Letting his Gold-en voice shine…

Matthew Gold. Picture: Supplied

Matthew Gold. Picture: Supplied

Published May 24, 2017

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After three years of writing, self-discovery and experimenting with new ideas, Mathew Gold is back with an album he feels truly speaks to who he is as an artist. The album so resonated with Gold that he decided to self-title it.

Based in Cape Town, Gold comes to Joburg often to visit family. When I caught up with him last week, he was in town for an extensive PR run that also saw him opening for Arno Carstens’ show at the Goodluck Bar over the weekend.

Speaking about putting the album together, it’s clear that it represents a personal diary of sorts in which Gold shares his most personal experiences.

“In the past, I’ve experimented with many different genres and collaborated with many artists,” he explained. “So this album is kind of like a coming-out party of who Mathew Gold is sonically.”

To allow his voice the room it needed to truly shine, Gold took the decision to not feature any other artists on the project. Alyx Ander and Breakdlaw, who are the two credited features on the album, are both producers.

Original posse back in the saddle

“The concept of the album was basically for me to conduct and put a project together by working with many different producers from six different countries. On the album there are 10 producers on 14 songs. Each producer had one song, but I also used different producers for different parts in songs. I had so much fun delegating the whole thing, almost like puzzling my whole album together over three years.”

It’s taken him this long to come out with a new project simply because he made a point of not releasing anything until he was satisfied that every song on the project was up to standard. That meant recording a surplus amount of songs and taking his time to finesse each one before narrowing them down to the 14 that made the album.

“I got the support from Universal in terms of the creativity of the album, and they kind of allowed me to take my time with this. And I really think we’ve got something special.”

All My Love, which was produced by the prolific Sketchy Bongo, is one of the stand-out songs on the album.

Gold tells of how the two met in Durban and within two hours they had finished recording their first song together.

“He’s a magician. I have so much respect for him. What I really like about him is his efficiency. I spent probably two weeks there and we made two songs every single day. It’s great to be able to have a producer that thinks like me and that works as fast as I work when it comes to churning out songs. The more music you make the more you have to play with.”

When I asked him what he’s planning on doing with all the music they didn’t use on the album, he said that he’s building his musical arsenal and getting ready to spread it when the time’s right. He is also considering selling the songs off to other artists.

For Gold, the key to making the project he envisioned was to follow the vibe and let the process unfold naturally. There was no formula to how he put this album together, which is something he admits may have been a bit risky. But he loves that element of adventure, he’s always lived his life that way.

“I know that my voice is recognisable, so it was just about showing them more than just what they expect you to do. And I think the risk will pay off.”

IOL

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