad (The End of Life) but also some soothing ballads (American Soldier) or festive pieces (Feel loved). The recording process has been a great moment and I really think that I’ve found the accomplices I've been always looking for. I’ve really found the sound that I wanted while working with them in the UK. With Greg Haver (the producer), we have the same tastes in music. I hope that Erase All Data is the first step of a very long trip and that people will enjoy listening to it as much I enjoyed creating it!

Otti:
It is always difficult to get an own remarkable style. How important was it to you, to work on uniqueness?

Matt:
Like all the artists I have my influences. Even if 80's music is a passion, I listen to lots of different styles. It's always hard to be unique but it's important. Like other artists, I don't want to make music that already exists but I wear my influences without shame. What is very important to me is to I write my own music. I sing my songs. Regarding the sound, I want to use real instruments and keyboards. The goal is to have a perfect mix between real and synthetic sounds. My goal is to be seen as a pop artist that can go in different ways. I write shooting ballads with only real instruments or fast electronic pieces with the same pleasure!

Otti: I have to say "Thank You" for all the awesome songs on Erase All Data, really! Which other reactions did you get on your work so far? Matt: Thanks so much for these kind words, I'm really happy that you like it! Of course, we all don't have the same tastes. Some reviews are very good, others a bit less. But my music already opened some doors to me. I've been able to work with some people I really wanted to work with and that is a great thing! I hope I can go on like this. Music is based on collaborations. I hope to collaborate with so many artists. And, the believers that financed the album seem to be very happy with the record, that's really important to me. Otti: What have been the most exciting moments while working on this record? Matt: There were different exciting moments while working on it. First during the funding process: it's very exciting to see the amount getting higher. As soon as I had a free moment, I watched what happened on akamusic website and was very happy when I saw people believing in my project. The recording was also very exciting. We had a lot of fun and it's great to work with musicians like Nik Nasmyth or Greg Haver known their experience. When you know that they played with the Spice Girls, Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue or the Manic Street Preachers, you feel impressed (in a good way) and in the meantime very happy. Those musicians are the accomplices I've always been looking for. The promotion is also very exciting : going to radio stations, meeting fans are cool moments of life. Otti: Most of your songs deal with love in all it´s ways. What does that emotion mean to you? And how important is love for the world? Matt: We live so many emotions but LOVE is the most important. I believe that without love we can't live. We aim to be rich, to be in good health, to be popular, to travel all around the world, to eat pleasant food, and to definitely seize the day ... I believe that all of this make sense if we feel love in our lives. We can't have an exceptionnal life without feeling love. Without being too naïve I believe that love is the nice side of our world and can probably save it.

Otti:
Making music is not always fun. What difficulties did you face during the last year while working on this dream?

Matt:
I have the chance to live a happy life so far. I've found a nice work and a beautiful girlfriend. And I make music with passion. Of course, sometimes I doubt myself, I think that my music won't succeed, that it's not good enough. But, I have enough love around me to carry on.
What was a bit hard during the last year was that some people took back their shares from the project during the fundraising so that I had to convince others. If a believer bought 20 shares for instance, he could sell them and the amount went down.

Otti:
Let´s talk about you: Besides the music - What are your main hobbies and interests?

Matt:
Besides music, I have two big passions : travelling the world and watching movies at cinema. I grew up in the 80's and am from the "MTV Generation". I aim to travel the world and see the places from the movies/sitcoms that I like. I'm really fascinated by the USA with all the fantastic landscapes there. You truly believe that there's no life at some places and my album refers to that.

Otti:
And which films ore books have given you the biggest inspiiation for life as well as for your music?

Matt:
I especially like american movies. It could be blockbusters ("2012"), adventure movies ("Indiana Jones", "Benjamen Gates"), thrillers ("Silence of the lambs"), romantic films (Notting Hill). I'm a big fan of Steven Spielberg.
Movies are like songs for me: the goal is also to entertain people and get them out of their problems for a moment.
"Dead Poets Society" is also a great movie. I try to live with this philosophy : "Seize the day".
Our lives can stop at any time. Even if I live hard moments, I always try to only remind the positive part.

Otti:
About plans for the future: What will come next for you?

Matt:
I have lots of ideas in mind: promoting this album of course, recording new songs, making other videos and most of all looking for musicians and places in order to play gigs!

www.facebook.com/mattspringfield

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