Greene Reveal | Interview 7.15.2010

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Interview: Jared Bowers/Photo: Samm Aversa

A little while ago I was able to talk to Matt Corey, bassist and behind the scenes magician for the unsigned, ambient Indie band Greene Reveal. We talk a little bit about how he and the band started out, their influences (including the unnecessary comparisons to a certain other ambient Indie band), and what’s next for them as the year moves on.

Jared Bowers: Tell me how you first got involved with music, was it playing in bands first or was it production first?

Matt Corey: Personally, it was playing in bands and stuff. My old Pop-Punk bands had actually recorded with Ken Susi from Unearth. Two of the members that I’m in this band with right now were also in the same band. This was like, 6 or so years ago when we recorded with him. I just really like the whole recording process. It’s something that I always wanted to do. So, then is when I got in to it and took the plunge.

JB: Did you go to school, or undergo any training for it, or was it just a “learn as you went?”

MC: It was definitely “learn as I went,” but also doing as much research and asking people questions as much as I could. But also, I went to school and got a Music Business minor, which just kinda helped me in that sense. I didn’t necessarily learn anything from the school, but I did do a music practicum for my minor which included me recording some of the people at the school.

JB: Are you looking at producing as a career now, or are you trying to focus more on the band?

MC: Definitely I’d like to do producing in the long term. But I’m really, really focused on Greene Reveal. Hopefully as my own talents grow, it will also help the band grow. You know, the correlation of those two together.

JB: Do you feel like maybe some of the magic of listening to someone else’s album, or their music is gone since you’ve been behind the scenes and you know what goes in to recording now, or do you find it even more fascinating?

MC: I will say this – that having much more critical ears you tend to pick out a lot more things that you do end up nit-picking and not liking and sometimes that can ruin the music. However, every now and then, there’s something where the recording has so much character that it really portrays what the music is getting across so much better. So when you find that combination you can really appreciate it so much more than if it was just music, you know?

JB: Absolutely! Can you think of any albums offhand where the character of the music really speaks to you a little bit more?

MC: Yeah! I would say Glassjaw’s Worship and Tribute. That record is really, really analog sounding, really, really big sounding. That’s a record, and that’s a band, too, where a lot of days now, you hear a lot of really tight drum samples, and it doesn’t feel raw anymore – Especially a lot of metal bands, a lot of just, really sample-y drums and stuff. Whereas that Glassjaw record is so brutal, and sometimes just so atmospheric and everything. I think that really, the rawness, and just the bigness, and also the professional sound of it just translates so well for the band.

JB: How did Greene Reveal come about? What was the catalyst?

MC: 3 out of 4 of us were in that Pop-Punk band called Ready Set Fail about 6 years ago. The 3 of us didn’t even necessarily like Pop-Punk, but we kind of found each other that way. We all loved old, old Moneen, old Dredg, old Glassjaw, so that’s really a lot of where our influence comes from. Back in high school, that’s what we were all listening to, that Glassjaw record and especially really, really old Moneen. So when we entered that band, we kind of found each other because we didn’t know each other necessarily. We found out we all liked that style of music and that was something that we wanted to do together. So when that band ended up fizzling out for other reasons, it was just the logical choice to create our band, and even though we’ve been around for a really long time, this is has kind of always been our sound, just now it’s so much more mature than it was back when we started.

JB: You talked about old Moneen and old Dredg being your influences, are there any other bands that you’re drawing influences from? Personally, I hear a lot of In:Aviate and Circa Survive…

MC: It’s funny, we get the Circa thing a lot. When we had started, me and the guitarist that wasn’t in the Pop-Punk band – way, way early in high school when we were 13 and 14 we were listening to a lot of weird stuff like Primus and Korn. Not necessarily that Korn was that weird, but we got really, really in to effects and collecting guitar pedals and stuff when we were really young. So that just really translated to how we sound now, from such an early age.

When we started, it was actually months before Juturna came out, Circa’s first album. So it’s funny for us because a lot of people are like, “Oh, you guys sound so much like Circa Survive!” But when we say, “Well, you know, a lot of Glassjaw, Moneen, Dredg. That’s a lot of the stuff that really influenced us.” It’s maybe because this generation doesn’t know who those bands are.

JB: Oh, absolutely! I didn’t mean to lump you in with them, because I’m sure you get that a lot…

MC: Oh, no no no no! I know that’s not necessarily for you. It just happens to be a lot of the comparisons we get today.

JB: Let’s talk about the recording process, then, since you were on both sides of the board. What was that like for you?

MC: I love doing it because I produce a lot of other bands and record a lot of other bands, too – so with my own band, when I have something that’s a really creative thought or idea… Like, there’s two tracks on the record that are really beat driven. And personally, I listen to a lot of dance and house music. I like a lot of beat driven music. So for me, to be able to produce my own album and be able to translate that in to the music, so much to the point where a lot of the songs have a lot of weird synths and lot of weird things that I think with other bands it doesn’t come off as genuine, because they don’t have a guy in the band that necessarily puts that stuff out there, you know what I mean?

JB: It comes across as a lot more organic…

MC: Yeah, yeah, yeah… When it’s like the guy in the band that’s really helping it, you know, have a lot more colors and textures in the music, instead of it just being some external producers idea.

JB: You’re talking about colors and textures… Do you feel music in more of a visual manner? Do you use the sound to translate that in to in colors and textures for you, so that you can produce it?

MC: Yeah, I think we’re all very organic in the writing process. Everybody really puts in the best that they can for themselves independently. There’s a lot of really unique drum stuff, and there’s a lot of really unique guitar stuff, and vocal stuff, and bass stuff. I think that each song, as we write it, has it’s own colors and it’s own sound to it. So when that hits the studio, I can really bring out the colors from each song. That’s already there from the writing process.

JB: When you guys write, do you find that you’re able to write from a production perspective that would help make the recording process easier? Or do you kind of write each song first, then worry about the technical aspects of everything later?

MC: We write each song first. It’s usually several hours of tweaking and jamming. As far as just finding the structure, we usually really run through it, and sometimes end up just trashing a lot of ideas. As far as the whole writing process goes, it’s definitely creating those songs before they hit the studio. Even the beat songs started as guitar riffs and everything, but then kind of ended up translating that way in to having beats rather than being whole songs. So think there might be a slight exception, but those songs themselves were there before the beats were there.

JB: Let’s talk a little bit about the music scene where you guys are. Where is Watertown in New York?

MC: Watertown is in upstate New York. It’s an hour North of Syracuse.

JB: So what is the music scene like up there?

MC: It’s funny, because in Syracuse it used to be a lot of Hardcore and it ended up kind of going in to a lot of Power-Pop and that Pop-Rock. Where we are, being more North of that, the music scene is actually pretty big. A lot of kids come out to shows, but what’s weird is that the actual bands from the area are all very, very different and all spread… I think from being in North OhMyGod, the bands for some reason are a little more willing to have different sounds. Which is funny because you won’t get a local show of just all Hardcore locals, or just all Pop-Punk locals. You’ll get a local show that’s got us, the weird Indie, ambient band, and then a more Skate-y Punk band, and then some weird Grindcore band. *laughs*

JB: Do you think it’s important for you guys to play a significant role in the scene, as sort of like shepherds, or grandfathers, just make sure that you’re seen and that you’re part of it?

MC: Yeah, definitely. We are one of the bands that stuck around the longest in the area. Obviously, you know? We’ve just been definitely around the scene for a long time and seen things change, but the main constant is that there’s always a lot of bands that are willing to try different sounds. In our area, at least.

JB: What have you guys found most challenging about being in an unsigned band?

MC: It’s definitely hard with our sound. I think that because of the way the economy is, and the music scene is, I don’t think a lot of labels are willing to take chances right now. That’s been very evident, over talking with labels and talking with whoever, because there’s labels that consist almost entirely of Power-Pop bands, or Pop-Punk bands. It’s weird to see that they wouldn’t want a unique band. It’s just really, really weird to see that a lot of labels just really aren’t taking chances. I think, for us, that’s what’s been most tough about it is finding that break, and having talked with a lot of labels, and done a lot of tours, and had a van accident and everything else. After 5 years of this band, and going through everything – I think for us, especially, it’s just been weird that we haven’t caught our break yet in terms of because of labels being so persistent on only really following certain trends in music rather than taking chances.

But I think, one thing to mention, too, is that we’ve never changed a member, we’ve always been these 4 dudes since the start. I think that, despite that, because we care so much about the music and being passionate about it and creating something new, that’s what’s really glued us together for so long and keeps us going. Unlike a lot of bands that are just riding a certain wave and then disbanding or…

JB: Would you say there are any advantages to having whatever amount of control you have over what you’re doing, though?

MC: Oh yeah. Absolutely. I think that because we’re such a unique band it gives us a lot of control over our image, our sound obviously. It’s not as if we’re being forced to go record with some guy who’s going to turn us in to something that might be more digestible, but something that maybe we consider as artists not having as much intergrity. So it’s really nice being on our own in that sense. We’re definitely a weird band that wants to have a lot of control over that stuff, so it’s nice being able to do that.

JB: Being a fan of Pop music like Lady Gaga, and part of an independent, unsigned band, do you think there’s a closing divide between underground, independent music and what most would consider Pop? Do you think there’s even such a thing as the “underground” anymore?

MC: I do know it’s a closing divide. It’s weird because Pop music isn’t just ainstream, now it is underground Pop in that sense. But with the hope that it won’t stay underground. It’s just not “popular” pop, I guess. Which is, obviously, contradicting itself. It’s funny to see the transition of bands… I think in the 90’s and in the early 2000’s, the trends that were going on weren’t meant to be as poppy. Now we see even Metal and Hardcore kind of have a more Pop side to it, with way hookier vocals, and the synth breakdowns and stuff like that. I think that because of the formulas that are going on today, Pop has kind of leaked in to the underground music, even with lighter bands but also heavier bands, too.

JB: What do you think someone like Lady Gaga does for music? Maybe from a musical standpoint, or a personality standpoint, do you see her as a positive trend, or something positive for music, or do you see her as being detrimental in some way?

MC: I guess, music to me has to either be really well written and be really, really catchy, or it has to have some type of artistic integrity to it. And I think that Lady Gaga is someone who kind of does have some artistic integrity because she’s being weird, and maybe that’s part of her formula for standing out. But at least she’s actually trying to do something slightly different, but still very, very digestible.

JB: What bands are you in to right now? What albums are you listening to?

MC: *Laughs* I guess I could ask the other band members quick… Me personally, I guess it would be the new Basement Jaxx album. I’m a big fan of Basement Jaxx. Let’s see… I mean, I listen to mostly dance music and a lot of really weird stuff. *Laughs* I mean the new Cannibal Corpse falls on that list, too, for me. Oh! The new Deftones. The new Deftones, definitely. I just thought of that, that’s one that we listened to on the way – we’re actually playing a show tonight – and that’s one that we listened to a few times on the way here. Definitley the new Deftones – being a band like us we can definitely appreciate them having their own unique sound within a digestible… it’s very digestible, and weird, and unique.

JB: What’s on the agenda for the band, then? What are you guys up to for the rest of the year?

MC: We had a lot of leftover ideas from our full-length, ones that were really good but when it came time to have 11 songs, they just didn’t get worked on enough. So currently right now, we’re planning on doing some touring in the late Summer and Fall, but we’re also writing and recording another EP of 5 songs that, like I said, were just more ideas that – You know one of the things that we definitely try to push with ourselves is writing music and writing new music. That’s what we do. It’s not something where we just try to just crank out some songs that we don’t necessarily care about. If we can make art that we’re really proud of we want to keep doing it, so we’re always constantly writing. I think maybe late Fall, early Winter will be when we release the EP as well.

JB: Anything that you’d like to mention or add?

MC: If you want, I have a website for my studio. It’s www.mattcoreyproductions.com

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You can check out Matt’s studio’s website at the link above, and I can’t encourage you enough to check out the band and give them a listen. They’re a great band with their own unique sound and are genuinely proud of what they’re creating. Stay tuned to Lush Beat for more awesomeness with Greene Reveal in the very near future.

Written By Jared Bowers
twitter.com/jaredisnothere