In episode 31 of Composer Quest, songwriter Matt Leavitt of the indie band Emot talks with me about his belief that the very first time you work on a song is often where the best ideas come from, and anything after that is just trying to recreate this spark of initial inspiration. We also get to hear Matt play a couple new tunes live from Emot’s upcoming album, which they’ve been working on with producer Brian Moen (of Peter Wolfcrier and Laarks).
[audio:https://charliemccarron.com/mediaftp/composerquest/composer-quest-031-matt-leavitt.mp3]Right click to download Ep. 31, or open in iTunes.
Emot is:
- Dan Choma – Drums, Keyboards, Sampling
- Justin Hartke – Bass
- Matt Leavitt – Vocals, Guitars, Banjo, Keyboards, Loops
- Robert Mulrennan – Guitars, Loops
For more Emot music, visit their Bandcamp page and Facebook page. Their music is also available through Dan Choma’s cassette label Run Ruby Red Records.
Episode Soundtrack
- 0:00 – Original Composer Quest theme by Matt Leavitt
- 0:60 – “Together” – Emot (Make You Electric, 2011)
- 1:27 – “Garbage Tones” – Emot (Upcoming album, 2013)
- 6:20 – “Animals” – Emot (Two Drunks, 2010)
- 7:30 – “Pleasure/Pressure” – Emot (Make You Electric, 2011)
- 15:43 – “Let’s Find Your River” – Emot (Upcoming album, 2013)
- 20:47 – “Cheapskate” – Emot (Two Drunks, 2010)
- 23:07 – “Ancients” – Emot (Trees & Claws EP, 2012)
- 25:41 – “Purple Streaks” – Emot (Two Drunks, 2010)
- 28:44 – “Onion Face” – Emot (Make You Electric, 2011)
Check out this music video for “Garbage Tones,” by Jason P. Schumacher:
Suggested Listening
- Richard Buckner (one of Matt’s favorite lyricists)
- Califone (ambiguous lyrics from Tim Rutilli)
- Animal Collective – Sung Tongs (repetitive guitar leads to higher-level listening)
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