Matt Walker on Friendship, Touring and the Art of Collaboration

Matt Walker is currenly midway through a tour of Australia with good friend Tex Perkins. The reason for their tour is the duo's new album Before The Show, a collaborative project showcasing the musical abilities of both artists.

Consisting of 10 tracks, Before The Show pairs Perkins' instantly recognisable voice and poetic lyrics with Walker's intricate guitar work, creating an authentic body of work that's been well received by critics and fans alike.

Ahead of the duo's shows in Adelaide this weekend at Trinity Sessions and Big Easy Radio, we caught up with Walker and discussed the making of Before The Show, moments that have shaped his career and his relationship with Perkins.

First off, congratulations on the release of Before The Show. Before diving into the album, tell us a bit about your relationship with Tex Perkins, who you made the album with. How did you two first meet, and how has your relationship, as musicians and friends, evolved over the decades?

In the late '90s and early 2000s, when I was making albums with Ashley Davies, we used to tour as a duo and we did a few support tours for The Cruel Sea amongst it all. That's where Tex and I first met. I was a huge fan of all his work. 

I guess things shifted about 15 years ago when I got called in to play guitar for a theatre show Tex was doing. We reconnected and pretty soon we were writing songs and developing different projects.

There is a common ground of musical aesthetics between us and we understand each other. I'm not sure how it evolves. Or if it does. We are just who we are. And it works. The music may shift focus from album to album, but we don’t change. I mean, who does? 

Along with Tex, you’ve worked with some of Australia's greatest musicians. What are some of the major moments that have shaped your career or lessons you've learned over the journey?

Well, it feels incredible to me that I now play in The Cruel Sea. They made a big impact on me, particularly their first three albums. And I am still a fan!

I've been lucky to travel a lot and play in all sorts of places and I guess it does influence how you perceive your own music and go about making it. Particularly how you approach a live show and engage an audience. Everyone does it differently. I used to play more solo shows way back and tour a lot with drummer Ashley Davies, which included heaps of improvising and free kinda stuff, so one thing that took me a while to learn was how to play in a band. I mean, find your place within it musically. I often felt compressed into a dynamic that didn’t feel right. Might sound weird, but that took me a while.

I enjoy collaborating, but I learnt that you gotta find the right people. It makes all the difference. Tex and I have that. When we jam, we end up writing a new song or at least a demo that will be useful. It just happens. I'm also in a band called Lost Ragas who are based in Melbourne, and it's the same thing. We've been together a long time and we keep making records because we have a connection. That kinda thing doesn’t come along every day. 

You and Tex have worked together on various projects over the years, including The Fat Rubber Band and The Cruel Sea. Why do you think the two of you work so well together?

Well, I don't know. I mean, collaborations are very simple while being very complex at the same time. We just really like working together. When we play as a duo, it has a lot of power to it. 

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Before The Show is the first album you have recorded as a duo. What was the impetus behind writing the album?

We'd been playing a lot of duo-type shows over the years, playing songs we'd written and older songs from Tex's songbook, so it seemed only natural that we would record an album like that. Keep it pretty stripped back. Aim for a collection of songs that felt complete when played without a full band. I recorded it while we were writing the songs, so it all happened simultaneously.

While I enjoy going into a studio and working in that collaborative way with an engineer to make records, I also enjoy managing the recording myself and feeling that direct connection and trusting my own instincts. I think working that way has impacted the final sound of this record. Tex and I were on a roll with writing new songs and it all happened pretty quickly, and because I had the gear set up, we were able to capture those first takes, which are usually not captured. I'm really happy with this record. 

You can really sense the chemistry between the two of you. Is this automatic these days after playing together for so many years, or do you still need to work on it when writing and recording?

We just work a lot, so we're always doing it. 

How did you approach songwriting together? Do you bring a melody to Tex and he writes lyrics, or is it more collaborative?

It changes. Some songs Tex will have a lyric and melody and I just find the chords. Sometimes I have a song with unfinished lyrics that needs another verse or something. But generally, and in the case of this album, I would send Tex instrumental demo ideas and he'd write lyrics for ones that he could connect with somehow. Then we'd catch up and piece it together. 

A lot of the album was recorded as first takes in your living room using a mobile recording setup. Was this a conscious decision to preserve imperfections and capture the songs as naturally as possible?

Yeah. It's not that we wanted to make it particularly lo-fi because I don't think it does sound that way. It was more about capturing those early takes. Recording in that window of time. 

Before The Show is predominantly acoustic and stripped back, which puts a lot of focus on the songs themselves. Was that simplicity something you deliberately wanted to embrace?

Definitely. That was at the core. But we weren't strictly devoted to that ideal, and if the song asked for something a little different, we would follow it. But yeah, the acoustic guitar and vocals are always the centre point. 

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One of my favourite songs on the album is 'Down the River', which to me has a Johnny Cash vibe. Can you talk me through the creation of that song and its inspiration?

Haha, yeah, it sits in the low register that Tex does so well. Singing that low is effortless for him, and I'm glad we have a song that features that. I had the music, and Tex wrote the lyrics. You'd have to ask Tex specifically, but I understand it to be exploring the spiritual elements between ourselves and nature. Perhaps he's thinking about the river Ganges that flows through India and how people see it as a source of devotion. The river is intertwined with their consciousness. Life and death. Together. 

Do you have a favourite song on the record?

They've all been my favourite at sometime during the making of the album. But to choose one right now, I'll say 'Go Away'. The music held a mood that I liked from the start and then Tex wrote words that fit perfectly. We didn't need to change the arrangement of the music at all. It all just fit together. Like it was meant to be. 

You and Tex are taking the album on the road for the next couple of months. What are you most looking forward to while travelling Australia? 

I'm hoping to drive to as many shows as possible. I prefer to drive than fly. I gotta talk to Tex about that. Haha. 

What can fans expect from your set? Will there be a mix of album tracks and tunes from across your careers?

We've written a lot of songs together and on this tour we'll be focusing on that. 

After decades in the industry, what keeps you curious and excited about making music?

I love touring. Live performance. The transience of it. You can't bottle it. You can only experience it. And then it's part of you. Making music is a blessing and a curse. To devote so much of your time thinking about a melody or a lyric line. It's in my blood, I guess.

Finally, after all you've achieved in your career, is there anything musically that you haven't ticked off yet?

Plenty. 

Catch Tex Perkins and Matt Walker performing at Trinity Sessions in Adelaide on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, and Big Easy Radio in McLaren Vale on Sunday 18 October. Tickets are on sale now at texperkins.com.