|
Location: Perth, Western Australia -1995; Melbourne, Victoria 1995-
Instruments: lap slide guitar, harmonica, saxophone, vocals, jokes
Late on Friday evening, when the shadows are just starting to creep their
way through the pedestrian mall, a crowd usually gathers near the door of a
department store. Over the heads of this crowd, drifting along the mall,
attracting the attention of those passing by, is a wailing tone that catches
the heart while making feet tap. Matt Corcoran is playing the mall.
How best to describe the music of Matt Corcoran? Matt himself describes his
style as "hard rock electric blues slide guitar", but that doesn't capture the
emotion with which he plays, nor the fact that harmonica actually plays a large
role in his repetoire. From a technical perspective, he plays lap slide guitar,
with an overhand fretboard technique, through a wah pedal. The dry technical
description doesn't portray the sheer power that funnels through Matt's rig.
To really understand Matt Corcoran's music, you have to hear him play.
Matt was born in Perth, Western Australia, and originally trained as a
draughtsman before turning to saxophone and stand-up comedy. Picking up a
friend's guitar in 1993, he started to play around with some tunes. Guitar was
soon added to the list of instruments he played, and after a while began to
dominate.
Matt began to play on street corners and pedestrian malls, guitar amplifier
as a seat and trusty Yamaha synthesiser as a backing band. In 1995, having
outgrown Perth, Matt moved to Melbourne. Now with an established backing band
and a number of recordings available, all self-financed with the proceeds of
his street playing, Matt is spreading the doctrine of hard rock electric blues
slide guitar far and wide.
|
