Syd Matters in London

A Taste of New French Rock’n’Roll

London 

09/07/2004 - 

Syd Matters has long looked to the UK for inspiration and, this week, the French musician and his band finally got the chance to serve up their catchy pop, rock & electro sound in London for the first time. On 5 July Syd Matters performed at Infinity Club, appearing at the "Festival Exposé." The following night they played at the 12 Bar. With their concerts announced in the UK music press, a considerable audience turned out to see them. Syd did themselves proud, however, more than living up to expectations.

July 5th 2004 went down as a major date in Syd Matters’s diary, marking his first UK gig at the "Festival Exposé." This event, dreamt up by Sian McLusky and Jane Third, two English fans with a penchant for sounds "made in France" was organised in collaboration with the French Music Bureau in London and designed to give UK audiences a "taste of new French rock’n’roll." The line-up for the evening included a series of hot new French discoveries such as Barth, Steeple Remove, Boy From Brazil and the inimitable Syd Matters himself.

For a musician who draws explicit influences from the UK music scene (think Nick Drake, Robert Wyatt and Pink Floyd) and who pens his songs in English, playing a first gig across the Channel was bound to be lived as a baptism of fire. And the challenge Syd had taken up appeared all the greater, given that Monday night is a traditional ‘staying-in night’ for most Londoners after a heavy weekend.But Syd Matters (akaJohnathan Morali, a talented young musician who was unknown on the French music scene just two years ago) had been hyped by major UK music mag Mojo, which recently devoted an article to the French newcomer. English music fans, renowned for their ability to sniff out new talent, turned out in force at Infinity, doubtless relying on their infallible gut reaction that this was a ‘soiree’ not to be missed! Few of them would have heard Syd’s debut album, A Whisper and a Sigh (which has only just been released in the UK on the V2 label). That pleasure has hitherto been reserved to French fans, a small showing of whom were there to support Syd at Infinity on Monday night, joining the typically London audience (i.e. international, of a broad age range, motivated by curiosity, and all fine musical connoisseurs).

Despite Mojo’s rave preview, Syd Matters’s baptism of fire at Infinity turned out to be something of a slow starter. Playing as the opening act at the "Festival Exposé," the band was rather strangely presented in the programme as a sort of enticing aperitif, "the cocktails and nibbles of the early evening." Hardly surprising then, that at the stroke of 9, only a twenty-strong audience had assembled in front of the stage. Taking things in his stride, Syd decided to get down off stage and have a beer at the bar, waiting for a slightly stronger turn-out. This strategy soon paid off – fifteen minutes later, Infinity was almost packed to capacity! "They’re the best French band around right now," declared one fervent front-row fan, Maigué, a young student in London who had just got out of his last lecture and dragged along his classmates. "I discovered Syd Matters for the first time at the ‘Route du Rock’* Festival last year and I’ve been following them around ever since!"

Syd Matters has come a long way since making his debut on the French music scene four years ago. His first solo recordings and the demo, Célesta, brought him to the attention of Magic! magazine which led, in turn, to Syd signing to French label Third Side Records. Syd went on to win the CQFD 2002 (organised by another influential French music magazine, Les Inrockuptibles) where they were hailed as "most promising newcomers of the year." Since then, the group’s live schedule has got more hectic by the day, with engagements rolling in from all over France and abroad. Despite his growing popularity on the live circuit, Syd Matters claims he has never considered himself to be a live musician. On his website, www.sydmatters.com, he explains, "I don’t want to sit down and compose, telling myself that the songs have got to work on stage. I don’t think that’s the right approach. I’m more into the idea of working on the live show to make it fit with the spirit of the album, rather than playing on on-stage energy and other obvious stuff to grab the audience’s attention."

Maybe this explains why certain sectors of the audience at Infinity appeared to be only half-listening to Syd Matters’s set on Monday night. Modestly plugging away behind their instruments and refusing to indulge in any live ‘gimmicks’ to keep the audience’s attention, Syd and his band preferred to let their sound build gradually. Indeed, they seemed intent on inviting fans into their musical universe a step at a time, much in the image of the plant pictured on their album cover, delicately unfolding its petals one by one.

This method of winning the audience over by patience worked marvellously well on a track like Dead Machine. Perched, almost invisible behind his drum-kit, Syd allowed his musicians to express themselves one by one, before joining into the fray, plying his drumsticks with conductorly control as he unfurled his slow, haunting vocals. "Syd Matters live on stage is really ‘us’, the group, not just me," Syd declares on his website. And such is the mutual confidence that reigns in the band that Syd is able to flit from role to role, slipping from drums to guitar, then keyboards, at a moment’s notice. The result is a totally ‘new style’ that confirms Syd Matters as one of the most innovative forces of the pop world, a style made up of folky bass, catchy pop beats and subtle electronic arrangements. And this comes into its own on songs like the brilliant Tired Young Man, with drums accelerating to full velocity as the guitarist experiments with mournful minor chords in a Radiohead vein.

"I’m really happy to be here in London and play my first gig over here," Syd told the Infinity audience with touching modesty on Monday night. Declining to come back for an encore, despite the thundering applause, Syd and his group preferred to leave the stage for the next band and conserve their precious energy for their solo show at Soho’s 12 Bar the following night. Syd claims to have learnt one important lesson from his trip to the UK. "Maybe I’ve got a bit of a distorted image of how things are in the UK and US, but I get the impression that, over there, making music is like taking a stand in life, whereas a lot of the time in France it’s still seen as a hobby."

Syd has certainly proved music is no part-time occupation for him. He is a fully committed musician, appreciated for both his professionalism and his impressive musical maturity. One thing’s for sure, and that is that Syd Matters is no longer just a promising newcomer on the French scene. He’s earned his spurs in the UK now, too, establishing himself as one of the hottest new cross-Channel talents.

Yann Per

Translation : Julie  Street