Matthew Jameson has always been a student of the arts. He began acting and singing in grade school, and in the 8th grade began taking piano lessons, motivated by a hottie substitute teacher who was, according to her, in some heavy-metal music videos. With a fine balance of creative yearnings and hormonal velocity he spent a whole six and a half months learning scales and ”Sister Christian” by Night Ranger… the irony of which was completely lost on him.
He and his twin brother formed various garage-band situations in between college semesters. Matthew went to Carnegie Mellon University’s acting department only to realize a larger stage awaited. He spent the next two years traveling the country, including Canada and even a summer in Alaska, where he and his traveling buddy crashed their truck into a moose. Their journey cut short, they drove home, non-stop for three straight days, the driver having to hold his head out of the window due to the shattered windshield and a more grounded existence came as a welcome path.
Jameson then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He knew acting wasn’t for him, not yet anyway….. The laid back feel of this hip city was just what he needed to explore his own creative side. He had left home for good, but his home had already left him. His parents’ divorce had left everyone shattered, and being alone in the stark canyons and arroyos of the Sandia Mountains was the perfect hiding place for his soul. It was here that he first saw purple mountains, painted by the setting sun. The amber waves of grain were not too far off in the future. With some new friends, he was schooled in both folk music and punk rock.
He returned to New York for a summer and joined a Grateful Dead cover band with his brother. It was not meant to last for long. The road was calling again…. This time to go further west. How far would he have to go to escape the chaos that was melting down around him? He caught a ride with a girl-friend (well.. a friend who happened to be a girl) to a family wedding in Minnesota. Some local girls taught him this new polka dance they had invented, kinda like polka meets mosh pit. Intense… With some other extended relatives of the girl-friend he was able to bum a ride to eastern Washington. He still talks about the enchanting beauty of endless oceans of golden fields, with the only signs of civilizations tucked into narrow valleys, as if they almost felt themselves unworthy to bask in the gilded expanses. This was as far as they were going. He had just enough money to catch a bus to his older brother’s house which was in the city of his final destination…Seattle. Jameson had seen the explosively cool black and white posters in a dorm room down the hall at Carnegie Mellon. Soundgarden? Bodies with piles of hair floating over arms of leather and sweat? It had to be explored.
As the bus pulled into the station, some guy offered him a ride in the back of his girls’ car if he didn’t mind waiting while they stopped at a friend’s house. Waiting idly in the back seat while the girl chided her man at their unsuspecting passenger, Matthew Jameson occupied himself by looking through their tape collection in one of those cheap wooden wine boxes. Upon pulling back the sliding cover he had come face to face with the truth about this city.. It was a Mecca for lost souls and fuck-ups. The works. Needles. Rubber tourniquet. Spoon. Luckily he never went down that road. But he never forgets the day he shared a good cry with the strippers that came into the pet food store he worked in, the day we heard the news. Kurt. Gone. Some heady days….that started getting too heavy.
It was in Seattle that Jameson began writing and recording his own songs. Dark rumblings, words searching through crowded spaces… trying to find sense in a senseless world. Words laced with paranoia and strains of an inescapable optimism. After a few years it was time to return to the only place that could conceivably feel like a real home. New York. They say you can never go home again, but I really don’t think Jameson would agree. The next several years would be spent in and out of bands and relationships… all laying the emotional and creative foundation for the artist we see and hear today. Every bit of Matthew Jameson is in every single one of his songs. Shades, whispers and suggestions of times and places that are buried in a place that only metaphor and melody can re-kindle.
So thank you substitute-hottie teacher, and thank you Mr. Choir director. And thank you Kurt.
Hey… it’s Matthew Jameson here. Wanted to give you a heads up on the things I’ve been doing lately. Busting my ass is what I’ve been doing. I work a day job… a creative one. I make music at night. It’s all I know how to do. Teaming up with John DeSimone at Long Island Vinyl Exchange in East Northport is the best place to start and by far the coolest record shop in the tri-state area. I helped launch his first annual children’s sing- along by playing for those crazy kids, and even wrote two songs for the event. Malibu Sue from 94.3 WMJC hosted the event and was apparently diggin’ my stuff. Soon there will be full-on Band Battles and Big Shows. CHECK THIS PLACE OUT!!!
Teaming up with the staff at Olive Records, I spear-headed a litter clean-up program. This is something that just happened spontaneously after seeing so much TRASH right on the streets in my own hood! Check out my myspace blogs for targeted sites and I’ll be singing roadside to entertain the ‘troops’!! It’s contagious… we’ve already seen others come out and maintain the beauty of their streets, so we can move on to other areas. Sweet!!
“The
time is now.” This is a phrase I
have used throughout my life. It’s gotten me where I am today. “The time is now or it will never be”
is what I say about this point in my career. Having played in ‘other people’s bands’, exhausted the
open-mic scenes, there is only one thing left to do. Get MY band on MY terms
and make things really happen.
Keeping things tight as a three-piece for now is the best way to go for
now. We’re not going to play out
until a kick-ass show is in the full gear, but I’ll still be doing my classic
Jameson songs and trying out new Jameson material. What a life I lead!!
So dig the press kit. Keep the bribe if you want. Tell a friend about the most original sounding (and behaving) artist on this side of normal. Pick up some trash. Come see the new website and link yourself up to me, Matthew Jameson. THE TIME IS NOW!!!!
Thank you for taking the time to check out the first official release from Long Island’s newest record label, “Olive Records”. MATTHEW JAMESON has been with us since the beginning and we are overwhelmed with pride to be presenting his latest ep “SOUTH SHORE GIRLS” to local and regional audiences. The record is due to drop on June 1st , but we want to get the word out about this absolutely original and totally amazing songwriter/ rocker. We have a lot planned to make this release something that people are going to be talking about. Please see the attached Jameson bio sheet to get the full story on what he’s been up to!
OLIVE STUDIOS is the logical place to begin when talking about the inception of OLIVE RECORDS. Located in the commercial business district just south of the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, it began as just a rehearsal space and jam spot for a whole cast of characters that we knew from the scene. After a few years, the partiers began to fade and the face of Olive Records became clear. A ‘boutique-style’ studio that caters to the up-and-coming talents, and makes room for some of the bigger bands when things get tight. In 2008 Olive Studios played host to the band BAYSIDE, allowing them the space and comfort they needed to write their smash follow-up record “Shudder”, after their studio suffered from a fire.
Of note as well is the full album recorded by the band MEN and WHALES. Tom Murphy and his band commuted from Queens and loved the attention they received and the sound they achieved. Their album “Farewell to the Fire” was co-produced by Matthew Jameson and he played drums and sang back-ups as well. They are currently making a name for themselves on college campuses and clubs around the region. SCOTT BORLAND finished a fine song he had written especially for his son, helping the two of them cope with a difficult time in their lives. It really is all about craft and humanity at Olive Records. A of writing this final draft we just confirmed the 6 month residency of the band THE STILL LIFE. They have been perfecting their live show in the rehearsal space and will record a live album when they feel they have everything perfect. It will be!!
It’s been a slow and steady rise for Olive Records, but we have set an upward trajectory for ourselves and have never faltered in our aim and passion to just MAKE SOME GOOD MUSIC and help GET THE WORD OUT!! The press kit before you was created and assembled by our completely motivated and obviously creative street team that truly believe in Matthew Jameson. Here at Olive Records, we make the fun… work for US!!
With Rock in our hearts,
Olive Records,
Matthew J. Tully and staff.