An Interview with Matt Heckler
Who is Matt Heckler?
Matt Heckler was born in the Catskill Mountains of Socrates, New York and was raised there until the age of 14, when he decided to leave home. He hitchhiked around the United States busking on the streets and playing the guitar trying to make enough money to get by. This is what really threw him into music and introduced him to multiple different music scenes. He returned home for Christmas at the age of 17 with the prospect of being gifted a banjo, and after that his life went wild. Playing anywhere from North Carolina to Chicago, to even Joshua Tree, a national park in California. After a while he slowed down, got out of the music industry, and became an arborist. Eventually two good friends of his, Ben and Ashley from the Lost Dog Street Band, convinced him to pick up the banjo and fiddle once more and go on tour with them, and after that the rest is history. Putting out his first Folk album in 2019 titled “After the Flood,” his career soared. His music can be described as haunting, delicate, soul bearing, and beautiful. Matt’s voice matches the dark rawness of his music and lyrics.
Some of his most popular songs are Haw River Ballad, Blue Eyes Dancing, and Morning Breaks.
Matt Heckler is currently on tour and I was able to catch up with him between shows, and here are some of the questions I asked him:
Out of all the songs you’ve either performed or written, what are your favorites?
“When I was about 17 I really took a liking to Romanian and Hungarian gypsy music. For the following decade I mostly played and wrote my music in those styles. One song is called ‘The Hunt’ and the other is called ‘Renfields Cat’ and I love playing those tunes.”
Last year you put out an album and excluded four songs. Are we going to be hearing any of those tunes sometime soon? Or are you going to wait until you put up the next album?
“I'm going to wait. I'm actually supposed to get the mixes back tomorrow so I can hear him but I'm not going to release for a while. As the solstice was this year, ‘Winter Solstice’ will be the new album.”
Another tune you recently released is called ‘Been so Long’. Can you tell us more about the song?
“Yeah, I love that tune. So I was heavily influenced by a banjo player named Josh Boggs out of Wise County, Virginia. He passed some time ago, but he's probably one of my favorite musicians ever. He played a version of it that I just really took to, but it's a banjo song. So I translated it to fiddle and shot a video for it called ‘Sammy Where Have You Been So Long’.”
Photo taken by @grody_highroller at @snakecharmertattoo
You also got together with a number of other artists and created a group called the Wyoming Winbreakers. Are you guys going to be performing more with them?
“No, we all happened to be in the same place at the same time and the guy that runs Western AF was like, hey, I want to try and do this thing, you guys down? Playing slow and pretty stuff is not my forte.”
What venues to play or visit are on your bucket list?
“I haven't toured Alaska in some time,and that's always really nice. I like it up there, it always feels like home away from home. I’d like to get back up sometime this year. A lot of people are trying to get me to do some gigs in the UK, I'd love to go to Scotland as well. Hungarian music was really what I was into for a while and I'd love to get to Romania. I don't know if I can play any shows there, but I would like to tour some through Europe.”
What is either a group or someone you would absolutley love to perform with sometime?
“I really enjoy playing with bands that are international. There's a band in Ireland called Lankum and they're super unique. They're all friends of friends and I’ve never met them, but it would be awesome to do a show with them.”
Do you think if it hadn’t been for Ben and AShley you’d still be performing your music?
“ I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina and was doing tree work, at which point Ben offered me a tour. And I was like, Alright, if I take this tour I can make some money and get insured as an arborist, which will really put me in the business. And then the next tour came and they're like, you want to come out again? I said yeah, I'll make some additional money and get more tools, and by the third tour I was like, okay, guess I'm really doing this now, and it pays better than our Abor work. I definitely wouldn't have gotten back into it without them and I'm really grateful for them being there for me.”
Other than the food, what do you like about Southern California that keeps bringing you back here?
““I spent a bunch of time in Northern California and I really enjoy seeing the contrast between northern and southern California. But I would have to say the best thing about San Diego is the weather. It was always nice coming here in the winter and I've gone swimming a couple times at San Diego beaches before shows, which is always nice. And it's just different, Southern California is a truly special place.”
After your tour is done and the dust settles, what is in store for you? What do you have planned?
“ I usually do month on/month off touring. And this year I have March, April and the first half of May off, which I haven't had that since I started touring five years ago. I think I'm going to do a bike trip, I'm really into bike packing, which is packing a bunch of gear and doing a long trip. I'm gonna finish my album, which is almost done, very excited about that. That's kind of my main focus now on everything. The whole logistics and business side of music keeps me so busy, it's like a full-time job. So it'd be nice to have time off and actually have a home life, even if it's for a very small amount of time.”
Is there any advice you have?
“I think if I could give advice to any musician, the best piece of advice I would give is to quit drinking while you're ahead. I stopped drinking before I got a name for myself, because I was a bad alcoholic. I see younger folks coming up and they're still hitting the sauce pretty good. And then going and playing shows, and it's not sustainable on tour. People ask me sometimes like, what should I do? What are we missing? And it's like, man, if you quit drinking, I swear, things will just start popping up for you and things will go better.”
What is something that people don’t know about you that you would like them to know?
“Many people think, you tour and it's a moving party, and you get home and you just sit on your ass and do whatever. But there are so many details and logistics to work out as soon as I get home; it's nose to the grindstone as soon I open my door. Ashley is a pretty badass tour manager, working out all the logistics and arrangements. So yeah, I think there’s one thing I would like people to know, and that’s what an insane amount of work a tour is before getting on stage. And then it's fun.”
In Conclusion…
After the interview I went and saw Matt at San Diego’s hidden gem, the Casbah. Matt put on a 2.5 hour show of absolutely incredible music, the fans all sang along, and he even let the audience choose the setlist. Afterwards he stuck around to hang out with all of his fans. Matt Heckler is a genuinely kind human being, with a heart of gold. His music pulls at the heartstrings of the seasoned crowd and the souls of the youth. Make sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for his new album coming this December 21st. This album is the one he is proudest of and hopes you will love it as much as he does.
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