A Conversation w/ the legendary - Matt Hole
- Jimmy Willden
- May 30, 2016
- 8 min read
JIMMY WILLDEN: I guess we’ll just jump right in. Can you tell me when you first got into music?
MATT HOLE: Well, my Dad was a professional musician in the 60’s. Obviously I was a kid and didn’t know anything about it then, but in the 80’s he started another band - a blues band - (I guess I was about 14-15) and I used to jam with them every now and again.
JW: Let’s back up a little bit. When were you born?
MH: 1968.
JW: And where were you born?
MH: In South Hampton, England.
JW: Okay - and what kind of music did your Dad play?
MH: He had a 60’s R&B band. He toured a lot with the Dave Clark Five, he actually opened up for The Who a few times; he even got to sing with them, Roger Daltrey lost his voice one night, so my Dad stepped in and filled in for him.
JW: Amazing story, good beginning. And from there, you fell into music yourself?
MH: Yeah. Dad went deaf in one ear, and then he had three kids, so he had to quit. But when we were growing up he started a band up again.
JW: When did you start your first band?
MH: I came here in ‘92 - so probably ‘94. I was probably 23-24.
JW: Did you come from England to Corpus Christi?
MH: Florida first. I traveled around, and then came to Corpus.
JW: What brought you to Corpus?
MH: It was winter, and I just came from Nebraska where it was snowing, and I got out of the bus here and it was 85 degrees, and I thought this was cool.
JW: And that’s what kept you here?
MH: The perfect weather.
JW: What kind of music did you listen to, growing up?
MH: Growing up, I listened to a lot of my Dad’s records; The Shadows, a lot of American music - Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly. I never really was into much English music, it was always American roots-type, Eddie Cochran, that kind of stuff.
JW: How would you describe Matt Hole & the Hot Rod Gang?
MH: It used to be Rockabilly, but I hate putting labels on anything - so I would say more just Texas Rock and Roll. We’ll go from a traditional 50’s rockabilly song, and then we’ll do one of ours - which is more hardcore - some people call it Psychobilly, it’s just a lot more revved up.
JW: What took you in that kind of direction?
MH: That was listening to The Stray Cats in England. I saw them in 1982, and it blew me away - what three people could do with minimal amounts of instrumentation. Drum, bass and guitar, that’s it. That’s all you need.
JW: When did you start writing your own stuff?
MH: I think the first album came out around ‘94-95, so around about then.
JW: What was the reception like with that album, Magazine Dream?
MH: It was great, in Europe especially. We sold a lot of CD’s through distribution companies all over Europe.
JW: Is Magazine Dream available anywhere today?
MH: Oh god, no. I don’t have any of the CD’s at all.
JW: Is anything available digitally online - iTunes, Amazon?
MH: No - which I need to do. I just don’t know how to do it. I need to get that stuff uploaded, somehow.
JW: So you came over to England - Florida, Nebraska - fell into Corpus, and started playing music here. Where the first place you performed, here locally?
MH: I actually started going down to the Open Mic Night at the Surf Club on Wednesday nights, and that’s how I basically learned; I’d never sung before. That’s how I met Keith, the original bass player down there. Then we got a drummer, and we used to go there every Wednesday and just play, as a band. Eventually, we outgrew that, and I think our first paying gig was Dr. Rockits,
JW: That’s funny. That’s like, my exact story, too. I grew up going to the Open Mic Nights at Surf Club, and my first paying gig was Dr. Rockits. Okay - so it’s been some twenty-odd years now since you began. How has the Corpus Christi music landscape changed, in your opinion?
MH: A lot of the kids growing up listening to us, they’ve all moved away or they have kids of their own; they just don’t get out. I don’t think the live music scene is as good as it used to be, for any band. It has dwindled, a lot.
JW: Why do you think it has dwindled? You would think each generation would start anew…
MH: Karaoke bars? When Karaoke first hit the market, that just disabled the live music scene completely. Also, people don’t want to pay cover charges anymore; they’ll pay more for a drink than they will for a cover charge, which is ridiculous. But I think that the new age, and modern technology, people’s toys - I just think people tend to stay at home a lot more.
JW: I’m plugged into the Corpus Christi Songwriters circle, and I do find that there is more of a comradery happening now. When I was growing up, there wasn’t much of that - it was all about competition.
MH: I think you’re absolutely right. These days, the bands are helping each other; they never used to. Like, on Facebook - if I see a band advertisement, the first thing I do is share it. That’s what everyone needs to do, share each other’s posts, help each other out.
JW: Definitely. If our scene is dwindling, what better way to keep it going than to have each other’s backs?
MH: It’s up to us musicians to keep it alive and keep it going.
JW: So tell me a little bit about The Hot Rod Gang, now?
MH: We’ve had the same drummer for 10-15 years, James “Star” Griffis, Mickey Allen on bass for a little over five years. We used to play out of town a hell of a lot, we don’t do that as much. We like to Port Aransas quite a bit, Austin we’ll play every now and again, we’ll play some rockabilly festivals in Houston. If something major comes up, we’ll take it. Opening up for Jerry Lee Lewis in Austin, we did that a few years ago; shows like that you just don’t want to turn down.
JW: You mentioned you were going to head to Tennessee soon?
MH: Yeah. We’re going to Memphis, there’s a weekend Rockabilly festival there, on Beale St., right outside Sun Studios. We’re going to be playing that, it should be fun.
JW: Do you have a new record or anything coming out?
MH: No. We have a bunch of new songs, but we just haven’t clicked record yet. Plus, I hate recording; I loathe it.
JW: Why’s that?
MH: It’s just the whole process. I don’t mind the actual playing, recording part. It’s just the mixing, the mastering, all that.
JW: Do you try to stay out of that, or are you there during those processes?
MH: I really try and stay out. But having someone there that you trust, is pretty difficult. The last time I think we recorded was “Live At The Surf Club”, but previous to that was at Hacienda. That was a long time ago on old 2-inch analog tape.
JW: So, at the moment, you’re a “live” band?
MH: Yeah. I mean, we don’t have merchandise. We used to have a van, a trailer, t-shirts, stickers, koozies, you name it - we had it. But I just want to play music.
JW: All the other stuff is secondary.
MH: Right. I mean, I understand bands - when they’re on the road, merch is how they make their money. But, we all have day jobs, and music - to us - is more of a hobby than anything else, and I don’t want boxes of crap trapped in my house anymore.
JW: You hosted Corpus Christi Songwriters a few months ago, and you implemented a questionnaire segment that we still use to this day. You asked two questions, and I’d like to ask those questions to you. The first one was - Who was it that got you into music?
MH: My Dad would be the main influence.
JW: The second one was - If you could dig up somebody to either see them play again or have a conversation with them, who would that be?
MH: Oddly enough, it’d probably be Freddy Mercury. I just think he was amazing songwriter and amazing vocalist.
JW: What’s your favorite Queen song?
MH: Probably ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’. And that’s got a real Rockabilly feel to it.
JW: I remember you mentioning something about Buddy Holly as well…
MH: Buddy Holly was a huge influence. I like the simplicity of the three-piece; small set of drums, upright bass, and guitar. Years and years ago, I had another guitar player, and it just didn’t feel right; two guitars. If I was to do that again, I would just have a rhythm guitar player playing nothing but acoustic. Totally different sound. I think that would work. But, two electric guitars for this kind of music - it’s just too much.
JW: Do you have anything else you would like to say to our readers?
MH: Keep supporting live music. Unfortunately, a lot of the bar owners are still paying the bands the same thing they paid them twenty-two years ago. Nobody’s getting rich in music - we do it because we love it - but instruments are expensive, gas is expensive. A lot of times, when we do shows, I end up spending as much at the bar and on getting there as I get paid. I’m sure you’ve done the same thing.
JW: A lot of times, you end up in the hole.
MH: If you see a tip jar, stick a dollar in there for the musicians. It helps them buy strings, and to get to the bars and clubs.
JW: How many guitars do you have?
MH: The one’s I use on stage are in there, so that’s 1,2,3…..about thirty.
JW: Which was the first guitar you bought?
MH: That 1974 Stratocaster - for $200.
JW: And how long did you play that, or did you play it?
MH: I played it on a couple of songs for the first CD, and then everything else was with this 1964 Gretsch Tennessean. Everything else I’ve pretty much bought and hung up, because they’re accumulating every day.
JW: Why do you think you got into guitar collecting?
MH: I love the way they look, and I love the way they sound. Each one has its own smell, each one has its own story to tell. Like that 1957 over there, I got that from a guy in Rockport. He bought that brand new when was a teenager, and he never played it again. Same with this ‘57 Gibson. Similar story. A man in the Bluff got it because he wanted to be a rock’n’roll star when he was a kid. He bought it brand new and just put it under his bed; never played it. And then this piece of shit right here. We were building a school, and it was in the parking lot. Someone just left it, leaning up against a tree. It’s ‘50 Silvertone, it’s not worth anything - but who knows who was playing that 40-50 years ago.
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