M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen "M" Wardis a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings, releasing eight albums since 1999, primarily through independent label Merge Records. In addition to his solo work, he is a member of pop duo She & Him and folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, as well as participating in the recording, producing, and playing with multiple other artists...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth4 October 1973
CountryUnited States of America
I wouldn't want to cover a Hank Williams song in a country-western way. It doesn't occur to me instinctually to re-create productions. I'm interested in re-creating songs. Putting different clothes on them.
There's a relationship between music and spirituality and inspiration and to a certain extent improvisation that draws me in, because I don't totally understand it. I know that those relationships have been telling me, since I started making records, where to go. What to write down.
I got this Christmas gift with the entire Beatles catalog. I had fun trying to duplicate what I was hearing on these records, only using the instruments I had at hand - an acoustic guitar, and that's all. It was endlessly amusing to me to try to imitate John Lennon and Paul McCartney's harmonies using the guitar.
I don't really watch TV series because I don't want to get hooked on them and have them suck up all my time.
My grandparents are from Mexico, so I grew up with great Mexican food.
It's a luxury to not have to just be performing with other people to have my music heard.
There's at least one fist bump every interview.
I'm somebody who gets a lot of inspiration from dreams.
Certain things you have to stumble on to. They can't be preprogrammed.
I do watch 'American Idol' sometimes. It's not really that pleasurable... I take that back. It is the epitome of a guilty pleasure. Sometimes there's some good singers on that show.
One of the great things about music is that it has the capability of time travel - you smell a certain smell in the room and it takes you back to your childhood. I feel like music is able to do that, and it happens to me all the time.
The best live recordings capture elements of surprise onstage.
I like using concrete imagery, but I don't feel that's what it's about. It's a combination of concrete and abstract to take the listener somewhere they know better than you. That's true for music, seeing a painting, watching a movie... it's all some kind of an escape.
It's a hard thing to explain, but the more I arrange for strings, the more I realize the possibilities.