Matt Dusk Has Fun With Christmas
December 8, 2004 - JazzTimes recently said, "Matt Dusk could eat the average American Idol wannabe for breakfast." That's quite a quote but one just has to listen to Dusk or spend some time with him to know this young crooner has something very special. Survivor creator Mark Burnett thought so casting Dusk in his reality series "Casino." Dusk has just followed up his debut disc "Two Shots" with "Peace on Earth," a Christmas EP on Decca records. The singer told Smooth Jazz Now that he didn't just want to rehash old favourites but instead added one of his own holiday tunes called "Christmas Is Finally Here." The collection also includes a reworking of the famous Bing Crosby / David Bowie duet "Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy," featuring Dusk and singer/ songwriter Hawksley Workman. We talked to Dusk about Christmas, Vegas and his fast moving career. Read our second interview with Dusk.

John Beaudin - Hey Matt, nice to see you again.

Matt Dusk - Hi John. I'm really enjoying your site, I was just on it the other day.

John - Thanks man. Are you listening to my friends at The Wave in Hamilton when you go home?

Matt - Sure I do, that's all I listen to all day.

John - Have you talked to them?

John & Matt @ the Breeze, Calgary

Matt - No, not yet.

John - When you get back to Toronto call Bob Farrow, he's a good guy. Bob does the music and their morning show. That guy is plugged in.

Matt - Email the information when I get back home.

John - Ok. You just came back from Vegas, right?

Matt - Yeah, I just came back. We were there from November 1-21. It was a three week gig at the Hilton. It was great the momentum of the shows built and built each night and we had our biggest crowd on the last night so it was nice to leave on a high note. You know what? As great as that was it's really great to come back to Canada. I really appreciate this place.

John - I liked what you brought to the Christmas music on the new EP "Peace on Earth" but you know it never seizes to amaze me that when you sing you have this big seasoned older man's smooth pipes. (laughing)

Matt - (laughing) Actually, I sound like this in real life. (He does something that sounds like Kermit the frog.)

John - (laughing) So was this album recorded like most Christmas albums? In the heat of June?

Matt - No, it's a really funny story actually there are two tracks on there "Christmas Blues" and "Cool Yule" that were recorded before but all the other tracks were recorded literally four weeks ago.

John - Close enough to be plugged into the spirit?

Matt - I tell you! What happened was we were doing a gig at the HMV convention and I got together with some Universal people and they said, "Why don't we put together a Christmas record for you." I was so excited since Christmas is my favorite time of the year. You get to be with family and friends, get to drink and be merry so what's better than that but recording some Christmas tunes. So we went into the studio and recorded it and I'm absolutely proud of it.

John - You co-wrote "Christmas is Finally Here", are you building a standard here? It's a good tune.

Matt - I wrote that with a friend of mine and when I heard we were going to do the record I sat at home on the weekend and I knew I had to come up with my own take on Christmas. I knew I wanted to write the kind of song that I would want to hear so that's how "Christmas is Finally Here" came about.

John - Well, its' in the vein of Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett, I'm sure they'd be proud.

Matt - Well, I hope so. I want to carry the torch forward.

John - Have you talked to the guys from the "Golden Nugget" since the TV show The Casino went off the air?

Matt - Of course. Tim Poster who's one of the owners is one of my best friends in the world and when I was recently in Vegas I saw him everyday, he's just a lovely individual. I'm also good friends with his business partner Tom Breitling and both are all about supporting the career. They told me, "We can't fit you in here right now but the Hilton's got a bigger venue." It's great!

John - Are you meeting any big stars?

Matt - You know what? I'm just a normal dude. After a gig I like to go home, grab a beer, hang with the buds and watch a basketball game.

John - When I met you in June I hadn't seen an episode of "The Casino" from start to finish but after I saw it I didn't fall in love with it like maybe "Survivor" but I really enjoyed it. That Mark Burnett he can put a show together, hey?

Matt - You know there is a reason why he is one of the most successful people in show business, he knows a great formula.

John - My in-laws saw Elvis near the end and they told me that even though they could tell he obviously wasn't on top of his game anymore there was still something magical about him.

Matt - You know there was something about his performance that was so magnetic and only certain stars have that quality where they can do nothing wrong, I think Sinatra had that, I think Tony Bennett has that and I think Harry Connick has it.

John - I enjoyed seeing you and Tony Bennett on "The Casino."

Matt - That was pretty cool, I was really...not necessarily nervous but I guess overwhelmed.

John - What's his energy like? I saw him on there and I have to admit it had been probably two years since I'd seen him on TV and I really noticed that he seems well set in his body which made me think would I be nervous around him or would I just feel at ease because he seems that way?

Matt - There's a glow about him, he's very honest, very charming and he's pushing 80 I think and he's singing his best these days.

John - Are you going to be home for Christmas?

Matt - Oh Yeah, I can't wait to see the family.

John - You know the most response I received from our first interview was the fact that you were willing to talk about that tough breakup that you went through. Folks were emailing us saying, "Good on him for his honesty."

Matt - Well, it happens to everybody and people have these images of movie stars and musicians that are so unrealistic so we're all normal people at the end of the day it's just that some people choose not to let others see that.

John - What's next for you?

Matt - Well, that's a very, very good question because that's something that's been on my mind and let me say I can see the next record going two ways. It could be a little bit more classic with the standard but a little more forward thinking.

John - Meaning?

Matt - A little more pop genre but still written in the same vein as a lot of the tunes that we have on my record "Two Shots." So, it has to be something that could be fresh but at the same time if we're going to go classic we're going to go hard core.

John - We talked about it this summer and here it comes up again and that's you and Michael Buble have to get in the same room.

Matt - I agree.

John - I would love to see you two do a duet and I think you both could hang. I think you two would get along really well.

Matt - You know what's really funny is I know it's going to happen but it's just a matter of when. We're both really, really busy and we're both trying to build careers right now. He's a funny guy and I saw him live when he was in Toronto he was absolutely charming.

John - You revisited a song that I've always liked "Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy," it was sort of a freak of nature meeting the first time with Bing Crosby and David Bowie and who would have known they would have sounded so good together. If you would have presented the facts to anyone about both of those stars getting together what do you think most people would have said?

Matt - Huh? (laughing)

John - (laughing) Yeah, exactly. You've redone this song with Hawksley Workman how did the whole thing come about?

Matt - Well, Randy Lennox the president of Universal Canada has always wanted to get both Hawksley and me together on a duet so he came up to me with the idea for this song and I love the song so we did it live off the floor and what you hear is what you got and Hawksley was absolutely lovely to work with.

John - I loved the remix on the album, that's funky stuff.

Matt - Terry Sawchuck came up with the idea he is..

John - The NHL Hall of Famer who died in 1970. (laughing)

Matt - (laughing) Yes, I communicate with him through my ouija board. He's a very good friend of mine he's the guy who co-wrote "Christmas Is Finally Here " with me and I told him to carry this music forward we have to give a method to put it on radio to introduce it to young people. I thought we should spread ourselves on different formats so no one can say that they can't play it. That's the one thing people said about my album "Two Shots." I wanted to make it like the Elvis remix of (he starts singing) "A little less understanding a little more action." So that's how we got "Marshmallow World" on there. It's the old Dean Martin classic standard.

John - I've been to Vegas 4 times and I have to admit I was a little addicted to the place, not to gambling even though I did win 999 quarters. Ok, not a fortune but it was nice but I was caught up in the whole thing. What did you feel when you first got there?

Matt - It's such a blur now. (laughing)

John - Well, you've done a lot since you got there.

Matt - Yeah, my life has changed so much in the last year and you know I enjoy music so much that it's the payoff in everything. Every single thing that I do is for the music I never really expected myself to be in Vegas at that time but where did I expect to be? Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world and that town is the soul of big band music now. You walk in any hotel and Frank's playing or Billie Holiday's playing. So, I guess in some ways I saw it happening.

John - You went through the classical choir thing, that's a tough gig.

Matt - Well, you know though I love it.

John - I'm sure you do but a lot of folks go through that kind of training and they still have nightmares about it.

Matt - Now remember that classical thing is what got me to where I was. It's like lifting weights you can't start bench pressing three hundred pounds.

John - I had a singer tell me a little while ago that "Silent Night" was a tough song to do if you want to do it right.

Matt - I didn't find it tough at all because that's the kind of music I used to sing. I have spent years around the family at Christmas singing carols and "Silent Night" is one of my favorite holiday songs. After I recorded "Silent Night" I heard the finished vocal and I have to tell you I haven't been so musically that touched in about two or three years just because I finally realized the beauty of the music and the song. Songs aren't really written like that anymore so there's a reason why "Silent Night" is known all over the world. It's so simple and yet so meaningful.

John - I love that quote on your website from JazzTimes and I quote, "Matt Dusk could eat the average American Idol wannabe for breakfast." That's a kick ass endorsement!

Matt - Well that's cool, I don't really....Well, I definitely have confidence when I perform.

John - There's definitely a validation in a statement like that sure maybe you wouldn't say that and maybe you wouldn't put it that way and maybe you don't look at yourself that way but listen if I don't know you and I read a quote like that then I want to know you.

Matt - I had a great interview with that guy from JazzTimes, we spent an hour. He was a great guy.

John - What's up for Christmas for you?

Matt - Holy cow we get back into Toronto on the 22, 23 and I'm off until December 30th and I'm just going to spend it with friends and family.

John - Did the Dusk family have any interesting Christmas traditions?

Matt - My parents and my friends just love to party so we always had tons of people over so Christmas is like a four or five day party and then we take a break for four days and then there's New Years we're all partying again. There is always about 30-40 people at the house.

John - When you were growing up did your parents make you sing in front of people or was that voluntary?

Matt - We all sang together and we all had all these sheets of music.

John - But isn't it different now though, you're the Billboard guy now?

Matt - Yeah, but they still know the way I was before. You know actually it gets a little tiring when the family just wants to know about work but I'd rather talk about the holidays and having fun. That's kind of a rule I have as soon as I enter the home there's no work talk and they're cool about that. My mom still wants to know where my next gig is and the specifics.

John - (laughing) Yeah, well she's a mom. You did one of my all time favorite Christmas songs, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" that to me is the epitome of the warmth of Christmas.

Matt - I also love that song so much and dude I can do a whole concert of Christmas songs and I've done it before, I made the mistake of doing that before. (laughing)

John - But you're in a genre where it's a natural segue from doing what you were doing on "Two Shots" to holiday music.

Matt - Sure I was game when they asked me.

John - So there could be a whole album of Christmas music on the way?

Matt - There will be a full release album of Christmas music from me next year. I'll record another seven or eight tracks and put the whole album together.

John - Hey Matt, I want to thank you for coming in.

Matt - Always a pleasure John.