When I finished
february two years ago, I knew that it would be my last album. Albums as a form are problematic these days, both in demanding undivided stretches of people’s time and in the area of retail distribution. But I’ve gone too far into the world of conceptual pieces to just crank out singles for the rest of my life.
Then it occurred to me: A serialized podcast, mixing documentary and pop music. Like
february, but open-ended and cut into digestible bits just the right size for a dayjob commute or a nightcap. Easy enough, right?
Thanks to folks like you, yes. Since I’ve been off the dayjob train, I’ve been able to complete the first episode of my inaugural podcast in a few months, rather than the multiple years it normally takes for my projects to see the light of day.
So what is this thing about?
Spurred by books like Malcolm Gladwell’s
Outliers and Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s
Fooled By Randomness, our society has been having a discussion of our expectations about life and how they are shaped by what we see. There is a selection bias, particularly in the arts, where we are only exposed to the stories of the wildly successful.
Where are the tales of failure?
My new podcast,
The Band That Never Was, is an attempt to even out the sample set. It is the story of a group of friends who travel from adolescence to adulthood together. On the way, they form a band, and hijinks ensue.
Packed with honesty, laughs, relationships, irony, and some damned fine tunes,
The Band That Never Was is about many things. Friendships, life, music, growing up, and a study of what, at its core, failure may or may not be.
And let’s not forget the music. Every episode features original music by the matthew show and my various musical associates, and the tunes are also available as singles here at thematthewshow.com independently of the podcast.
I’m extremely excited about this project, and I believe you will be, too. Check it out here:
thebandthatneverwas.com
Since this series is now in full swing, I do need to rearrange a few things. I had been doing Acoustic Surprises each month, but I will likely need to start doing them at random intervals rather than monthly. This will result in new episodes and singles coming out at a faster rate, and I think that would make us all happy.
Six months into supporting myself, I have learned quite a bit about what works and what doesn’t. Several ideas which showed great promise as supplementary income did not live up to that promise, and as a result I have thrown all my energies into things which I believe you, the fan, may find of greatest interest. The podcast, the tunes, the shows, and the collaborations with great musicians.
So I offer
this humorous video for your consideration.
Thanks to you, I hope that I am able to continue fulfilling (and possibly even surpassing) your expectations for many years to come.
More soon,
matthew