Florida alt rocker Matthew Lowry is mere days away from their record release show for Flamingo County. Matthew has been releasing some fun tracks ahead of the album that fans are loving. Take a walk with us below and check out what all Matthew Lowry had to say when he virtually met up with BareBones Ent.
BBE: I love your sound. It feels like driving on a nice day with the windows down type of tunes. How would you best describe your music to new listeners?
ML: I’d say that I fully agree with you. I feel like we bring a mix of uptempo arena rock and fun alt rock together. As you said, you can just hit play on track one of the album, roll those windows down, and take a Sunday drive through Flamingo County…
BBE: What is it about music that drew you into making it originally, and what has kept you here?
ML: I’ve been singing and playing music for almost as long as I can remember. Piano lessons started at 5 and there are pictures of me at 3 dressed up and singing into a microphone. Playing music has always been the most natural thing in my life. Whether that is being part of a school music ensemble, playing in a band, writing songs just for me, writing songs to play for others, or just plain being a music encyclopedia of anything I have listened to because that’s just how my mind works, music has always played a central role in my mind and life. Even as I get older, and now have just found out that I am going to be a dad, music still brings me such joy, and no matter what capacity, I will always play / write / perform.
I would say that the fact that I still receive that joy from writing and playing and feel like some of my best music is still bottled inside me somewhere, means that I will keep pushing forward with my personal songwriting journey, and hopefully have a lot of people that want to come along for the ride.
BBE: Speaking of this concept, this ties directly in to your song “All My Friends Are Selling Out”. How did that idea come to you, or when did you make the realization that your music friends had made different moves away from making music?
ML: I was honestly sitting in my bed with my acoustic guitar one day, just messing around with little riffs, and thinking about how no one else plays anymore (at the time, a lot of my very close friends had left the music industry / stopped playing seriously) and that I was still here, just writing songs like I always had, and still pursuing that joy I talked about earlier.
BBE: How does it feel to be one of the last men standing?
ML: At the time I wrote the song, it was both very funny to me, but also very isolating. Definitely had a feeling of “Well if it’s just me, do I want to do this alone?”
BBE: You actually had some of these friends take part in the music video for this song. How did the react when you approached them with the idea?
ML: Well, luckily for me, when I was planning the album, and made the choice that I wanted to move forward, I told the guys that if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it with them. I ended up getting all my best friends to record different parts on the album, and to getting back in the game by playing in my band. I honestly have never had more fun playing music with a group of people, and I think that a lot of the cohesion/comfort that a lot of bands have to work for a while to find with each other comes so naturally to us because of how close we all are as friends. Some of us for the last 15+ years.
All that to say, when I told them we were gonna do a few videos to help promote the album, they were all very happy to be a part of it. Aaron Marsh, who shot/directed/edited the videos we did is a close friend too, so we kept it all in the family.
BBE: Now I do want to touch on another song and video, “Coming For You”, that came out more recently. That looked like a blast to film. What was filming that music video like for you?
ML: I was just so happy with how that video came together, and that we were able to pull it off in one morning. I had the idea for that video before I even went into the studio to track “Coming For You”. It was even written on my white board that I use to focus/organize/plane. So when we finally got to the point years later that we could do the video, I think I just wanted to be in the moment and have as much fun as possible. Doing it as the second video was nice, because I feel like AMFASO was a warm up to the goofy madness that “Coming For You” has.
My father in law has a nice little piece of property, so we got out there at 7AM, set everything up, and just let it rip. Aaron filmed anything that we could thing of doing, and then just let us go crazy for a while. I will state that many of us were nursing some injuries for the following days/weeks. Josh really put his body on the line for that hurdle scene, and was feeling it hard. We all laughed so much. What I am really excited for is the outtakes that I hope to see/release soon… {video at the bottom}
BBE: How have fans reacted to the song?
ML: Easily our most loved song. When I play that track for people / we play that song live, it has the best response from everyone. There is just some real energy there that I think people just want to feel / let out. It’s almost cathartic for me every time I play it, and I would like to hope that it feels as good to hear as it does to play.
BBE: Now these songs are part of a larger release to come out soon. Anything you can share about that?
ML: Flamingo County is the full-length album releasing on Sep 15th. I am so very excited to share the whole thing. It’s a bit of a diverse journey, but I think it really showcases a lot of different sides/genres of my songwriting, and was honestly just a fun time putting all those pieces together in a way that made sense.
I use the format of a 70’s radio show located in Flamingo County as kind of the way for me to relay these ideas / this state of mind. You hear it on the first track and then a few more radio breaks, and if you follow the lyrics, there’s definitely a story of growth, questions, and acceptance. But most importantly, I think they are just fun ass songs, that I love to sing and am very proud of.
BBE: Do you have anything in mind already for the album release show?
ML: Well if you look at that album cover, you see that we’re doing this parody of the last supper as a low country boil. My photographer Sarah Baarns is so genius, and really brought this concept to life in the photo, so I wanted to bring it to life at the show. Hiring one of my close friends who is a chef to do the boil so that everyone at the show can be in that Flamingo County state of mind. Good food, good drinks, good music. Let’s have some fun.
BBE: What is that night going to be like for you being able to finally get this album out there?
ML: Honestly, after the couple of years it has taken to make happen from the ground up, it will be both a relief and a joy. Like, you want to watch that baby take it’s first steps, and hope it grows into something that people love. At the end of the day though, anytime you put your heart, soul, time, and effort into something, to see it be complete and released just brings immense pride. The fact that I followed through on it’s production and completion the best that I could and gave it a chance to see the world, is all I can take pride in. The way that it is received is up to everyone else, but I love it, so I am very excited to share it all.
BBE: What is a Matthew Lowry show like?
ML: Loud rock and roll from the south. However, you want to take that and envision it, that’s what it is.
BBE: What is the best way for fans to communicate with you and stay up to date with your band?
ML: My socials are always getting updates on what we are up to. Instagram, Twitter (X), Facebook, Threads, etc. Gonna be posting a lot more to our YouTube channel as well coming up, so subscribe over there as well for videos of live performances / acoustic sets / etc.
BBE: Anything else you would like to add?
ML: Gotta live your life for you and follow through on the things you really want. No one can stop you from being and doing what you know you need to do, especially if you don’t rely on anyone else’s approval in your life choices. Not to say that friends and family don’t matter, as they mean everything to me. Just make sure to prioritize and value the opinions of those who support you for who you are, not what you “accomplish”. Enjoy this life, because we only get one…
