Matt Connarton Unleashed 5-24-25 hour 2

Speaker 1: W M N h rip the nobles.

Speaker 2: I've been cooped up in this minie Cooper, singing to myself, going through drive through, have to drive through looking for some help.

Speaker 3: I'll miss my family and my girl and my friends.

Speaker 1: There find my side.

Speaker 4: If you feel the beat and you're feeling me.

Speaker 2: Come on, let's ride.

Speaker 5: We need a bigger bus to get our friends, more windows.

Speaker 1: And more piles. Party in the d party in the back. We'll go sway inside to side, down the highway. Surrender, all wheels go around there riding.

Speaker 6: I'm gain all the bumper stickers from all the places that we found.

Speaker 1: Need a bigger bus. We need a bigger bus.

Speaker 3: You can bring your friends.

Speaker 1: They can sing too.

Speaker 3: You can even bring your mama as long as she can hold too. You can bring a dog and that does ease buy out no wind.

Speaker 1: They will pick up old in town and singing a game. We need a big up bus to.

Speaker 5: Get our friends on my windows and mouse.

Speaker 6: Party in the front, party in the back. We'll go sway inside to side, right down my way up, surrender, all wheels go around and by mumbo get all the mamba stickers from all places that we found.

Speaker 5: Need a bigger bus. We need a big up bus

Speaker 5: and I wanna fly or take the train and hears the road call in my.

Speaker 6: Neck when feels this good bod ship, get the mon singing on.

Speaker 5: We need a big bus to get our friends on my windows in.

Speaker 1: The front, in the.

Speaker 6: Back, well sways, side the side down where surrender.

Speaker 1: All wheels go out there and back. We just want big out of the family from all the base cities all the time. We need a big up bus.

Speaker 5: Do get our friends on my windows in one party in the front, party in the baby.

Speaker 1: We're gonna sways inside.

Speaker 6: To side, back down where.

Speaker 5: Surrender, all the wheels go around and by the bumbo, get all the bunker stickers from all places that we found.

Speaker 1: Need a bigger bus. We need a bigger buzz.

Speaker 7: We're gonna need a big up us.

Speaker 8: If you didn't catch yourself at any point singing along to that while you were hearing it, check your pulse, there might be something wrong with you. Hey, everybody, we have entered our number two New Marow dose of Matt Connorton unleashed, and we are live from the studios of w m NH ninety five point three FM, Inglorious Manchester, New Hampshire. Today is Saturday, May twenty four, twenty twenty five. It is Memorial Day weekend, and we have joining us live in studio making his return to the show.

Speaker 8: Eli Levis here. Hello, Eli, Oh, I just realized. I apologize. Wait, I got a I've got you on a different mic because you're gonna be performing. Let's see if we can hear you. No, oh, I hear something. Oh I hear your voice. We got to turn this up. I apologize. Here we go, Here we go. I think I can hear you now. Oh good, Oh, there you are. Aha, I found you all right. Sorry about that. I'm gonna blame I was distracted by my crackling voice. I sound like Kirk Cameron on Growing Pains because my allergies have been so so we're talking.

Speaker 8: You told me something really interesting off air that I didn't know. That actually is not a huge shock to me when you told me. But this is the highest concentration of pollen in the world.

Speaker 3: Is the hotspot? Yeah, mid Atlantic?

Speaker 8: Yeah, it's it's it's brutal. I mean, my allergies are like the worst they've ever been this year. It's really bad. It's really bad. But I love that song we need a bigger bus. And you've been You've been traveling all over the place, right, Yeah, I've been.

Speaker 3: Just got back from a tour in Europe. I flew into Portugal and played shows in Portugal, Spain and Dora, France, Wow, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, And then I flew to London and I played shows in the UK for another month. Yeah, and if that wasn't enough, then I jumped over to Ireland and played a few shows over there. So it's quite the epic journey over there, and it was really cool playing the new audiences and meeting new folks.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean at this point, how many, Like, what do you think the ratio is? I don't know if you've done the math. Well, I know you're a numbers guy, a number you pay attention to this stuff. Have you ever done the math on what the ratio is of shows that you've played outside of the United States to shows domestically.

Speaker 9: Yeah.

Speaker 3: I think last year I played about two hund and fifty shows, and I think about fifty of those were outside the US.

Speaker 8: Oh, no, kidding.

Speaker 3: So last year was a big domestic year. This year, I mean all those shows, it is probably about probably played about sixty shows, no kidding, okay, because it was pretty much every evening. Yeah, so yeah, so far this year it's been a big international year.

Speaker 8: Yeah. I'm sure we talked about this last time, but it may have changed since then because you've continued to play play shows on other continents. Is there any place that's been particularly challenging as far as traveling or are just dealing with the logistics of playing a show in a place that you haven't been before.

Speaker 3: I mean other countries with different languages, you know, different laws and different you know stuff like that. That was you know, you're driving on the other side of the road in the UK, it was like, you know, I was driving a manual, so that was interesting. But you know, for example, like I'm in I'm in Portugal for a few days, so I learned just enough Portuguese to get by, and I'm in Spain. Yeah okay, I guess which is Spanish. And then I'm in Andorra so they're speaking Catalan. Then I'm in France, where it's like, okay, now I got to speak in French to folks, and Polish is not an easy language should pick up in a moment.

Speaker 3: So, you know, in Poland a lot of people spoke English too, but it's nice to know, hello, goodbye, thank you, my name is So I just kind of get that and people are really appreciative of that. So it's a little bit difficult being in a new country with a different language and a different culture. But you know, music is the universal language.

Speaker 8: Exactly. Do you use a translator app?

Speaker 3: I do? Yeah, Yeah, there's one that's really good and you can even like they can speak into it. They can tell you what it is, and I can speak into it and they give the language.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Are people generally pretty cool about that, like having the patience for that, you know, especially if you're handing your phone back and forth and having to do all that.

Speaker 3: People are generally pretty cool out there, Matt.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 3: I would say about ninety ninety five percent of people are pretty cool.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 3: You know, if you look at the screens around us, you wouldn't think it, right, you know what I mean? If you just consumed our media as humans, yes, you'd think we were probably some big old dirt bags, right, But we're not. We're very kind folks, and you know, I feel like that, uh, in person, interaction and that face to face interaction, Like even if I didn't know a language and I needed something, people would, people are helpful.

Speaker 8: Was it intimidating when you first started touring internationally? Was that intimidating at all? Or were you able to just kind of just go for it and not worry.

Speaker 3: So I've spent quite a bit of time overseas. I lived in a small country called Andorra.

Speaker 8: That's right, you're talking about there.

Speaker 3: Yeah, so I had a little bit of experience in Europe. Yeah, so I kind of knew a little bit of the lay of the land. I still went to a lot of new places this time around, but I had a general like context, so it wasn't like that too much out of my depth.

Speaker 8: Okay, yeah, that's cool. That's cool. Now where are you? Obviously at this point in the tour, you're you know, since you're you're coming through the area and it's it's so cool that we're able to do this again. Yeah, where are you?

Speaker 2: Well?

Speaker 8: Where did you play?

Speaker 10: Uh?

Speaker 8: Where was your last show? Assuming you had a show last night somewhere?

Speaker 3: Yeah, last show was in Biddeford. Okay, Yeah, I was in Maine quite a bit Maine was was awesome. I was up in a bar harbor.

Speaker 8: Yeah, that's up there, way up. That's up there.

Speaker 3: And then I've got a show in New Hampshire tomorrow the afternoon in Brookline.

Speaker 8: Excellent.

Speaker 3: That's at April House Vineyards and that's at one thirty. Okay, So I'll be a New Hampshire okay.

Speaker 8: And then where do you go from there?

Speaker 3: There? I'm going back down to d C. I have a pretty awesome show in Blues Alley. It's the longest running jazz club in the country.

Speaker 8: Oh, no kidding.

Speaker 3: So they're like putting a merging artists Mondays there. It's a legendary stage. Ella Fitzgerald, stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, they all played there.

Speaker 8: Oh wow.

Speaker 3: So I'll be there on Monday this Memorial Day.

Speaker 8: Oh fantastic. Wow. Good for you.

Speaker 3: Up and down and back and down, left and right and back again.

Speaker 8: That's fantastic. Have you released new music since since we had you on last I have.

Speaker 3: I got a couple of songs I love to share with you.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, you're gonna play you play the live?

Speaker 9: Yeah?

Speaker 8: Oh beautiful. All right, Well let's do that. Let me get that mic up on the guitar. Don here you play live if you are just joining us? Eli lev Is here with us in studio, and uh, when were you on with us? I know it was it was less than a year ago, right, It wasn't that long ago.

Speaker 3: I think. So, Yeah, that is about a year ago.

Speaker 8: About a year. Yeah, And I'll tell you what. It all becomes a blur. It must for you too, I would imagine. I'd imagine that guitar sounds nice. Yeah, that sounds really good in madphones, all right. So I think we're a good whenever you're ready cool.

Speaker 3: This is a brand new single. This one's called No Wrong Turns All Right, and it's a co write that I did with my friend Aaron Michelle from Maryland. It's about how when you're you know, with someone you love or your bestie, when you're on a road trip, sometimes you just go. It doesn't matter if you stop or you start, or you go left or you go right, No wrong.

Speaker 8: Turns all right.

Speaker 3: I have this dream that week, jump in the car, we flip a coin. We'll follow the brightest star. Yeah, leave it all behind, pack a bag, ready, said go. We'll spend all day to see along to the radio.

Speaker 3: Matt Connerton unleashed. Yeah, no, I'll just follow your car.

Speaker 3: We found each other.

Speaker 1: We'll never get lost.

Speaker 10: They're a new.

Speaker 3: Long now that we get wrong turns, that's good, you'll miss the exit. I'll just laugh. You drive slow and I'll keep on talking fast, faster than yours can listen. Nothing out there that we're missing anyhow.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll just follow your heart. Since we found each other, I'll never get lost.

Speaker 10: There are no.

Speaker 3: Wrong now that we do get living.

Speaker 10: Un God with you forever.

Speaker 3: Moll in life, so we know as long as there's love left to burn.

Speaker 4: Yeah, your phone asleep and this passenger seat with smelling your face, and I don't want to wake you to ask where we're going.

Speaker 3: So I'll just keep driving on night, sleeping, just thinking again and again how good.

Speaker 10: It feels to trust the wind in your hand.

Speaker 3: Your eyes are my compass without.

Speaker 1: Even knowing the way, I know we'll find it because with you, I know that I know.

Speaker 3: Wrong now that we're too gether them.

Speaker 10: Wrong.

Speaker 11: Ride with you forever, live in the moment, so we know living wrong now that we're twogether in the moment it, so.

Speaker 12: We know we've got all the time in.

Speaker 3: The world there are no wrong turn.

Speaker 8: Mm hmm, that's nice. That's really nice. Eli Lev live in studio with us here on Matt Connorton Unleashed and uh, that is very very cool. Have you had since we obviously you've released new music? Have you had a new album come out or an EP or what's what's kind of the I do situation there?

Speaker 6: Yeah?

Speaker 3: Yeah, So last time I seen us playing songs off of a Present Journey, so that's out now, oh yes, and then that was where we need bigger busses from.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 3: And then I got a brand new album called Past Lives coming out this summer. So Present Journey, Past Lives and Future Myths coming next year are part of the Three Worlds project.

Speaker 8: Oh okay, So tell me more about that, the Three World's Project. What's kind of the concept beyond that?

Speaker 3: Yeah? So my first project was called Four Directions Okay, and the four Directions were from my time teaching on the Novel Indian Reservation in northern Arizona, Okay. So I learned about the Four Directions there. It was a four EP project took me about four years. All Roads East, Way Out, West, Deep South and True North Okay. So I completed that. It's amazing. It's south there. You can listen to it. It's one of my favorite things I ever done. And then I was like, well, what do I do next? Do I do like Sky above or Ground below or Northeast?

Speaker 3: I wasn't sure. Yeah, I thought, you know what, let's stay with like the number theme, and I thought, okay, four directions, three Worlds, two Friends, and one Road. Okay, so that's my entire musical discography that I'm working on now. Then after that it's Mike Drop I retire for real. Yeah why I don't know, because because I did the thing so right now I'm on three directions yeah, and uh sorry, three three worlds, and then two Friends will be a collaborative piece, and then one Road will be my final album.

Speaker 3: That's it.

Speaker 8: Are you serious though? Like you like that? That's gonna be it?

Speaker 9: That's it?

Speaker 8: Why you seem so certain about that? Yeah, you know you're gonna you know you're gonna change your mind.

Speaker 3: Well, people going to retirement, they go out of retire, what happens. We'll get there when we get there.

Speaker 8: But I'm really no, but I'm really curious about this, Like do you like do you just feel like that will kind of be Is that going to be something where there's nothing you can do beyond that that will top it? Is that? Is that kind of like like you feel like that's gonna be the the ultimate yeah expression artistically for you?

Speaker 3: Or Yeah, I think that'll be the story of Eli live a as a you know, as an artist, as a musician, as a music project really directions three worlds, two friends, one road.

Speaker 8: Okay, wow? And then but do you go back to playing a band because you were.

Speaker 3: I love playing band. It could be another project, it could be instrumental, it could be another artist, it could be a band.

Speaker 8: So it's not it's not like you're gonna be done with music.

Speaker 3: Right Probably not? Okay, that'll be the end. That'll be the El Love project.

Speaker 8: Oh that's really interesting though, that's really interesting. Do you so? So three what are the are there when you talk about three worlds? Like, what are the three worlds?

Speaker 2: So?

Speaker 3: I think it's interesting that you know, three worlds can be past, present, future, it could be three dimensions as well. It could be you know, the ground below the surface, in the sky above. There's lots of different ways to kind of like think about three worlds. And I kind of went the time route because I wanted to show that the past is here just as the present and the future is also here present. So Past Lives is a exploration of my ancestry. My mom's side comes from South Mississippi and my dad's side comes from Chicago, so I wanted to honor both of their kind of lineages, and Past Lives follows the story both of those ancestors.

Speaker 3: And you know, it actually uses the voices of my great grandmother Bubby Sarah from Poland, and it uses my great uncle from South Carolina and my great aunt as well. So these are characters that audio is being like within the songs. It is so cool, Matt, Like, it is just it's one of the most amazing things that I think that I've done as a as a creative. And because you're awesome, because you're so awesome at you have me back.

Speaker 8: Yes, I would.

Speaker 3: Love to perform the worldwide mirror of one of my upcoming songs for you. Okay, this has not been public.

Speaker 8: Oh okay, it's from Past.

Speaker 3: Lives And I'm just like kind of like in Clan desintely like a tuning my guitar right now.

Speaker 8: Yes, yes, but Is that cool?

Speaker 3: Can I do that?

Speaker 8: Absolutely?

Speaker 3: This wasn't a planned thing, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, but what's since we're talking about it?

Speaker 8: Yeah, Yeah, I'm very curious to hear this.

Speaker 3: This song is from Past Lives. It's coming out this summer, my next single. Oh okay, so worldwide premiere here on Matt Connorton Unleashed. This song is called where We Come From?

Speaker 8: All right, ge't wait to hear this?

Speaker 9: Awesome.

Speaker 3: I to mom backpack off coming home from class, opened up my NOE book. I had to ask my mom and.

Speaker 4: Died, where are we come from?

Speaker 12: They sat me down and smiled at.

Speaker 3: Me and took out some old photos to let them breathe and say, this is who we are and all we've done. It's the story of where we come from. And my mom said, so, we come from a long line of workers. Most folks never heard of us. If I don't make us any less. We spawned the cotton.

Speaker 9: That most people for water.

Speaker 3: We built the fridges after the war. Life back then was a lot more work than fun. Yeah, that's where we come f.

Speaker 1: Working in the heat.

Speaker 3: The southern sun.

Speaker 1: We I swept to live.

Speaker 10: That's where we come from.

Speaker 3: My dad listened closely to my mom's reply and then took my hand and looked into my eyes and said, son, let me tell you about my side. He said, we come from a long line of survivors. We escaped the fires they're still burning around the world. We made the shoes at most people water. We built the city from a hardware store. Life back then was always on the run. Ooh, that's where we come.

Speaker 10: Far.

Speaker 12: Over the oceans, through the slums we had believe to live. That's a week come from.

Speaker 3: And then one day I'll look in my daughter's eyes as she asks the same to me, and I'll tell her about our family and each branch that made this tree, and I'll say, we come from a long line of workers. Most folks never heard of us about. Don't make us any less. We spawned the cotton that most people wore. We built the bridges after the water. Life back then was a lot more work than fun. Yeah, we come from survivors. We escaped the fires there still burning around the world. Oh, we made the shoes and most people wore.

Speaker 3: We built the city from.

Speaker 1: A hardware store.

Speaker 12: Life back then was on the run.

Speaker 3: Not my love is where we come.

Speaker 1: We call a.

Speaker 3: Part of a thread that we's the story of our family. In one day you'll have a little one too. I can only wish the best cool one day when you have child on your own, Here you can.

Speaker 12: Tell them stories.

Speaker 13: We sun here, you can tell where we come from.

Speaker 8: Oh, fantastic, fantastic. Eli Love is here with us live in studio. What's that called again? What's the name of that song?

Speaker 3: Where we come from?

Speaker 8: Where we come from? That is so good.

Speaker 3: I'm in this summer.

Speaker 8: I love that. I love that if you are just joining us, Eli Love is here with us in studio. Is it hard to when you've when you've created a song that's that's so good? Is it hard to sit on it for a while because you have to?

Speaker 3: It's not funny you ask that question.

Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, it's harder.

Speaker 3: Playing it easy to sit on it like it's mine, you know what I mean? No one knows it yet. I haven't put it out there. It's just it's like like my little baby, you know what I mean.

Speaker 8: That's interesting.

Speaker 3: And then it's like, oh my, is it time? Is it time to share it with the world? Like, yeah, is it ready for the for the vibration to be out there. Yeah, so it was actually like it's hard, It is kind of hard to sitting on these songs, but it's still kind of nice because it's like I can just listen to them whenever I want, right, and only I can hear it right right. But now I think it's I think it's ready.

Speaker 8: You're ready for the world. Yeah, Oh very cool. No, I love that.

Speaker 9: I love that.

Speaker 8: That's really good. On everything that you've been recording, is it is it still just is it you? Or do you have collaborators in the studio.

Speaker 3: Or Yeah, So I I go to work with different producers. So for Present Journey, I worked with Austin Bellow out of Virginia awesome so Bigger Bus and all those songs. And for this one, I worked with Taylor rig actually from Peak Skill, New York. So it's a different vibe, you know, it's a different studio, different sound, different equipment, and I really like that. So like working with different producers for different EPs to get a different kind of feel. So Past Lives and Present Journey are with different producers.

Speaker 3: And then I still have to find the producer for Future Myths. I don't know yet, it will be different.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, what goes into that finding a producer, like what what do you look for it in terms of because different producers has so many different styles and yeah approaches and some are very hands on, some are like yeah, some are like yeah, just I'll tell you if it sounds good or not.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean yeah. For me, my search is pretty much like where what producer is making the sounds that I want to sound like? Okay, you know what I mean. They don't have to work with somebody famous, they don't have to have the best equipment. I don't really care how long they've doing it or not. But it's like, what is the sound that I'd like to enter into that project? And I've worked with Taylor rig before and his sound is very lush, very organic, very full. Okay, So for Past Lives, I wanted to work with him because that's the kind of sound and style that I wanted for the album.

Speaker 8: Okay.

Speaker 3: Austin Bellow is like, man, he makes hits, you know what I mean, He makes singles. They sound so good, so pristine, so fun and upbeat. So I want to work with him for Present Journey because they were big pop, fun songs. Yeah, So I go for the sound and then kind of try and match that to the project and match out to the producer.

Speaker 8: Okay, okay, so everyone you work with as someone who's done something that you've been able to hear and say, I connect with that, that's what I want to sound like.

Speaker 3: Okay, exactly, that's it.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Are you ever surprised? Like, do you ever? Have you ever worked with a producer where what ends up what you end up with sounds very different than what you can kind of had in mind, hopefully in a good way.

Speaker 9: Yeah.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I during the pandemic, you know, there was no we could go into studios, so there we did. I did a collaboration with my Silent Bravery and it was all online, all virtual kid, and I had never worked with the producer and I met him and I still haven't met that producer.

Speaker 9: Yeah.

Speaker 3: Yeah, but I sent in the vocals, I sent him the guitar, we sent in the scratch, and the producer did everything virtually. I worked together and kind of shaped the sound, but I had no idea what that song was going to sound like, which was great, you know, it was a surprise. I was like, oh, this is a cool, cool style. And it turns out this producer has worked with you know, so many big names from Springsteen to you know, Pearl Jam to just like the top names.

Speaker 8: You were you were in good hands.

Speaker 3: So that turned out great.

Speaker 8: Yeah yeah, yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome.

Speaker 9: Yeah.

Speaker 8: If you are just joining us, Eli Love is here with us in studio. You want to play another one? Yeah, let's do it down near another one?

Speaker 3: Yeah, This one's from Present Journey. It's called they say. Okay, this just won an award for a songwriting competition for the North East Folk Oh congratulation folk lines. Yeah, so uh, and it's I feel like it's a very special song. And I don't write songs for awards, but it's very nice when they happen. So yeah, here's a here's an award winning song for y'all. It's called they Say, And it's about all the advice that I got when I was young, and how it was.

Speaker 8: All wrong interesting interesting, Okay.

Speaker 3: Maybe not like totally wrong, just like not one hundred percent right understood, and I had to find my own my own kind of advice.

Speaker 9: All right, Very good, we go, they say, get.

Speaker 3: Rich so I can buy all that I want, but I've got all the smiles that I need.

Speaker 9: They say, get.

Speaker 3: Famous so everyone will know me. That sounds like a movie I don't want to see. They say, get smart.

Speaker 12: So I can.

Speaker 3: Solve any problem as if there.

Speaker 8: Go away.

Speaker 3: They say go hard, but I'm a softy deep inside, and I don't feel like hiding anymore. They say be nice, but I'd rather be kind.

Speaker 12: And be there for those who are any.

Speaker 3: They say, you got to think twice. Maybe we should think a little more about how we treat the world that we call home. They say, settle down, but I ain't one for settling, so I'll just keep on chasing my dreams. They say go up.

Speaker 1: As if to give them.

Speaker 3: But I ain't taking those pills anymore. And you gotta enjoy that's overflowing. They say, don't give it away, but I'll do it anyway. They say, it get real when the truth is in value.

Speaker 12: No one really knows.

Speaker 3: How f that's how it is, that, how it's always been?

Speaker 1: What about how.

Speaker 10: It could be?

Speaker 3: Nothing's enough? There's new voice is talking. Those are the ones that I want to hear. Get They say too much,

Speaker 3: but I know who I am, so I don't listen to them anymore.

Speaker 8: I like that. I think that's probably pretty relatable too for a lot of people.

Speaker 3: I got to find our own path, you know, make our own advice, let their own lessons.

Speaker 8: That's right. Eli Love is here with us in studio. They say, is what that's called? That's really good? That's really good. Do do you run into that? Where do you play shows and people come up to you and say, you know, that song really resonated with me. I feel like your songs just generally are very sort of relatable and tap into things that that most people probably experience at some point.

Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks Matt.

Speaker 10: Yeah.

Speaker 3: No, I get amazing messages online and at shows and emails, and I'm very connected with my fan base. The fan base are called the levitators. Eli Love levitators. Yes, so you know to me, they're kind of like family. Yeah, I do, you know, live streams every Friday.

Speaker 6: You know.

Speaker 3: My emails are not like newsletters, they're like conversations. Yeah, and you know, my social media presence is also like that. So I get to I get to get I get to get to know people, which is nice. And yeah, a lot of them, like you know, one one levitator sent me about that song. She's like, you know, I was in the hospital coming from surgery and that song got me through surgery. I've had levitators that are like I had a song called Move as You Do on on my pandemic EP and it's about living life on our own timelines.

Speaker 3: Yeah, and not being feeling rushed. And I had a levitator contact me and she says, Eli, I'm seventy six and I got married for the first time. Wow, and your song inspired me to do that. And I was just like, oh.

Speaker 8: My god, yeah, door, thank you.

Speaker 3: She's like, yeah, that was the that was the song that me and my husband had for my wedding and it's my first marriage, and thank you for the courage to do that.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Yeah, that's that's incredible.

Speaker 3: Stuff like that happens.

Speaker 8: Yeah, is that is that? I mean that must be overwhelming.

Speaker 3: It is overwhelming.

Speaker 8: Obviously it's positive, but can't comprehend it when that first started happening. Was it was that kind of hard at first? Like like, did you feel overwhelmed by it? Like the first time someone said something like that to you?

Speaker 3: Well, I mean it started making sense. It's like, these songs literally save me, save my soul, so why wouldn't they also help other people in some similar situations. Yeah, and uh yeah, oh my gosh. There's just one story, maybe like four years back, and I was on Way Out West from Four Directions. I had this song called oh my Lord okay, and it's about you know, finding you know, divinity whatever that is for folks in nature and feeling kind of held by that. One of my fans was like, ELI, have to let you know that.

Speaker 3: I gave my friend your Way Out West CD and she put in her kind of like bedside CD thing and she's having a lot of trouble with her life and she wanted to end her life.

Speaker 8: Wow.

Speaker 3: And she was playing that CD and she had like this is wild to say this, but you know, she was about to do that.

Speaker 8: Wow.

Speaker 3: And she was playing that city and your song oh my Lord came on and she heard a voices said like, you know, don't do it. Yeah, thing like that.

Speaker 8: It's like, what Wow, that is wild? Wow. Yeah.

Speaker 3: And you actually know that like a song might have saved somebody's life. Yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 8: That's incredible.

Speaker 9: Wow.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 3: And then I feel like there's like a there's a channel there that we can enter, and there's different lessons and different things for different folks listening to the song. Yeah, you know, I love that. I love how it can be different things for different people. So just powerful stuff.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Yeah, by the way, you CDs, I'm curious. This is a subject that has come up a lot on the show recently, especially Yeah, physical media. Yeah, because I've been talking about how I don't know, maybe five six, seven years ago. It all becomes a blur. But there was a point, because I've been doing this a long time, there was a point where most of the guests, probably most, we're not doing CDs at all. There was a period where everybody was like, no, we're just you know, Spotify is it and and and other streaming services, and we're not, We're not doing CDs.

Speaker 8: And then recently especially it seems like there's a real commitment to physical media as well as streaming. Obviously streaming is still the number one thing that's the most important. But has that always been important to you to release physical media?

Speaker 3: It has been. It makes it feel more tangible. Yeah, And the way my physical media is set up is like each EP goes together. Okay, design the four directions all Rose East is Butterfly Flowers Deep South as Pine Needles Way, out west as finnel seeds true North of Sticks, and you put them all together and there's this mandala.

Speaker 8: Oh okay.

Speaker 3: So it's very important for me because it is actually part of the art, is the physical part and how they all work together, same thing for three worlds. When you put them all together, they create a design.

Speaker 8: Okay.

Speaker 3: And honestly, Matt like, tons of people still buy CDs and vinyl is one of my biggest sellers.

Speaker 8: Oh yeah, so you do vinyl.

Speaker 3: I do vinyl, I do CDs, I do streaming, I do band camp. It's like people have different modalities that they enjoy, so as an artist, I have to do all of them.

Speaker 8: Yeah yeah, now that's for me. That's one of the really interesting things over time is seeing how technology changes and how you know, sometimes people predict technology that's going to go away that manages to hang around and in some instances even have a resurgence and and like vinyl, and I'll hear people say all the time too, oh vinyl it you know, vinyl went away, but it came back, and it's like, well, no, it never went away. There was never a point where at the very least at the minimum, major labels were still releasing music on vinyl, right, you know, very limited distribution obviously, But now I think it was either twenty two or twenty three.

Speaker 8: I read that it was the first year that vinyl actually outsold CDs. Wow, since CDs became the primary totally makes sense delivery mode because but my theory is too that most people and I haven't seen any statistic on this, and I never will, I'm sure, but I think most people who buy vinyl probably never actually play it because if you're really into an artist, if you're a big fan, you want the vinyl because you want to be able. Like Jenny has been decorating the office slash studio that we have set up at home with with vinyl because we have guests who occasionally will give us vinyl and then we you know, we mount the car on the wall.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I don't have a record player at home and I don't intend to buy one, although we have one. We actually have one here in studio. One of the other hosts brought one in and said, whoever wants to use it can, and we have a CD player here too, but I think I think the only one who uses it is Rob as a Vedo he has to show here called gran state of Mind. But but yeah, but I think you're right. You know, people like something tangible.

Speaker 9: Yeah.

Speaker 8: When I was growing up, it was always such a kick too. If I was really into an artist, I would look at the liner notes. Yeah, and if I was a big fan, I'd want to know everything, like even just like like the name of their management company and you know, just all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 3: Lyrics, the musicians, yeah, the production company.

Speaker 9: Yeah. I love.

Speaker 3: When I did the vinyl, I made sure to put all the lyrics and the liner notes and like this kind of like photo insert because I just love that.

Speaker 12: Yeah.

Speaker 8: Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely it's out there. Absolutely. You want to play another one? Sure to hear more. Yeah awesome if you're just joining us. ELI loves here with us live and studio. Is it weird singing this early?

Speaker 3: It would be if I didn't know what I was doing. Yeah, So every morning before I come to the studio, Yeah, got do a little run, Yeah, gotta drink a lot of water yep, to my vocal warm ups, yep, do some jumping jacks and get my voice formed up. Yeah, because otherwise it would not be as good as a show as is right now.

Speaker 8: Your voice would be cracking like minus.

Speaker 10: Yeah, you got it.

Speaker 3: Well, I love to sing a song. This is called that universal song. We're talking about music being the universal language.

Speaker 8: Yeah, I like this one a lot.

Speaker 3: This is from present journey.

Speaker 8: Okay, here we go.

Speaker 3: I was on a train in the middle of the city.

Speaker 3: Saw girls sitting on the floor with their headphones on. She was humming a tune, looking as happy as she could be, nodding the head and closing her eyes and singing the song she was singing, and the song came through the window. Now everyone's humming alone. No, no, no, no.

Speaker 10: She got everybody singing.

Speaker 12: That universal song.

Speaker 9: Here we go.

Speaker 3: I was on a cruise in the middle of the ocean.

Speaker 3: I was sitting alone at a table for two. The band was on a break because the singer he was late. But the second he got on stage started singing that same too. He was singing, and.

Speaker 12: Everyone got on the dance floor.

Speaker 3: They were shaking the hips, moving alone.

Speaker 1: You got everybody.

Speaker 3: Singing that universal song. Let's bring the aliens. We're about to get unleashed.

Speaker 10: Here here we go.

Speaker 3: Well, I read on the news today that they made contact without a space a transmission was coming in loud and clear, and all the scientists and linguists and astrophysicists try to decipher the sound that was coming into their ears, and all their.

Speaker 12: It was no, no, no, no no. And they started shaking their shoulders too. No no, no, no no.

Speaker 3: They all agree that that's what we should do, everybody in the world.

Speaker 1: And they got the hands up in the air.

Speaker 12: No none.

Speaker 14: Now, everybodies getting along because the bigbodies singing.

Speaker 3: That universal song.

Speaker 12: They're singing no no, no no, just like that. No no no, no, no.

Speaker 3: No one more time for the road.

Speaker 9: Here we go.

Speaker 1: No no, no no no.

Speaker 8: Mmmm I love it. I love that.

Speaker 1: One's fun.

Speaker 3: That is a funny one.

Speaker 8: Absolutely absolutely. Eli Leve is here with us in studio. We should mention too, there's a cool video for that.

Speaker 9: There is.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got a lyric video for that. And a lot of these videos, a lot of these songs have some awesome videos to them.

Speaker 8: That is that important from your perspective to lyric videos. I feel like that's a really strong tool as far as distributing music and marketing on especially on YouTube. Obviously.

Speaker 3: Yeah, what happens is there's a huge international audience, so you know, on Spotify, people listening to the music all over the world. Yeah, and let's say let's go to like India for example. So imagine you're a you know, twenty twenty one year old guy listening to Spotify. You hear this American you want to learn English, and you go to YouTube, yeah, and you find the lyric video of these songs. So, sure enough, my top songs on streaming are the top songs of the lyric videos because people online to YouTube, listen to the lyric videos learn English.

Speaker 8: That never occurred to me.

Speaker 3: And a massive international audience on YouTube for those Yep.

Speaker 8: I'll be damp. So that never never occurred to me. That's so interesting.

Speaker 3: You did it to me. Then I realized it's like, wait a second. Most of these folks are from Korea or India or Brazil or I mean, yeah, they're English speaking people who like lyric videos. Yeah, but a lot of it is folks outside of the US and the UK and even Australia who want to learn the song how to sing along.

Speaker 8: Oh that's cool. Do you think that's contributed to your success, your ability to be able to tour internationally.

Speaker 3: I think it has a little bit not as much as you'd think, you know, not as much as I would think, but I think that it has helped a lot to build an international audience. Yeah, and the fact that, like I, you know, on streaming, I really do concentrate on international audiences as well. Even though the US is like top listenership by far, it's still nice to have you know, people in Australia and South Africa and you know, Middle East, all over Europe and Germany, and that, you know, my levitator's community is very international, which is awesome.

Speaker 8: Yeah, that is that is that's really cool. Yeah, what is there? Is there anyone you've heard from who's particularly surprised you geographically like where you said, wow, I wouldn't have a fan. There really anyone who's surprised.

Speaker 3: See, like we we forget how interesting streaming is. But I will go on Spotify and you see your monthly listeners, and you go all the scroll all the way down, and you will I find countries that I just never heard of before, Like I didn't even know exist, these countries exist. There are people in these countries listening to this music. I mean, like you know, like far out places like you know, Tonga, Fiji, you know, Siberia, like just Monaco, you know, you name it, the Falcon Islands. Yeah, just like random stuff.

Speaker 8: Wow.

Speaker 3: And there's like, you know, okay, one or two or three listeners there Mongolia. Twenty people listen to my music in Mongolia.

Speaker 9: You know what is that?

Speaker 3: What is that scene?

Speaker 14: Yeah?

Speaker 3: Can you imagine what that scene would be? I can't, right, right, but it's amazing just to know that there are, you know, lots of lots of folks out there that are enjoying the music.

Speaker 8: Yeah, and there are probably people who are sharing it with like in the in the case of you know, twenty listeners in Mongolia, Yeah, you know, they're they're they probably all know each other and they're sharing you know, hey, check this out. Check this guy out. You know, I really like what he's doing. And that's so cool.

Speaker 3: That is that is say what you want about streaming, and I get it. You know, it's like, you know, it's it can be us. It's it's a big change. Yeah, but I consider streaming just as like a discovery tool. Yes, oh, absolutely, that's all it is.

Speaker 8: Absolutely somebody has been sharing out. I kind of wanted to this thing on social media about you know by physical media, you know, which we talked about earlier, in the importance of that to support these artists, And there's so much of if I if I knew a place where I could pull it up quickly, I would. But there's a bout maybe you've seen it. There's a bunch of stuff in there about how about how it's so important to support artists through by physical media. But then there's this thing at the end about you know, only by by physical product, don't don't stream stop streaming, And then it's like, oh, it had me all the way till you get to the end.

Speaker 8: But then when we get to the end, it's like, well, no, don't stop streaming. I mean, I'll tell you too, And I can appreciate because so I'm generation X. So my my generation is the last. We're the last people to grow up completely no Internet, right are you?

Speaker 3: So?

Speaker 8: I remember vividly, as I guess you do too, what it was like pre Internet. Different, And don't get me wrong, I have wonderful memories of going to music stores and flipping through finding vinyl, finding CDs, finding stuff. But I wouldn't trade what we have now to go back to that ever. I mean because now we live in a time where it's almost like it's almost even hard to believe that it used to be the way it was, because now you can hear anything at any time, anything you want to. I mean, we're so spoiled compared to what it was growing up.

Speaker 3: You know, you remember mixtapes, of course, you know.

Speaker 8: Oh, I vividly remember taping off of the.

Speaker 3: Radio, absolutely and taping other tapes on other tapes and writing all the names on the back, giving it to someone being like, this is so much I care about you. Oh yeah, speaking words, but I can share it in music all that stuff.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, So I love the way it is now. I think it's better, and I understand people get nostalgic, and you know, I see people I call it old man syndrome. I see people online on social media all the time, my age and younger, you know, doing this thing like back in my day, we actually bought music instead of just streaming it. It's like, yeah, I know, but yeah, things evolve and it is better now.

Speaker 9: Yeah.

Speaker 3: I remember tape players. I remember the cassettes breaking and trying to take them together and winding them up with pencils, and I remember CDs when they didn't have the automatic skip function, so you had to like hold the CD player put it on. You couldn't move the skip, but CDs would scratch and it would very easily just break and not work. And like four months listening to a CDs like, oh, well there that goes. So it's interesting and you know, there is trade offs, but I think it's just you know, as an independent artist, it's important to just roll with it, you know, like roll with the times.

Speaker 3: Like, okay, streaming is there, people are going to stream. Let's use that as a discovery platform and then invite them into my community through the levitators, through live streaming, have CDs, have vinyl, have all the things, and actually go to their countries and perform for them so they get to you know, and they wouldn't never have known that I existed without streaming, exactly. It's interesting.

Speaker 8: Or the Internet, yeah, exactly. So I love the way it is now, and I think embracing just in a broader sense to embracing technology. You know, if you don't, you get left behind, you know, And that's fine.

Speaker 3: If you're cool with that, that's all right.

Speaker 9: You know.

Speaker 3: Some people are just like I don't want anything to do with it, and it's like that's great. Yeah, but like for me, it's like I would really want to utilize you know what I mean, what what the tools are available to connect with people?

Speaker 8: Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you want to play one more, let's do it, all right? If you're just joining us. Eli Love is here with us in studio and.

Speaker 3: We were talking about cassette tapes. Yeah, and this song is about the good old days of mixtapes.

Speaker 8: Okay, okay.

Speaker 3: It's called singing Along for the First Time. And I got my first mixtape when I was in probably fourth grade, fifth grade. Yeah, and I had some very eclectic artists on it. You might you might remember some of these, you know. I had Bruce Springsteen, you two Fleetwood, Mac Johnny Cash, but it also had mc hammer. Oh new Kids on the Block.

Speaker 8: I giggle at mc hammer because that's a well, we won't get into it. There's a there's a long running radio bit. I'll just say this. If you go on YouTube and you type in Matt Connerton mc hammer, A whole bunch of stuff coming up.

Speaker 3: Really, Oh, I can't wait.

Speaker 8: I'll leave it at that, all right, A whole bunch of stuff comes up that's amazing.

Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, Chris Cross was on there. Oh yeah, so this is this is a song about my first mixtape.

Speaker 8: All right, excellent, Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 3: Y'all really appreciate the support, and thanks for giving original music a chance always. This one's called sing along for the first time. It was the age of eight when I played the tape and I heard a voice come through you singing loud and singing strong to the words.

Speaker 12: I was sanging known to the edge.

Speaker 3: The song, waking up all my senses.

Speaker 1: Untime.

Speaker 3: I'm singing along for the first time. Oh oh, Selem singing along for the first time.

Speaker 1: Shoo oo.

Speaker 3: Mm el was singing lodah. Now. I've been singing songs since I came along on radio and TV. This one's song win came on, felt like it it was just for me. Now I'm singing along for the first time.

Speaker 12: Oh oh oh.

Speaker 3: For the first time, Oh oh oh, singing along for the first time. It was Springsteen in the Street, Cash in the summer, heat, Willie on the Road, Cobaine in the cold, Steve in in my room, learning every line of that tune. When the chorus came, it was my chance to get up and start to dance away. What dance away?

Speaker 12: Why I'm sitting along for the first time.

Speaker 3: For the first time. On it was Springsteen in the Street, Cash in the summery Willie on the Road, Cobing and the Child Stevie in My Room.

Speaker 1: Then the Navy line of that too.

Speaker 3: When the corners came, it was my chance to you up and start to dance away, dance away.

Speaker 12: Now I'm sitting along for the first time.

Speaker 10: Oo ooh.

Speaker 3: Ooh, for the first time, I'm singing alone for the first time.

Speaker 8: Love it, love it, absolutely, absolutely that it's such a hit.

Speaker 15: That's such a such a hit you no one loves about your music is it just makes me feel happy? Oh thanks, love it and I need that, yes, good happy feelings.

Speaker 8: Absolutely for increasing my cortosol oh Well said absolutely absolutely. Eli. For those listening live on Saturday, we should remind people where you're gonna be tonight and tomorrow.

Speaker 9: And yeah, I'll.

Speaker 3: Be in Brookline, New Hampshire on Sunday at April House Vineyards. That starts at one thirty, okay, and then I've got some more shows up and down the East Coast. I'm touring, you know, most of the year I'll be back this way probably fall as well.

Speaker 8: Excellent.

Speaker 3: And then if people really like the music and want to connect with me online, they're invited to become a levitator.

Speaker 15: Yes, and you get great reminders when new stuff comes out. And how do I know that because I'm.

Speaker 8: I'm on there too.

Speaker 3: Yeah, that's great. Yeah, And so if you like to do that, you can just go to my website. Type in the Google machine ELI lev E L I L E V and you'll get to the website and on the bottom it says join the levitators.

Speaker 8: Excellent, excellent, outstanding. We should Uh, what do you want to end with? Well, we'll play one of the studio tracks.

Speaker 3: That's great.

Speaker 8: I don't know if you remember what you sent me. Do you have a preference?

Speaker 3: You can pick one, you can surprise me.

Speaker 8: Let's see what didn't Oh, honkey talk.

Speaker 3: True, that's a good one.

Speaker 8: That's a good one.

Speaker 3: We're gonna get done of honkeey talking, but let's see.

Speaker 8: Yeah, let's go download that. Yeah, very good, very good. And for those of you listening live on Saturday, we have Jack Lianos coming up from the Perimeter Jazz Ensemble. If I'm saying that correctly in the third hour, and we will close out this segment with this again. This is monkey talk truth. This is Eli left Eli, Thank you again, Thank you both.

Speaker 9: So far.

Speaker 1: It's been quite an adventure with you by my side.

Speaker 1: There's a part of me that goes on forever.

Speaker 10: And the willing.

Speaker 6: Two Lady shine, if I talk.

Speaker 16: Dude that we're just getting started, would you keep monkey keeping on with me?

Speaker 1: Because I try, try, try.

Speaker 16: To be opening hardy.

Speaker 1: I hope that's all right.

Speaker 3: Common And as I know, it's a long winding grow we pas and dangerous turns.

Speaker 1: The hardest part stay true. But I know when you know with me, that's all that I want to do.

Speaker 1: So far, we've built the Time Empire.