Matt Corby on New Album, Everything's Fine
Five years since the release of his last album, Matt Corby is back with Everything’s Fine, an honest and reflective response to modern life, underpinned with a hint of hopeful optimism. We caught up with the Australian singer-songwriter, fresh off the back of a run of European shows, to hear about the production process, the trials of being a record-from-home dad and to find out what lies ahead in 2023…
EF London played a significant part in the early days of your career with it being where you met the team from the record label Communion. Does it feel like a homecoming to come back and play here?
MC It does, yeah. I got to know those guys just as the label was starting; it was actually a music night originally. I was like 19 and I recorded an EP with Kev Jones, Ian and Chris who's playing drums for me at the moment. That was where the relationship started.
So yeah, this run of European shows have been great. It’s been a while since it’s been so nice and tight. Family vibes. It’s been really special actually.
EF You have your own record label now, Rainbow Valley Records. How have you found the process of setting up a label and have the Communion team given you any tips?
MC To be honest, we were hoping to work in conjunction with them. I think it got a bit too sticky with us using Warner as our parent company in Australia and New Zealand, and then not internationally. It's been a bit tricky to work out, so sadly that hasn't come to fruition. But as a team they're always so open and helpful. I've got a really great team of people in Oz too. It’s a funny game. There are no certainties in the music industry. But it’s really enjoyable as much as it is stressful.
EF Starting the label seemed to come from a place of wanting to nurture new talent. Did you have a mentor during the early days of your career and do you find yourself stepping into that role now?
MC It's funny, I used to think I didn’t [have a mentor], but when I actually thought about it, I was like, “No I did, I just didn't listen to them,” (laughs). In hindsight, I've had a few great ones. Kev Jones who runs Communion; he’s been a big mentor of mine, actually. He's taken out a lot of time throughout the years to help me with things. Dominic Salole, whose artist name is Mocky, he’s been a massive mentor too, especially musically. He taught me so much stuff in regards to production and how to be a great instrumentalist. He’s a fucking genius.
I'm glad to pass that information on and pay it forward. I'm coming up to 15 years in the music industry which makes me feel really old. I’m here when people need me and I'm super passionate about the music because I have a big hand in it and a lot of it's recorded at my house. I’ve really loved it actually, and I continue to love it.
EF So, how does it feel to be releasing a new album after five years?
MC I think I'm actually really excited. I used to get really horrified before things would come out. I'd be like, “Oh, what have I done? This isn't good enough.” But I think I've learned a lot in the last few years, especially doing a lot of the production stuff and writing. I really trust the process and I’ve been feeling really empowered to keep it simple. It's been a great change of pace for me. I'm really proud of the record. I think, given the circumstances that I was in at the time, we did as good as we possibly could. There were three other people that were rotating in and out of the studio; Alex Hendrickson, Nat Dunn and Chris Collins. All great writers and all great producers in their own right. It felt like such a great collaborative effort.
EF When you say 'the circumstances', are you referring to the 2022 Eastern Australian floods and having to uproot yourself and move to the studio?
MC Yeah, that was pretty challenging. The day we were supposed to start recording the album was the day the flood hit. Our house was destroyed, as were 4000 other people's houses. It probably was a really good motivator for me, to be honest, because I was kind of cruising. I was happy doing the production stuff. I was ready to make a record, which was funny. And then life was like, “How about an extra fucking bomb for you!” It definitely complicated the recording process. My four year old was screaming down the door every half an hour which, if you're a parent you would know, is insanely stressful at the best of times.
EF It seems like you’ve got a lot on your shoulders with the the record label and also having a family now. Does that sense of responsibility affect the creative process or how you write songs?
MC No, I think it's the opposite. [Having children] breaks your heart every day so it’s like I’ve been opened up to this whole new world of feeling things and observations of people. I think it's really motivating too; having kids kicks you into gear. I think before I spent most of my time just fucking faffing about. When you have a kid you’re like, “It’s got to come now and I’ve got to work hard.” Nothing comes easy and I want to be able to support my family with what I do. To do that with music is no little feat so it can be stressful at times but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
EF You new album, Everything’s Fine, is due out in March. The title of the album almost feels a little ironic or sarcastic. Is this the intention or is it a more sincere declaration that things really are ok?
MC It’s kind of half and half. It's definitely so ironic because like, look around you, everything's so not [fine]. But on whatever philosophical level you want to look at it, I guess it is as well. Like we're still here in this experience; we have the choice of making it fine or not fine or better or worse or whatever. I think the older you get, you realise that that's the qualifying factor. It’s all about how you perceive things and how you react to that perception. It’s very easy to be overwhelmed in this day and age with most parts of life. It is more up to the individual to process that and not let it destroy them.
EF The album artwork is really cool. How much are you involved in those areas of the work, directing what everything should look like etc.?
MC With this one, probably more so than ever. We had this brilliant graphic designer and illustrator, Niqui Toldi. She had to deal with a lot of annoying stuff from me and Jez, who’s the creative director for the label. The full spread of the vinyl is really cool. I imagined something very, very close to what she's created. For her to get that close with weird expectations of another person, you know, she's a proper genius. I was just like, “More irony!” (laughs) She did so well conceiving all the small details of what's truly going on, as if you’re reading between the lines of all these little interactions between these cartoons.
EF It's so nice with vinyl to have that tactile experience and have something detailed to look at while you listen. Are you a big collector of vinyl yourself?
MC Yeah, I've had to stop actually
because I have a problem. There are so many records I don’t know, and I’ll find myself going, “Oh that looks cool,” and it’s £30 and I’ll be like, “I’ll get 10 of them!” My partner is like, “How much was all this!?”
Actually, the stylus has gone on both my vinyl players at home and my son has scratched up a bunch of [my records].
My partner keeps moving them around the house and she put them down when my son was about two and a half and I came home one day and they were all over the floor. He was putting his weight on them and pushing himself around. It was devastating. Some brilliant ones too. I tried to play them and I just cried, they were all completely ruined.
EF Do you have a most prized record that’s still intact?
MC Yeah, I have an OG pressing of George Harrison's All Things Shall Pass. I also have a really rare Miles Davis live record. It’s so sick. I have a lot of vinyl, but those two are the ones no one’s allowed to touch. I played the Miles Davis one once and put it straight back and just sealed it all up again (laughs).
EF (laughs) I imagine they're on a very high shelf now.
MC Oh yeah, they’re so high up it’s crazy.
EF You're heading to the States and Canada soon. Do you find that you can expect a different audience reaction to what you’d get in Oz or Europe?
MC It's different everywhere, yeah. It's really funny observing it. Oz is weird, there’s a lot of baggage for me there. Everyone’s seen everything I’ve been through from Idol onwards. Whereas in other places, you only catch people's attention if you’ve done something of quality that they resonate with. I played in Stockholm the other day and, while speaking to people after the show, I really felt the deep connection that some people have with what I do. Last time I went to America, I felt really similar.
EF What's beyond the US and North American tour? Anything exciting coming up in 2023?
MC I'll be back over here in September. I’m going to do some big shows. I think I’m going to play the Hammersmith Apollo. That will be sick. We'll be here for maybe a month and then I might make another record. I’ve started writing and I’m really happy with some of the music, so I want to strike while the iron is hot. I think I’ve really figured out my process now.
