Matt Dusk Says Finding Fame Wasn't Easy
July 15, 2004 - He's featured every week on the new Mark Burnett reality TV show 'The Casino' but Matt Dusk says the road to Vegas and performing at the Golden Nugget wasn't easy. "I went through one tough thing after another." says Dusk. When he was recording his album 'Two Shots' his whole world began to crumble starting with a break-up, "I was in a five year relationship with somebody I really cared for and she was my first love. I had the rug pulled from under my feet and being my first love I didn't know how to react." Then his manager and friend Scott Richards passed away, "It seemed that every time I was crawling up out of this hole I was being knocked down again." Dusk told Smooth Jazz Now that through this emotional roller coaster he found a certain peace, "I thank God for showing me what a really dark place is like and being able to crawl out of it. I appreciate the good stuff a little more now." Dusk gets loads of airtime on The Casino and his 'Two Shots' album is starting to get airplay across Canada. We talked to Dusk in person June 2004 in Calgary.

John Beaudin - Hi Matt, welcome to Calgary. It's nice to see you.

Matt Dusk & John Beaudin, June 2004

Matt Dusk - Thanks John. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

John - Hey, this wacky music world is changing. The kids, at least some of them, are listening to music that their parents are supposed to. Of course Britney Spears is still in the top ten but some kids are expanding their horizons.

Matt - I think in Adult Contemporary or in Smooth Jazz it's amazing how the kind of music that some kids see as cheesy or dumb is actually some of the biggest selling records out there.

John - Well, people like you and Norah Jones, Peter Cincotti, Michael Buble' are changing things.

Matt - Well, just look at Norah, how amazing is that.

John - Well, with you these days I notice I see you everywhere. I opened the papers today and there you are, you're on the Canadian and U.S. talk show circuit and of course we all see you on the new Mark Burnett reality show 'The Casino.' So obviously you're a busy boy. How are you staying grounded with this schedule?

Matt - It's weird but first of all I don't read the reviews. Positive or negative I just don't read it. I don't think it's about that for me. I don't need validation from somebody to get to a certain place.

John - Does that confidence come from the fact that you've been doing this for a long time?

Matt - Yeah, I've been doing this for a long time. I've been performing in clubs for seven or eight years. The cool thing about music is that music is an opinion, right? There will be people who love and people who hate you and people who don't give a crap. At the end of the day I tell myself I did my best and that's it! Hopefully that's enough for people to enjoy. That's kind of how I keep grounded plus I have a family that keeps me grounded and my friends make sure I don't lose grasp of it all.

John - Did your family always get what you're doing?

Matt - Oh sure.

John - Chicken or egg. Did they introduce you to this or was it the other way around?

Matt - I kind of stumbled into it. It's really funny because I used to listen to a lot of electronica and house music. To me it's all music no matter what the genre. Anyway, I used to tour across Canada with the choir I was in as a kid. One day a buddy of mine just handed me a CD with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald. It was all these older crooners and I loved it. So I went out and started buying all these Karaoke discs and throwing them in the car and going for it. One of my buddies suggested that I perform at a variety show that was coming up. I went to an all guy's school and we were doing this variety show with an all girls school. Well, let's just say the girls went nuts after we sang. (laughing)

John - (Laughing) And you're thinking well, I like this kind of reaction!

Matt - (Laughing) Bingo! I was thinking this is kind of cool! I just started doing more and more of it and one thing led to another and here I am. You know I almost never went into music, my father was self employed and he had a great business.

John - What did he do?

Matt - He was in packaging. I mean everything comes in a box.

John - Nice metaphor for life there buddy!

Matt - (laughing) Oh, I can pull out a cliché' on demand! I could have done other things but looking back now I can easily see that music ultimately was the best thing for me.

John - I like your liner notes on the album. It gave me a good insight on who you are. I know that you were going through a lot when you made this album.

Matt - Oh yeah, it was a tough time for me.

John - Wel,l your manager passed away.

Matt - You know what? I went through one tough thing after another. I was in a five year relationship with somebody I really cared for and she was my first love. I had the rug pulled from under my feet and being my first love I didn't know how to react. So I stumbled and really I couldn't control my emotions and once that started to roll over my manager (Scott Richards) passed away. Then my other manager's brother passed away within a year of that. It seemed that every time I was crawling up out of this hole I was being knocked down again.

John - I hear you but the other side of that is what it pulled out of you. Look how many great albums were made under crazy circumstances. The last few Beatles albums, 'Rumors' by Fleetwood Mac even 'Hotel California' by the Eagles.

Matt - Sure. I tell you and really I can see that now but out of this really dark place I got a certain perspective. I thank God for showing me what a really dark place is like and being able to crawl out of it. I appreciate the good stuff a little more now. There is one song on the record that is very difficult for me because they say you never really get over something you just learn how to deal with it better. The track is 'Five' which is the last track and it's a one take vocal.

John - I know it. It's a heavy tune.

Matt - Oh yeah. Basically I can map out every line of what happened but it shows you that every cloud can have a silver lining. Like you said with all those albums that come out of pain hopefully there's good strong creative stuff that comes out of it but at the time you don't realize that.

John - Well, sure because if you're in the middle of a hurricane your first thought is not to get groceries, its pure survival!

Matt - I was thinking what can I do to make myself feel better? Well, I just vented on a piece of paper not realizing that it could be a song for a record.

John - Do you have a lot of songs in the vaults? Do you have a large body of work not recorded yet?

Matt - We wrote almost fifty songs for this record. I did a lot of co-writes but really I don't care who gets their songs on the record as long as it's good music and the best song wins, but yes we do have lots more songs in the vaults. I like to leave them where they are for now and just get to new writing at this time.

John - Writing is a weird thing sometimes if a tune doesn't speak to an artist even though he wrote it then there is no energy there, but that can change with time. Maybe these songs will speak to you at a later date.

Matt - I really feel that way too.

John - Clapton just announced that he doesn't want to do 'Tears in Heaven" and 'My Fathers Eyes' anymore because they don't represent where he's at. Let's talk about the first single 'Two Shots.' This is a nice carrying the torch story how Bono of U2 wrote it for Frank Sinatra but Sinatra dies before he could record it. The combination of Bono and Sinatra by itself is magic.

Matt - You know what? Even to this day I get shivers about it! You know when you sing a song every night it can be easy to just go run the motions, I don't do that but I understand it. It can be like working on an assembly line, you're doing the same thing every night and you need to find something that inspires you to get you back with that zest. So here I am singing a song that's connected to two of my biggest musical heroes and to have the opportunity, just the chance, to put that song out there is unbelievable.

John - Bono endorsed this also.

Matt - Yeah, they've heard it and they let us use the song as the title song for the TV show 'The Casino' and Bono never lets anything out that he doesn't approve of because he's very careful about his stuff. I was just thinking, wow! The fact that he approves enough to let us use the song in that way.

John - Was it Tim and Tom who own the Golden Nugget that hired you for that reality show or was it Mark Burnett?

Matt - Well, we were going to release the record last November. It was done and we were ready. I have a record company and one of my partners knew someone in L.A. named Clyde Lieberman who was working closely with Mark Burnett and they said, "Listen, we've got this show and we're putting music to it." So Clyde throws Mark the disc and all of a sudden he thinks it would make great music for the television show however it was a reality show but I was game.

John - That's how it happened?

Matt - Oh yeah. They really wanted to make the show look real and it was. So they told me to come out to Vegas and get a gig and they told Tim and Tom from the Golden Nugget about me. The Mark Burnett people told me, "We'll fill out the club in Vegas and if Tim and Tom like you, you can be in the show at the Golden Nugget otherwise just go back home." I was really nervous on that gig. (laughing)

John - Had you been to Vegas before?

Matt - It was my first time. I fell in love with it though.

John - Isn't it infectious? As the cliché goes you feel like a kid in a candy store.

Matt - Yeah, it's the ultimate adult Disney World.

John - How long were you there?

Matt - About three months and I moved down there after. I actually have a residence there. You know I love Toronto but I can't stand the slush and the snow. (laughing) So during the winter months I go down there.

John - So have you been following Michael Buble's career?

Matt - Yes, I have. I've been following him for along time. I remember his album came out on February 14th. I don't know him personally.

John - I'm sure your paths will cross.

Matt - I hope so. I'd love to work with him.

John - I'd love to see you two on stage together.

Matt - Oh yeah. At the end of the day it's about having fun. It's about entertaining not about who's the best. It's all good! I support them all. I support all those artists who have broken the mold and have become successful. They are bringing the music to so many people. That's the main thing and without them I wouldn't be here.

John - What's the heaviest music that you listen to? Are you a closet Zeppelin fan? I asked Michael Buble' this same question.

Matt - Well, I love Pop music, I love Beyonce' and Christina Aguilera. I indulge in those guilty pleasures. (laughing) You know what? In Jazz, it's easy to find people who will say, "That's not real music." I always say, "Lighten up you know."

John - You recorded some of the album at the famous Abbey Road Studio.

Matt - Yeah, that's where we did all the strings on the record. I think nine tracks.

John - You can never go wrong with strings in this genre.

Matt - That's the one thing we always said about this album we wanted to bring back that old sense of the thirties where there were these huge orchestras. We stayed away from using a lot of horns on the tracks but when I do my shows I do bring them in.

John - I can hear your band warming up behind us. They're pretty tight.

Matt - Oh, I have an awesome band. You can never get complacent working with these guys. It's a pleasure working with them every night.

John - I remember you said before that while you were gigging a lot in Toronto you found it easy to find work since there were not many people in the city doing what you do.

Matt - You know its funny the Jazz side of music is dominated by female singers so we were the only guys in town and we did twenty gigs a month and that's not bad.

John - I also like your quote concerning your price per gig with you saying if they don't want to pay my price they can just hire someone else. So many musicians under value what they do.

Matt - Very true and that's very important for me. I believe there is value in what I do.

John - Matt thanks for the chat. I look forward to seeing more of you in The Casino. Good Luck.

Matt - Thanks John. Thanks for being so dedicated to the music. I know you've been promoting Jazz and Smooth Jazz for years here in Canada.

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