Justin Mather: News

It all happened when Caryn said "the basement's all yours, do whatever you want with it."

Ahhh...

It's a two room basement connected by an open doorway. I have the " "mixing" room and "tracking" room separated so it works great.

At this point I'm running Sonar, have a 24 channel mixing board, drumset, many mics, bass, lots of guitars and some pretty sweet percussion. Sound treatment will continue to happen over time but I've got a pretty decent handle on it at the moment.

What I'm working on is a full-fledged sound factory. A place where I can record "broadcast quality" music at my convenience and essentially at no cost. This folks is my dream come true!

Hey Everyone! 2008 has been an awesome year musically. After attending my first TAXI Roadrally in late 2007 (big weekend music conference in L.A.) and pitching my Cds there, I was offered a deal in January with an L.A. based music library to sign all 10 songs from my One Pillow Cd. One month later I was offered a similar deal to sign my song "Miles" to a different music library. I signed both deals recently and now have a 5 year contract going with these companies for TV/Film placements. For those of you who are not familiar with music libraries, they supply music to TV/Film. They are the middlemen between the musician/band and the people who are in charge of syncing the music to the film. This has changed my direction a bit. I'd like to get more of these deals with different libraries so the focus now (not much different than the past) is to really get down to recording my songs. I've been keeping a list of all my songs I've written over the years. It's funny because i've lost most of my old song books but every now and then a song will pop into my head that I forgot about. And so I add it to the list. My goal is to finally chip away at this backlog of songs, somewhere around 60 of them, and record them to their fullest potential. Then, to pitch them to more music libraries. Keep an ear out for a Mather tune coming out of the TV set. It could happen here in the next year or so...!

Well I'm happy to report that I've completed my second album entitled "Little House In Vegas." I recorded 8 of the 11 tracks in the said little house. The album includes performances by Sam Crawford, Daniel Esko, Carlos Guerrero, Richie Higgins, Andy Crawford, and Robby Baier.

I have moved to Boulder City Nevada, right outside Vegas. I will see what I can contribute to the music scene out this way.

The story of Spirit Macaw continues with Berkshire-based drummer Rich Higgins. With three reheasals in, Justin Mather and Spirit Macaw are in high spirits...

Rich on drums:
Feel like a vacation? Then put drummer Rich Higgins at the drum set and suddenly you are somewhere else. With brushes in hand and sticks under his arm, you never know what you're going to get from this 23-year-old Berkshire local. Drawing on the drumming styles of Neil Peart (Rush) and dixieland/jazz great Nick Fatool, Rich's drumming is as American as the old barberpole. Playing with Rich is like a road trip: you know where you're going, but you don't quite know how you're going to get there. Put your hand on your heart and take your shoes off for Rich Higgins!

Justin Mather and Spirit Macaw

Preface
In Leslie Marmon Silko's Novel "Almanac of the Dead," the Spirit Macaws are between-world characters. They are the souls of passed native Americans, now living in the present as Macaws and have the unique power of seeing into the future. My new band embodies the character of this spirit. Picture this: "The big blue and yellow birds with their cruel beaks and claws," perched in nearby trees waiting, waiting to deliver their messages to Tacho, one of the few Indians who can receive and interpret the messages. So the Spirit Macaws seek him out. To anyone else they are just fantastic birds. But for Tacho, these parrots mean a great deal of responsibility on his shoulders; for it is his job to receive and communicate their messages to the living. The Indians endured death and near extinction by the white man. The Macaw’s message was vague but very simple, addressed to Indians as well as the white man in light of the horrific events of the passed 500 years. The message, forseen by Spirit Macaws warned that "big changes are coming."
The “Tacho” in this world is Justin Mather. His band Spirit Macaw, (guitarist Sam Crawford and bassist Daniel Esko) are regular folks. However at the instant they hold their respective instruments they become catalysts of musical styles and auras from past musical greats. Through Spirit Macaw, Mather is connected to the past and the present simultaneously. The messages of the band come through their instruments and it is on Mather’s shoulders to receive and synthesize these messages, and through his songs communicate them to the people. With the collective feeling that the musical spirit of the past must live on, the mission of Spirit Macaw is to sustain this on their journey into the future. Mather and Spirit Macaw have a message to all those folks who love good music and dream of a peaceful world: BIG CHANGES ARE COMING!


Spirit Macaw
The story of Spirit Macaw, the band as it stands, begins with the young and ultra-inspiring Sam Crawford on lead guitar. When Sam plays his guitar, anyone within earshot knows that legends Hendrix, Clapton and Vaughan are still alive. With the grace of a figure skater and the instinct of a jaguar, the young Crawford crosses his blues-based style with a more melodic-sustained style, that which much of Mather’s music calls for. As a bonus, this guy can actually make his guitar meow!

The story continues with bass player Daniel Esko. Through his Great Red Rickenboker, Daniel produces rich bass tones upon which Mather’s songs sit, like a rocking ship, steadied by the soft sand of shore. Through carefully selected inside and outside-the-box ideas, Daniel’s bass lines are entire compositions that keep careful listeners intrigued and fulfilled. At times, he’ll proudly announce that his bass lines are reminscent of McCartney’s. With or without a pick, Daniel’s foundation will smile upon anyony who will to listen.

Feel like a vacation? Well, put drummer Rich Higgins at the drum set and suddenly you are somewhere else. With brushes in hand and sticks under his arm, you never know what to expect from this 25 year old Berkshire local. You get the simplicity of Ringo and the elbow in the floor tom of Bonham. Playing with Rick is like a road trip: you know where you're going, but you don't quite know how you're going to get there. Rich is the new-comer to the band and he fits right in there.


The Periferals
In addition to the core Spirit Macaw musicians, we welcome spontaneous appearances by Bethany Mather (my sista) and Shep, both on background vocals and auxiliary percussion. It is in absolute appreciation that I refer these members as the Periferals. For, how narrow our vision would be without the perifery. It is in a cold, dark and slightly dingy practice room that we meet, and the Spirit and energy that Shep and Beth bring are…like a fresh bouquet of dafodills sprouting out of the death of winter. Their roles are multifaceted. Beth’s liquid voice floats an octave atop Mather’s in a eerily homogenic way, no big surprise there. When Beth feels the vocal waves are complete, she grabs a tambourine or a shaker and reminds us that the 60s are still alive. In the absence of a drummer, Shep takes a seat at the set and acts as the metronome. In the absence of words, Shep whips out his bible-like poetry book, around which poems Mather has wrapped his music around into songs. On rare occasions, Shep takes to the mic to aide Mather in those hard to reach high notes. On the even rarer occasion that Shep reads one of his poems aloud, spirit of Morrison is ever-present. When not singing or shaking, the Periferals are our honest observers, moral supporters and our advocates.

My new Cd "One Pillow" is finished! We are now anxiously waiting for the copies to arrive. I was joined by Nick Halley, Sam Crawford, and Sky Smeed in the studio along with back ground singing by Shaylan Burkhart, Vanessa Halley, Will Conklin, and Bethany Mather. "One Pillow" will be available at cdbaby.com very soon. Also, we will have a cd release party early into the new year to celebrate my first full-length studio cd! Hope to see you all there!