Matt Hopper And The Roman Candles
Matt Hopper And The Roman Candles
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Matt Hopper
About Matt Hopper And The Roman Candles
As long as the craft of songwriting has been in existence, there have always been young writers hoping to become the new voice for a generation. What sets Alaska-native Matt Hopper apart from the masses is that there’s actually nothing fantastical about his dream at all. After spending the better part of the last three years on the road playing to both loyal fans and newbies, classic venues and tiny bars, his name is quickly becoming synonymous with a unique brand of songwriting that music fans are often starved for, but rarely fed. Though currently touring as a solo artist, Hopper is perhaps most well-known for fronting his band, The Roman Candles and for his work with Madison favorites Blake Thomas and the Downtown Brown. His latest record is in the final stages of creation, and set for a February release. For someone who regularly spends each night in a different city with no home base recording studio, putting a record together would normally seem like an impossible task, but Hopper finds it to be a style that suits him. “I’ve realized the way I work best is kind of a Bob Dylan approach: just record when I want to in whatever studio happens to be near. It’s not like I have to save up, and save up, and save up. I can write a lot of songs if I put my mind to it, and instead of waiting until I’m back home—because home for me is nowhere—I just try to record wherever I can.” Fans of Hopper’s earlier solo recordings will recall tracks that bring to mind the thoughtful, melancholy melody of Elliott Smith and the dreamy delicacy of Sea Change era Beck. The new record promises to offer a bit more of the same, along with the rawness of his classic rock influences like Tom Petty and Elvis Costello. “It’s pretty bare-bones, and stripped down,” he says. “There’s about half really soft folk, mellow stuff and about half rock songs. It’s more of a mature rock sound.” If he were only known for the songs that he wrote, Matt Hopper’s award-winning career would still be more than enviable. However, it’s his do-it-yourself approach to music that truly makes him a force to be reckoned with. Hopper created Hatcher Pass Records in 2005 to provide a way to release his own material as well as the work of other promising independent artists. Though he considers it more of an artist collective than a record company in the traditional sense, Hatcher Pass has already released a sizeable collection of albums under its name. Hopper is also one of the original four participants of February Album Writing Month (FAWM), which challenges songwriters to create an album of 14 songs in 28 days, and has since grown to include hundreds of writers nationwide. A self-starter in every sense of the word, he has applied the same approach to his touring. Driving himself across the country, gigging wherever he can, and sleeping on friends’ couches has become the norm for Hopper, but he’s quite at ease with the customary hardships and instability of life on the road. “If you can secure and comfortable when you’re on the road then you can feel secure and comfortable anywhere, without any money. It’s kind of a Zen thing…I want to be a troubadour. I want to be an artist that has seen the world with his own eyes and can write about it from real-life experiences. You don’t get that when you’re in a microcosm.” Breaking the mold of routine that most people call their life and becoming a bona fide nomad has paid off. Over the years Hopper has gained a growing army of loyal fans scattered across the continent who are eager to spread the word about the heartfelt intimacy and timeless appeal of his songs. His experiences have also left him with a keen perspective and unwavering self-assurance.
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