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ENTERTAINMENT
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 4 Number 10 | July 2014
A DASH OF MOJO
Matty matter-of-factly...
A
fter countless hours polishing skills, you’ve decided it’s time to take
on the world. The thing is there are
so many roads to take. There is nothing like learning from your own
experience but there is also nothing wrong in learning from others. I recently interviewed Matty, a
guitarist in the 9-piece Motown soul funk covers
band ‘Superstitious’. Hopefully you’ll get something out of it …
Oliver: What is your main instrument and
how long have you been a musician?
Matty: I play guitar and have been playing
since I was about 16. I picked it up at high school
from my music teacher, Phil Davidson, a musician from the Blue Mountains. I just loved the
look, sound, and feel of the guitar!
What are your gears?
Matty: I am one of those guitarists always fiddling with their set up. It has evolved over the years
and changed during different bands I have played
in. Now, my main rig is 2 guitars – a 1997 USA
fender strat, sunburst with a custom d’Mazzio
fast track 2 humbucker pick up in the bridge for
awesome lead solos. My second main custom is a
2002 Dot 335 Cherry sunburst Epiphone. A beautiful piece of wood with nice grain and massive, fat
tones. My amp is a Fender 65W with custom 12”
Fender special design speaker. Clean, crisp and
solid state. I also run a hughes and Kettner blues
15 edition on the side for some jazz sets.
What made you join a covers band?
Matty: What drew me to Superstitious was the
challenge of learning tunes from disco, like Earth,
Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Jackson 5, KC and the Sunshine Band and so
on. The other reason I joined was the fascination
of playing with a brass line up of sax, trumpet and
trombone.
How many times do you rehearse and how
long?
Matty: For the last 5 as main guitarist for Superstitious, we only need to rehearse once ev-
Matty, second from left, with his group Superstitious
ery now and then to cover off new tunes ad medleys. The line-up of musicians is outstanding,
most hail from the Conservatorium of music and
are jazz trained, and most are Music school teachers by day or private tu F