Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew DeMerritt.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve been playing saxophone since I was nine years old. I got serious about it in middle school and by the time I was in high school I was sitting in with local jazz musicians in Denver where I grew up. I had a really good high school band director who had played with Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich, and I went to a jazz camp headed up by Clark Terry, the legendary trumpet player from Duke Ellington’s band. By the time I got to college, I was set on being a professional musician.
I got a lot of good classical and jazz training in college, both in Wisconsin and New York City, but after three years I decided to quit and just start playing out as much as I could. I moved back to Denver and became what’s called a sideman, which is basically a backup musician. The documentaries “Standing in the Shadows of Motown” and “20 feet from Stardom” were about these kinds of musicians. I spent my 20’s playing in as many bands as I could. Clark Terry had always told us what Duke had told him, “There are two kinds of music, good and bad,” so I didn’t limit myself to any particular genre.
I did my first professional recording date during that time. I was in a funk band called “Lord of Word,” and we opened for P-Funk in Denver. After the gig, George Clinton asked a few band members to stay in town and do some recording, and they invited us into the studio with them, and we got a crash course in P-Funk production, mainly with George’s right-hand man Garry Shider.
Not long after that, I went to Italy to visit a musician friend and ended up staying for nine months working as a sideman and session musician for a producer in Bari named Nicola Conte. I also tried out the music scenes in Portland, Oregon, and the San Francisco Bay area before finally moving to LA. I moved to LA in 1997, at the invitation of my old Denver friend Geoff Gallegos, who would later start the hip-hop orchestra called “Dakah.”
He ussured me into the la underground music scene which I found to be surprisingly diverse and vibrant. My first big gig was with the singer Macy Gray who had just completed her first album and needed a touring band. I spent two years on the road with her and Had lots of very cool experiences including headlining Glastonbury an opening for Santana on his supernatural tour, playing Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” with Santana one night, and performing on Saturday night live on my 30th birthday.
I have since had many great musical experiences. Right after Macy, I played in a band called “Action Fgure Party” which was the brainchild of the keyboardist and producer Greg Kurstin (who later went on to write with and produce Adele). I also joined the ranks of the Dakah hip-hop orchestra with my old friend Double G, and another band called the Rhythm and Roots Allstars which I’ve been playing with ever since backing up several major hip-hop artists, including Ghostface Killah, Rakim, Redman, Talib Kweli, and De La Soul whom we toured with for several years and made an album with, “And The Anonymous Nobody.”
More recently, I’ve been playing traditional and contemporary music from New Orleans with a band called the Mudbug Brass Band. I’ve also been backing up the jazz and soul singer Brenna Whitaker and the Guatemalan sensation Gaby Moreno. I also play on the late late show with the house band “Reggie Watts and Karen” from time to time when they need horns.
And now after all these years helping others make their music, I’m finally working on my own album.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road. Being a professional musician can be daunting. There were many years where I struggled with poverty, loneliness, self-doubt, and depression.
There’s very little job security in music. I did well financially when I was with Macy Gray for example, but then the gig just ended and everybody went their separate ways. Long-term gigs of that quality are rare to come by, and of course, there are always 100 musicians lined up to take the gig if you don’t want it. So many musicians are trying to make it financially in a market where there is so little money to go around. It’s an old story.
There are also creative struggles. Making good art is really hard or else more people would do it. It takes a lot of practicing in solitude, struggling to make something good, worrying people won’t like it, etc. Plus our culture stigmatizes musicians. People call them slackers and bums when actually we work harder and longer for way less money than other jobs.
Mattcave Music – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a freelance multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer, editor for bands, sessions, film, commercials, and tv. I’m known for soulful sax and flute solos and tasty horn arrangements.
I’m most proud of all the badasses I get to play with all the time. I have a particular style of playing which is more personal which sets me apart from other saxophonists who might have a more conventional or cliche way of playing.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Playing “A Love Supreme” with Santana.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.mattdemerritt.com/
- Phone: 3104284317
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattcave88/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattcavemusic/
Image Credit:
Yoji Abe, Takuo Sato @Visual_thought, Dan Boissy
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