There are many songs that have the ability to lighten my mood when I'm feeling blue—but there is one song in particular that really gets the job done, and I'm sure you've all heard it before. That song is The The's "This is The Day". The lyrics and melodies rearrange whatever problems I'm facing and I go into the day with a renewed sense of optimism. Suffice it to say, the music of Matt Johnson of The The has inspired me a lot and I'm honored to include him in the Three Q's series!
The The's Ensoulment is out now.
Synth History: Can you tell me some of the synths that were used on early The The records? Also - what was used specifically on "This is the Day" - it has one of my favorite intros!
Matt: When I formed The The in 1979 the first keyboard I bought was a Crumar Roadrunner electric piano—which I then fed through some Electro Harmonix effect pedals such as a Small Stone phaser, a Muff Fuzz distortion, a Y-Triggered Filter and a Memory Man delay. The other member of the band at that time, Keith Laws, owned a small Wasp synthesizer—which he traded up for a Korg MS-20 after a year or so.
On 1983’s Soul Mining album I generally used a Roland Juno-60 and a tiny Yamaha CS-01. For "This Is The Day" in particular I used the Suzuki Omnichord. I still use this instrument to this day. For the one-off single "Flesh & Bones" in 1984 I bought and used a PPG Wave 2.2. For 1986’s Infected album I bought one of the first Emulator 2 sampling keyboards in the UK. Not cheap back then either!
I then went a few years without using any synthesizers at all but instead used vintage keyboards such as Mellotron, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, Hohner Clavinet and vintage string machines. But in recent years I’ve started experimenting with synthesizers again and now own quite a large collection which includes some esoteric pieces like the Buchla Music Easel, Make Noise Shared System Black & Gold Plus, Studio Electronics Code 8, John Bowen Solaris, Antonus 2600, Torso S4, Tasty Chips GR-1 Granular synth, amongst others. These are used primarily for my Cineola soundtrack projects and Esoteric Vaudeville experimental releases.
Synth History: Having a career that has spanned decades, what are some aspects that you find have changed the most within the music industry? The least?
Matt: I’m heartened by the fact musicians now have more options in terms of pursuing an independent trajectory to connect with their audiences. The Internet is in no small part responsible for that. The most significant change though has probably been the collapse of income of physical album sales due to the rise of streaming. Conversely the rise of live music income has helped offset this to such a degree that many artists now put out albums just to promote their live shows rather than playing live shows to promote their albums. This is the reverse of the situation I encountered at the start of my career. What hasn’t changed? Well, musicians still have a hard time getting paid their due. There needs to be some serious work done on ensuring all the streaming services start paying a fair and proper share to artists. Too many young artists I meet have day jobs to support their music careers and feel there is no prospect they can ever fully support themselves by music alone. And this at a time when billions of pounds are being earned by streaming services.
Synth History: What are three things that are inspiring you the most right now—could be anything?
Matt: 1. We’ve just kicked off our latest world tour, Ensouled. In fact, this is only the fifth world tour we’ve done since I formed the group back in 1979. For this tour—like the Comeback Special tour in 2018—I am playing a late 1950s Gretsch Country Club guitar. These were one of Gretsch’s top guitars when they were introduced in the 1950s—second in line only to the legendary White Falcon. But, whereas the Falcon has all the flash of a 1950s Cadillac, the Country Club was more understated and refined. More like a classic old Bentley one might say. My lead guitarist, Barrie Cadogan, found this for me shortly before the last world tour and it quickly become a reliable, trusted friend. I’m happy and inspired to hold this beautiful instrument in my hands on stage.
2. I wrote the lyrics to my latest album, Ensoulment, on a beautiful old writing bureau from the 1930s. My granddad Charlie had bought it for his son, my late father, when he came out of the army after serving national service in the 1950s. Growing up, it was always sitting in the corner of homes we lived in—including the flats above various pubs. One of its last resting places was in the bedroom of my late brother Andrew, aka Andy Dog. When he died in 2016 I brought it to my own home. Whenever I sit writing at this desk I think of my late granddad, dad and older brother—all of whom were voracious readers and decent writers.
3. My favourite classical composer is Bach. Over the last year, whenever I’ve tried to find time to relax from my increasingly hectic schedule, I’ve dimmed the lights and played Chad Lawson’s Bach Interpreted: Piano Variations on Back Chorales. I love the entire album and have listened countless times but if I had to choose one track then possibly ‘Es Steh’n Vor Gottes Throne’. I find Lawson’s interpretations of the great composer a balm to the soul.
Synth History: Bonus Q - Can you recount one of your fondest memories from playing live?
Matt: It has to be my experiences on The Comeback Special world tour of 2018. I had not played live in over 16 years – and was not sure if I ever would play live again to be honest. So, to come back after all that time and be greeted with such warmth and passion by my audience was very emotional for me, especially as my beloved father had passed away literally just two days into that tour.
Synth History: Bonus Q#2 - Can you tell me about the name, The The?
Matt: There is a wonderful poem by Wallace Stevens, "The Man On The Dump". The last line of that poem is, “Where was it one first heard of the truth? The the.”
Interview conducted by Danz.
Photos courtesy of The The.
As part of Synth History Issue Four.