This week we sat down with Matthew Loiacono, better known as Matthew Carefully. He’s a Bluegrass/rock musician who’s mastered quite an array of instruments, and he also runs an Albany-area record label. Is there anything Matthew can’t do?

1. You seem to know your way around pretty much any stringed instrument that’s played with a pick. How long have you been playing guitar and how did you get started?

Wow, thanks! I really have no idea what I’m doing on any of them! All kidding aside, I have always considered myself a “musician” over anything — less about which instrument I’m playing, more about what I’m playing on it. You might be surprised to know that I started playing music at a very young age on the violin, learning the Suzuki Method. That quickly ended after my chin-rest fell off during a solo during a concert for all of our parents. It was mortifying and psychically prevented me from picking up another instrument for years.

However since my parents were both music teachers, music was always around. I tried to avoid it but it finally caught up with me and I took some piano lessons from my father, some clarinet, and eventually settled on drumset/percussion. The strings came in somewhere in there. There was always a guitar around so I guess I learned by figuring out Pale Saints and Stone Temple Pilots songs as I went.

2. The mandolin is usually associated with Bluegrass, but it’s really an underused instrument when it comes to other genres. Any guiding principles for how you incorporate it into non-Bluegrass songs and why do you think it works so well?

My goal is to always be writing and contributing parts that support the song, so by that definition, I am aiming to be completely subservient to the rest of the music surrounding it. Whether I’m playing banjo with Ben Karis-Nix and his electro-pop, or mandolin with The Kamikaze Hearts’ country rock or even space jazz with Railbird — it’s all about being appropriate to the moment and the context to what is happening in the music.

I’d like to note that I am well aware that I am not the first person to use the mandolin this way, but I am happy to utilize the tones and sounds that it offers in many different settings.

3. Penny Rag is pure Bluegrass and Right Behind (You) sounds Radiohead inspired. Which is closer to the real Matthew Loiacono? Or is that even a valid question?

It’s a completely valid question — I simply make music in the moment for how I’m feeling. I’m most concerned with capturing a feeling in these brief moments I’m allowed, to record them on whatever medium available to me at the time. The songs you mention were recorded months apart and for different reasons and purposes. I’d like to hope that there’s a common thread running through all the music I create; that being my taste and my ear for assembling things together.

4. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

If you asked me to pick my favorite five albums of all time — I would tell you this;

• R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction or Life’s Rich Pageant
• Pale Saints – In Ribbons
• Iron & Wine – The Creek Drank the Cradle
• Tara Jane ONeil – Peregrine
• Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me

5. Your recorded songs incorporate all the elements of a full band, but you’re doing everything. Have you ever thought of forming a band?

At one point around the release of my album Kentucky, I had a small choir backing me up to fill in all the layered harmonies that were missing from the live performance. I would certainly love to explore the option of playing music with other people at some point and may actually be exploring that as I type this, secretly.

But frankly, the technology available these days has made it very simple for me to replicate and mimic full-band sounds live, and I’m having a good time exploring that. Each show feels different and can take on a myriad of forms.

6. Those who have seen you live or checked out any of the videos on your website know that you don’t always sound like one guy with a guitar. Can you give us a quick rundown on how you’re able to do that?

Lately, I have been looping sounds; both organic and synthesized through my Boomerang III looper which is a really excellent product out of Texas! I was a fan of their Boomerang II pedal which came out in the early 00’s, but this new pedal of theirs ups the ante quite a bit. I’m now able to run everything through pedals and a mixer into this pedal which allows me to create and stack bits of sound which end up being the ingredients for my songs. This past year I added the capability to loop my vocals, so that’s a whole new texture which I’m exploring right now. Like, ten Matthews singing in harmony. Kind of scary at times…

7. Is there ever a down side to using loops the way you do? I imagine it’s harder than it look?

The only real downside is the amount of equipment set up and tear down. The actual performance and use aspects of it are all about timing and making sure to hit the correct button at the right time! The aesthetic consideration in all this is that there’s a fine line between “interesting” and “too much/lame” in regards to using such equipment, especially when it’s being used by more and more folks these days to occasionally questionable ends. Please folks, let me know if I’m ever “too much/lame” when performing for you!

8. Have you found the Albany area music scene open to what you’re doing?

I feel like people are curious about what I’m up to and that’s truly all I can ask for, which are folks that are willing to check out my constantly changing/evolving/devolving musical world. I truly love the area and feel blessed to have such a diverse, talented, honest crew of people around here making art and music to be inspired by.

9. What’s your experience with Collar City Records been like?

Collar City Records has been an amazing experience in that we’ve been able to collect, release and nurture a huge batch of really important, excellent releases from Capital Region musicians. Last year only saw two or three releases, but this year we are gearing up for at least five or six no-pre-promo albums! So please, follow Collar City Records on Twitter @collarcityrecs and subscribe to our RSS feed to be notified immediately when these become available. It’s admittedly quiet there right now but we plan to surprise and hopefully delight you in 2010!

10. Where can people go for more information about where to pick up your music or see you live?

Here’s the rundown: first visit MySpace to quickly listen to some songs, next visit Flickr to see what’s happening visually in my world, then click “Become a Fan” on Facebook to get day-to-day real time updates and finally visit my website, Matthew-Land to sign up for my Weekly email list (a new, free song every week!) and to check out more in-depth ideas and writing. The email list is very important! I’ve been delivering an email complete with new mp3 (or video) each week for well over a year now, and I highly recommend this as the place to find out everything relating to my world as possible, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday!

Flickr, Facebook, Twitter…Matthew is everywhere you are, so be sure to check him out. And who can say no to a free song each week? Thanks Matthew, we enjoyed having you on the Stage!


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