A Quick Chat with Matty Groves

‘Disillusion’ is a standout track from your new album ‘Aurelia.’ What was the creative process behind this song, and how does it reflect the overall themes of the album?

 Dipping into the overall message and themes of ‘Aurelia’, Disillusion re-enforces the notion of accepting people for who they are, being slow to judgement and to not condemn people based on assumptions as the lyrics state “Don’t criticize the victims of your mind, don’t incarcerate them for your crimes. You sit and wonder who’s at blame yet you’re the same.”

Initially the song was quite stripped back and bluesy, I then started to dub various other instruments over the top such as an old Kawai organ that I bought off marketplace. Once the foundations were set, I then recorded Robyn Payne on Drums and Saxophone performed by Alex Flaskas.

Children of The Wilderness’ captures a blend of psychedelic-folk and art-rock. How did you approach the composition of this track, and what do you hope listeners take away from it?

 I wrote ‘Children of the Wilderness’ in the thick of the Covid epidemic in a little DIY home studio that I set up in my share house. I essentially recorded and composed this song simultaneously with trial and error. Lyrically this song is very tied into the plot of my upcoming rock opera which makes more sense in context of what’s happening at the given time within the production. I hope listeners can take away a feeling of motivation from this song. Although life can be challenging as everyone has a metaphorical wilderness that they have to journey through, we can make it through together, I would hope that people can take away the idea that It’s not just a solo journey, there are people within our lives that can help us and we should also be there for others in their time of trials.

Your music has been described as evoking the spirit of the 60s/70s Psychedelic Folk era. How do you keep that vintage influence fresh and relevant in today’s music landscape, particularly in ‘Aurelia’?

Considering that folk music is one of the oldest music traditions, the revival of folk music in the 60s and 70s takes the traditional ideas of what folk music ‘should be’ and makes it accessible for a modern audience which I believe is still extremely relevant in today’s context. The Psychedelic folk movement of the 60s/70s uses music as a vehicle to challenge listeners to consider ideas of peace, freedom, and acceptance during the Vietnam war. There are a lot of parallels with the state of the world today as we still have issues of conflict in many hotspots across the globe. This directly ties into the themes of preconceived bias towards people which is expressed throughout ‘Aurelia’. Sonically I have used instrumentation that is synonymous with the zeitgeist of the 60s/70s psychedelic folk movement throughout Aurelia such as Sitar, Mellotron, Guitar, percussion, and commanding vocal harmonies.

You’ve written a rock opera musical set to be released on Halloween 2024. What can you share about the storyline and how it complements the music in ‘Aurelia’? What inspired you to take on this theatrical project?

 My vision for my show ‘Aurelia and the Midnight Sun’ is to re-think what a traditional musical is. I focus heavily on the music, narration and dance telling the story rather than dialogue between characters. I hope to appeal to an audience that typically wouldn’t attend theatre hence why I have released the Music as a stand-alone album before releasing the entire soundtrack. Without divulging any spoilers about my upcoming rock opera, the show is an epic fantasy adventure about protagonist ‘Aurelia’ the first human in a mystical world. Along her journey she is faced with many challenges. ‘Aurelia and the Midnight Sun’ Explores themes of prejudice, superficial judgement, love, and the concept of good vs evil.

The soundtrack also acts as an audiobook, I have always been very interested in audiobooks as I am dyslexic and have ADHD. Having a background studying theatre in Ballarat I have become particularly fond of theatrical experiences in cohesion with music, hence why I have fallen in love with the concept of a rock opera. Some of my biggest inspirations within this genre are… Jeff Wyane’s ‘War of the Worlds’, Julians Treatment ‘A Time before This’, ‘Hair’ the musical and a number of Fantasy classics such as ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Dune’, ‘Lord of the rings’, ‘The Dark Crystal’ while remaining to psychedelic surrealism inspired by cult classics such as Alejandro Jodorowsky’s film ‘The Holy Mountain’.   

The collaboration with singer/dancer Charlotte Rankin and saxophonist Alex Flaskas adds a unique dimension to your music. How did these collaborations come about, and what do they bring to your live performances?

I really wanted another voice within the mix and my partner Charlotte Rankin was the obvious choice as she also has a background in theatre and her rich yet delicate alto register floats dreamily in cohesion with the music. As the bulk of this project was recorded in lockdown in my DIY studio, living with Charlotte made the recording process fun and easy. I met Alex Flaskas when my old housemate started dating him, we started to jam together often, Alex has also played sax for live performances in my band ‘Y STREET’. Regarding ‘Aurelia’ the live context of my project will be quite diverse to a classic band situation as It’s a full rock opera/musical. I plan to have a live band perform the score on stage in cohesion with acting through dance and narration expressing the plot as the show has a big emphasis on the music, just as the soundtrack I plan to have Charlotte singing the role of Aurelia and Alex will play sax.

With your roots in Melbourne’s underground scene and your experience fronting Y STREET, how has your musical journey evolved into the creation of ‘Aurelia’? What do you see as the future direction for your music, especially with the upcoming rock opera?

Y STREET holds a very special place in my heart as it is where my music journey started to blossom and where we got our stripes within the Melbourne local scene. My experience playing and singing with Y STREET has helped me develop my musicianship and has been a place that I have felt totally free and encouraged to express myself through music, fashion, and art. We are currently in the process of producing our much-anticipated debut Album that we hope to release very soon. Regarding my rock opera ‘Aurelia and the Midnight Sun’ I plan to release the extended soundtrack this Halloween (October 31, 2024) and then eventually stage it at some point next year. When this is staged I hope to film it and record a live version of the soundtrack.