One of the things I like about most music streaming services are the suggestions that pop up for you based on previous music you have listened to. Or in the case of YouTube, videos you have watched. Awhile back, a video of a guitarist named Matt Palmer showed up as a suggestion for me. He was playing the Bach Chaconne, one of the great pieces of music in the violin repertoire which has been transcribed and performed by many guitarists. So I clicked it and was instantly impressed by the performance. Mr. Palmer plays with great emotion and passion, and is clearly a virtuoso on the guitar. I watched the Chaconne several times, and then explored other performances he has on YouTube. Many people commented that he is a well known and respected guitarist. I had not heard of him, but of course, being curious by nature when it comes to understanding what makes artists tick, I decided to try and contact Mr. Palmer to see if he would grant me an interview. I was very happy he returned my e-mail and agreed to talk. I called him on a Saturday morning after he went to his son's soccer game.
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TH You answered
my interview request yourself….I was expecting a manger perhaps. Do you have an
agent?
MP No, I just do
it myself.
TH Cool. Where do
you live?
MP I live just
outside of DC, on the Maryland side…a place called Bowie.
TH Have you ever
been to KC before?
MP Yes, I played
there about 3 years ago…with the Kansas City Guitar Society and Doug Niedt.
TH A good friend
of mine, John Svoboda, studied with Doug Niedt.
MP I know that
name...I’ve heard of his work.
TH What brought
me to you was a video that popped up on my YouTube suggestion list….your
performance of the Bach Chaconne. That blew me away. Did you hear classical
music or guitar music in your home as a youngster?
MP No I didn’t.
It was all later. My first exposure to
classical guitar….do you remember those subscription deals for CD’s where you
could get 5 CDs a month or something like that? My mom had one of those…
TH Yes…Columbia
House club.
MP Yeah...that’s
what it was. And so she was on that and occasionally she’d get me something. It
was kind of hit and miss if I would listen to it or not. She got me this
classical guitar CD...a Christopher Parkening two disc set from that. It’s
true…I’ve said it before…I put it in my closet and didn’t listen to it…didn’t
even open it. I was in high school at this point…16-17 years old, and at that
point I was all in on electric guitar and heavy metal, hard rock. I was in a
band playing bars, having a great time with it. I’d say I was a very serious
guitarist at the time. I played all the time. If I went to a party in high
school, I’d show up with my guitar. Everyone knew me from that. But maybe two
years later, I’d gone through a phase where I was listening to new music…it
wasn’t new at the time, but new for me…some Al Di Meola…that thing where he
played with Paco de Lucia…Friday Night in San Francisco. When I heard that, I was hearing nylon
strings, and it sparked my interest a bit. But then I recalled the CD my mom
had given me and I got it out and listened to it and it was a “eureka” moment.
Hearing Asturias and Recuerdos de la Alhambra…these staples in the classical
guitar repertoire that can easily draw in an audience …that’s what drew me
in...Asturias and Alhambra and other tremolo pieces. At the time, I didn’t read
music or anything. This was before you could look up tabs on the internet, so I
just did it the old fashioned way and transcribed them by ear.
TH When I first
heard these pieces…with the tremolo technique, it sounds like two people
playing rather than one. How were you able to pick that out?
MP Well, at first
I thought it was two people (laughs) but I read the liner notes and found out
it was a technique. The way I originally did it was wrong. The tremolo is a
sequence…its thumb, ring, middle, index…thumb
playing the bass notes and the three fingers playing the melodic tremolo line.
I mistakenly thought he was playing thumb and pinky together…thumb and pinky
together and then ring, middle, index after that. So I learned it all by ear…I didn’t have a
teacher...and I grew my nails out about an inch long. I auditioned for college with
Recuerdos and Asturias and the BWV 1001 Fugue for violin by Bach. All by ear.
TH You did not
know how to read music at all?
MP I was not able
to read music, but I could read tablature of course, but classical guitar in
tabs at the time was basically unheard of.
TH Did you still
keep your feet in the electric guitar world at that time?
MP There was a
period when I first started doing this...I was approaching twenty, probably
nineteen… when I started doing this. I was out of high school. I wasn’t going
to college…I had no plans on going to college and I was still in a band playing
shows. I was moonlighting as an aspiring classical guitarist just working out
the fundamentals of finger-style guitar and learning these great tunes that I
had fallen in love with as soon as I heard them. Not very long after that I
learned that you could study guitar in college or at a university. I learned
through my brother that Bill Yelverton at Middle Tennessee State University was
holding auditions for guitarists in his studio. The audition went OK. I don’t
recall him being particularly impressed…and I don’t blame him. He’s listening
to a guy with one-inch long nails and no real training.
TH You weren’t
the next Segovia at that point? (laughs)
MP I was not
(laughing), but I did get a small scholarship
that I was very happy to have received.
TH I’m struck by
how late you really got your start with classical guitar. There are eight year-olds who can read music and have had more formal training that you had at
twenty.
MP I think it was
late. For instance, by the time I was good
enough to do well in competitions, I didn’t want to do it anymore. (laughs) I
was past that competitive phase. By the time I got good enough I just wanted to
make music. When I started my Doctorate I was almost thirty years old. A lot of
other guys were a few years younger than me.
TH How old are
you now if you don’t mind me asking?
MP I’m
thirty-eight.
MP After MTSU I
went to Boone, North Carolina to study at Appalachian State University. And I
got my doctorate from the University of Arizona. Professionally, in the last
3-4 years, my performance career has taken off in a more substantial way. With
other guitarists, this may have happened some years earlier.
TH You mentioned
hearing the Christopher Parkening CD was a watershed moment. What was your
first real memorable musical moment?
MP I had a few. I
was exposed to guitar in general. My dad was a guitarist. He played a 12-string
guitar, harmonica and sang…more of a folk-style. So I always did enjoy hearing
that as a kid. He died when I was young, just before I started to play. Right around
the time I was ten or eleven years old was when Appetite for Destruction (Guns
N’ Roses) came out. My older brothers and I were immediate fans and we had to
have a guitar that Christmas. Fortunately we got one and we shared it.
TH What kind was
it? Was it a Les Paul like Slash played?
MP (laughs)
No…much cheaper. I think it was an Applause. We loved it. We didn’t know the
difference at the time. We were just happy to have had it. Eventually we all
had to have our own. Pretty soon after that I did hear Randy Rhoads...Ozzy Osbourne’s Tribute Album. For years,
Randy Rhoads was my favorite guitarist. I learned that entire Tribute Album and
played it from beginning to end right along with them…barely hanging on with
him. He was a great player…very inspiring. Who knows, maybe that very early
seed of classical guitar was planted by him because I did play that song he
wrote called Dee. I did play that but I just kind of hacked my way through
it…it was a little classical tune he wrote.
TH He’s an
example of a musician who found his way to classical music. Ozzy has said if
Randy was still alive, he might very well be a classical guitarist now.
MP I think very
likely. I think he did have plans to hang it up (rock) and study classical
guitar at a conservatory. Early on I really sucked (laughs). My brothers were
sure to tell me that too. They were a little older and caught on a little
faster. I remember just trying to play some songs but nothing seemed to be
clicking. I was frustrated over some silly song I was trying to play...hard
rock song…it was just basic power chords in open position. I couldn’t even do
that. I remember sitting on the couch one day watching TV…I must have been
eleven or twelve at the time…and I was thinking about this song that I couldn’t
play, but I really wanted to play it and I just started working my fingers
playing air guitar. And within a moment I realized I had it. And I’ve always
thought of that as one of the biggest breakthroughs I’ve ever had on the
guitar…playing air guitar.
TH A breakthrough
because of air guitar!
MP Yeah…and
honestly from there I never really felt completely frustrated over anything
after that. There’ve always been challenges. At the time I had a grim outlook
about my future on the guitar, but after that moment…never. I could always do
what I tried to do after that.
TH I know in the
violin repertoire, there may not be anything more difficult than the Bach
Chaconne. Is the same thing true for this piece on the guitar?
MP I think the
Chaconne, and violin repertoire in general, fits my playing style really well.
I definitely acknowledge it’s a difficult piece, and I enjoy playing it. The main difficulty for me is that it is very
emotionally draining. During a
performance I am putting everything I have into every note that goes by, and I
get to the end and I really feel it. You have to take a deep breath and let
your mind rest a bit.
TH It’s
exhausting as a listener too. It is a transformative piece. I remember a great
video of Itzhak Perlman playing it. When it’s over, he is covered in sweat and
he is completely spent. It’s such an emotional piece.
TH What other
classical guitarists would you say have been influential for you?
MP My original influence was Parkening, who was a student of
Segovia. And there’s a Brazilian guitarist, Fabio Zanon, whom I had a CD of
playing the complete works of Villa-Lobos that was very important to me. Julian Bream is another special player…always
emotional and entertaining…never a dull moment when you listen to him. Some
other players over the years who have inspired me would be Lorenzo Micheli, and Matteo Mela, whom I just had the
privilege of hosting here at my guitar festival over the weekend. They play a
duo now, but as soloists, they were some of the first guitarists I heard play. Another
player would be Aniello Desiderio. And
then of course my main teachers, Bill Yelverton, Doug James and Tom Patterson,
who each gave me the exact guidance I needed during their time. All the guys I’ve mentioned I think also
introduced me to the concept of “being your own artist.” Find what you do well
and focus on that and go all in. You develop a vision for every piece you are
going to play and you go all in, despite what anyone else might say. My
Chaconne for instance may be a good example. I think from chord one, you know
you’re hearing something different.
TH I was
impressed with your technique and speed.
MP That comes
from the seeds of playing thrash metal. I always tell my students, to play fast
you have to be able to think fast. And growing up, I always heard things really
fast.
TH Now that you
are successful and spend your time making a living as a musician, do you still
enjoy listening to music?
MP I do enjoy
listening to music. Not a lot of classical guitar these days. If I listen to
classical guitar, I feel like I’m almost doing research. I also record too…I engineer all my own
recordings...it’s one of my hobbies. I’ve always been a do-it-yourself kind of
guy. So I find myself listening to sound
quality…
TH You’re
analyzing it…
MP Yeah, it’s hard to separate from that when I listen to
guitar. Often I find myself just looking for songs I might want to play myself.
I may listen to more piano music than I do guitar. I listen to a lot more Tom
Waits than I do anything else. I am captivated by his music. It’s very
emotional and poetic.
TH I love his
tune “You’re Innocent When You Dream.”
MP I have
probably 25 Tom Waits albums. I can say I really like a lot of artists, but I
am a Tom Waits fan.
TH Do you still
listen to Guns N’ Roses, or Zeppelin?
MP I don’t. I
still have a pretty decent collection…some friends were in town recently and we
pulled out some of those albums. It’s surprising how much you remember of that
when you haven’t listened to it in twenty years…you still know all the lyrics
and I could probably pick up the electric guitar and still play it, but I don’t
revisit that stuff very often.
TH When was the
last time you played your electric guitar?
MP I still have
my electric guitar. I did go a period of about ten years without touching one
at all. I made a deal with myself that I have already
broken, that I would pick it up once or twice a week and practice on it. There
is something about that left hand…when you play an electric guitar… that ease
of motion that I think you get away from on a classical guitar because it’s a
more difficult instrument to play physically. I found practicing on an electric
guitar can really free up my left hand on the classical. I just don’t have the
time to devote myself to that.
TH I am happy to
hear you still like to listen to music. I’ve talked with many musicians who
tell me the last thing they want to do is listen to music because that’s what
they do all day long. I think that’s kind of sad. So if you had to go to a
desert island and could only take the work of three composers, who would they
be?
MP I’d bring late
Beethoven String Quartets. I would bring solo piano works of Scriabin. And the
Shostakovich String Quartets too. And Tom
Waits.
TH Do you
transcribe music?
MP Yes…in fact I
transcribed a few pieces by Scriabin. One of the Canons I did of his is on
YouTube. But a lot of the great stuff by Scriabin wouldn’t really fit the
guitar. The harmonies are so extended and they require quite a few notes or
multiple voices. There have been
arrangers and transcribers who have captured the essence of a lot of the great
composer’s works, and that’s at the heart of making a great transcription…to
capture that essence. But the essence of some of the composers I like isn’t
often in harmony. Some of those harmonies are impossible to play on the guitar
unfortunately. And some of the counterpoint too. But
I have some pretty good Tom Waits arrangements that I’ve done as well.
TH There’s a
French guitarist who has done some amazing transcriptions…Roland Dyens. He has
a wonderful version of Tchaikovsky’s piece “June” from the Seasons.
MP I have that
actually…I have the score. I hope to learn it at some point. It’s a really
beautiful piece. That type of piece fits well on the guitar…melody and
accompaniment; that’s what the guitar does the best. And romantic style
harmonic languages fit really well on the instrument.
TH With your
schedule these days, do you still have much time to practice.
MP As a student,
I would practice 5-6 hours a day…without fail for 20 years.
TH No wonder you
turned out as good as you are!
MP These days,
since finishing my doctorate and teaching a lot, it’s a little different. But I
take every opportunity I’ve got…even the middle of the night when the kids are
in bed I can find a couple of hours. My key to maintaining a decent practice
schedule is to sleep less (laughing).
TH Do you work
out or do anything special to keep injuries away?
MP I’ve been
pretty fortunate not to have anything major happen. I occasionally get a little concerned with
soreness or a tingle here or there. I always have to make sure I am positioned
correctly on the instrument. And I gauge the amount of practice time I’m
getting. And never jump into a new piece too fast before training my fingers
what to do. That’s when you expose yourself to injury…making a big shift or quick move without being mentally and
physically prepared. And I try to stretch before I start playing…and making sure
my hands are warm before I get started.
TH Do you enjoy
playing with an orchestra…i.e. the Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez?
MP I think I
might be better as a soloist, but I do enjoy playing with an orchestra. I’ve
played the Rodrigo three times. And the Brouwer Elegacio Concerto. Here’s a
great story. I was playing the Brouwer at Milligan College in Tennessee, and
there is a big thunderstorm outside. We make it to the first cadenza…everything
is really going great….I’m really enjoying playing with the orchestra, but
right after the cadenza, the power goes out. Its pitch black except for a light
off stage. Complete darkness for everyone else. So the orchestra does not come
in on their entrance, so the maestro announces to the audience, “it’s obvious
that Matt can play his part in the dark, but the orchestra cannot.” He knew I
had a solo repertoire I could play, so I ended up playing about 45 minutes in
the dark…solo…for the audience. It ended up better that way. I was getting a
standing ovation after every piece! It’s a great story. Everyone who was there
will always remember that much more than a regular concert.
TH They will
remember that forever! Did the power come back on?
MP It did. We
started right where we left off…..but the highlight was the power going out.
TH Here are some
non-musical questions for you. Are you a coffee drinker?
MP I’m drinking
coffee right now!
TH Do you like
good coffee…I mean not Folgers etc…
MP I like really
good coffee. I’m not super picky about it as long as it’s decent. I’m drinking
some Chock Full O’ Nuts right now. You get this huge can at Costco…
TH Do you grind
your own beans?
MP I like to do
that too. I think I could get into roasting my own beans. I just played a
concert in Michigan over the summer where a guy I met who definitely was a
coffee aficionado roasted his own beans. I could totally get into that.
TH Do you drink
beer?
MP I do drink
beer…not as much as I did in high school. I am more of a craft beer drinker
now.
TH And I see you
are sponsored by a guitar string company? Do you want to put a plug in for
them?
MP Yeah…I am
sponsored by D’Addario.
TH What gauge or
type do you play?
MP Right now I’m
playing their Dynacore basses. And two of the carbon trebles and my high e
string is a titanium treble. A mixed set.
TH Have you
played Carnegie Hall?
MP Yes, three
years ago as part of the D’Addario concert series. I
took that gig on four days’ notice. I was down in my basement fixing a wall in
my recording studio and the next day I was on a plane to New York. (laughs)
TH What an
amazing honor to be playing at Carnegie Hall I would say.
MP It was great
and the people there were so supportive. It was such an honor for me that
D’Addario invited me there to play.
TH How were the
acoustics?
MP It was a
really clean and pure sound. Not too much reverb coming back or sound bouncing
around. And I’d do it again…on even a day’s notice!
TH Thank you so
much for your time. It’s been a real treat to speak with you.
Here is his performance of the Chaconne by J.S. Bach:
