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.
My grandparents are from Mexico, so I grew up with great Mexican food.
There's at least one fist bump every interview.
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.
I treat the act of making a record very much like working in a laboratory, experimenting with sounds and ideas... Whoever chooses to latch onto it, great; whoever doesn't, that's fine, too. The reaction always pales in comparison to the weight of the act of production.
When you work on a record for three years, it's a great sense of relief when it is finally out in the world. It just feels good.
The South of France is one of my favorite places in the world.
Every record turns into whatever the listener gets out of it.
I don't like the way recording to digital sounds.