#ArtistAtHome is a series of portraits and profiles of local artists by Christopher Edmonstone. Read all about it and see the archive HERE.
One of the things I enjoyed most about spending time with artists in their homes is chatting about where they find inspiration to be creative, and about some of the challenges they face in the process. Interestingly, inspiration can be found in the strangest places, yet feel so familiar.
Case in point is this #ArtistAtHome, my pal Matt Layzell, the lead vocalist of The Matinee. Big thanks to him for being brave enough to pull this one off. It ended up being the last photo of the night, and stands out as one of my favourites of the series.
Matt has been playing and singing with his friends in The Matinee since they were in high school growing up in Coquitlam. They formed as The Matinee in 2007, and since then have played everywhere from prisons to air force bases, big festivals to every watering hole in between. Matt is one of the nicest, most humble guys around, and I was lucky to get to know him in 2011 when The Matinee was involved in in the Shore 104 Song Search and won 3rd Place in the Peak Performance Project.
Matthew Layzell at home
The following year we were both on the legendary 10-band, cross-Canada Rock N' Roll Train Adventure called Tracks on Tracks, and we were also both at the Squamish Valley Music Festival. The guys held an epic post performance party jam off the side of their tour bus that kept half the campground up. The following year at Squamish Festival, in the artist campground (where the band brought their own bar - and called it Club Manatee) it was near sunrise and with the booze running low (after ripping it up all night), Matt was somehow dared to start doing shots of anything available. I believe he did a salsa shooter, followed by a tequila shot, and then a shot of maple syrup. I went to crash in my tent after the first round!
Matt and the boys have been busy in the studio putting the finished touches on a new full length album with producer Jamie Candiloro, to be released on Light Organ Records this Spring. Their current single "Temper Temper" is in the top ten on CBC Radio 3.
For all things The Matinee check out their website at www.thematineemusic.com
