Joe Matera Interview: Geisha, Rock Radio and Down Under

by Rick Landers

Joe Matera

Australian guitarist, Joe Matera, grew up in a rural town named Kyabram in Victoria, Australia. While immersing himself in his parents large record collection, he stumbled upon the now classic Beach Boys Pet Sounds album – a sterling moment that led to a music fix that has lasted decades.

His first attempt at string technology, was bass guitar. But, that didn’t hold his interest for very long and Joe found his way to a six-string.  He taught himself how to play and never looked back, picking up riffs from groups as diverse as the Shadows that featured the great Hank Marvin on guitar to the sultry Debra Harry from Blondie during the ’80s.

Matera would grab guitar magazines and read up on all of his favorite guitarists.  The big name publications,  Guitar Player and Guitar World, were his primary sources of information and sparking his interest in and enthusiasm for music journalism.  As a young rock guitarists and music writer, Joe claimed a lot of territory that included playing covers, ethnic and world music, metal, as well as his own original compositions.

He also found himself in an orchestra pit on more than one occasion for local stage productions, while building his own successful guitar instruction business during the day.

Broadening his musical resume, Joe began writing for several music websites in 2000, then landed an interview in a hard copy Australian guitar magazine. He would later get a break and get a gig writing for Total Guitar magazine that’s run out of the U.K.  As world-class performing artists would tour through Australia, Joe would find them and sit them down for some Q&A, while still keeping his licks up in various rock groups.

His latest music venture is playing in an Australian group called Geisha that hit the charts during the ’80s.  True to form, Matera’s punching out some heavy licks with the group both in the studio and with Geisha on tour.

Guitar International kicked off our interview with Joe with some ground level questions about the music scene in his native land Down Under.

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Rick Landers: Growing up in Australia, one would think there would have been a pretty raucous rock music scene going on – hard driving rock. How would you describe the music that not only came from outside the country that influenced you, but that was native Aussie rock?

Joe Matera: I was influenced by a lot of English and American bands but as for Australian music, when I was growing up, Australia had a thriving pub rock scene, a lot of the bands that came out of that scene like AC/DC etc were guitar driven and this played its own part upon my musical psyche.

A large part of why that scene and Australian music in general thrived, was largely due to a local television show Countdown – which was similar in approach to England’s Top of The Pops or American Bandstand. This show helped the industry immensely. My tastes were and still are varied. Though I predominantly love rock music, I also listened to everything from new wave, to metal to punk to even country.

Rick: Did you move straight to rock or did you move from acoustic folk tunes and then branched out to other music styles?

Joe Matera plays his Maton acoustic.

Joe: I started out with rock and a long the way had detours with everything from jazz to country to ethnic music, but my love of rock and guitar based music is what is at the center of my musical expression and passion. I certainly enjoy playing acoustic tunes.

Being self-taught I started out playing rhythm guitar, so learned chords and all, then I taught myself how to read music and learned melodies. This gave me a great foundation for my lead playing, when I began learning that aspect to the guitar. To this day, I still each day jam along to CDs, as I think its one of the best learning devices a guitarist can have and certainly the best tool for learning how to improvise and bettering oneself as a musician.

This is particularly useful with a lot of my “cover” gigs. Because of the amount of jamming I do, I can go out and play a gig without ever meeting the other musician or knowing the song. I’ve literally learned a song onstage and performed it with ease as if I’ve played it for years. And without having met or known the musician before the gig! I think that is one of my strengths, along with writing and playing melodic guitar lines and solos.

As a player, I play basically by ear and I think that though guitar tabs are great and useful, I think today’s guitarists rely too much on them to the point where they are using their visuals more then their ear and thus their musicianship suffers when it comes to a live improvisation situation. I’m definitely a live performer and player with a sense of melodic-ism and style rather than a technician of the guitar.

Rick: What gear did you start out with and what are you using now? Do you steer more toward a Les Paul crunch or glassy Strat tones?

Joe Matera

Joe: My very first guitar was some Japanese Les Paul copy and a Roland guitar amp. Over the years, I’ve owned and played a B.C Rich, a Fender Squier, and a Jackson. But since the early 2000s, I’ve primarily played a black Les Paul Epiphone. I still love the crunch of a Les Paul. O

On Geisha’s recent single “Birthday”, Gibson kindly loaned me a 1958 Les Paul Custom which had an amazing sound and tone. In recent months I’ve been drawn more to the tones of my Strat, though I have modified my Strat with a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker.

With my amp of choice – Laney (I’ve been a Laney user since the late 1980s), the tones I get are edgier than a normal Strat, the guitar rocks. Of course, Les Pauls I prefer to use in the studio but live, I’m alternating between a Les Paul and a Fender Strat. As for effects, I’m using a Boss Chorus, Boss Overdrive/Distortion and a Boss Digital Delay. And I use custom made Grover Allman guitar picks exclusively. As for acoustic guitars, I play Maton acoustic guitars exclusively.

Rick: Does Australia have its own veteran rock hero that we may not have heard about?

Joe: The only one that is well known across the globe is Angus Young. The other would be Tommy Emmanuel, aside from those too, there’s really no-one else that I can think of in my opinion. There is one other player, who I think is one of the most under rated players we have in this country. His name is Rick Brewster and he is from The Angels, the guy has a knack for writing great melodic solos that rock.

Rick: At some point, you became one of the better known music writers “down under”. Tell us about how that career evolved and how it has helped you open doors that you may not have been able to enter otherwise.

Joe: Being a music journalist has certainly brought its rewards and allowed me to tap into opportunities a normal musician would never have. At my level it has given me access to some of the best players in world and to some of the most important people in the industry.

This has helped my playing career in a way that it has provided me a doorway that otherwise would have been out of reach. But having said, at the end of the day though, no amount of contacts, or knowing the right people or all the help in the world would ever be of any benefit if you can’t deliver the goods as a musician, as a player.

In the end it all comes down to whether you, first and foremost have the talent. Once you have that factor, then you’re already half way there.

Rick: Who are some of the guitarists you’ve interviewed and who were some of the artists that you most enjoyed meeting and why?

Joe: I’ve literally interviewed hundreds of guitarists in my career. Everyone from cult figures such Eric Johnson and Mike Stern to the more popular mainstreams players such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Satch, Slash, Brian May, Joe Perry…the list is endless. I’ve also spent time with some artists on tour like with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. I found meeting and interviewing most of the artists I interview a pleasure.

Though I can’t say the same for Gene Simmons. There are so many stories and observations I’ve made that I could fill a book. And some day I will write a book about it all. The interview that stands out the most for me, and is a highlight, actually isn’t with a guitarist though. It was with a producer; Sir George Martin. I met him and his lovely wife, Lady Martin in an uptown Melbourne hotel and spending half an hour with such music royalty was beyond words.

Next to that interview, it would be hangin’ backstage with Lemmy from Motorhead. The guy is not only a true rock star but a true gentleman.

Rick: You’re now with a group called Geisha….is this a Kabuki theater kind of rock group or what?

Joe Matera (Left) onstage with PINK! guitarist Justin Derrico during soundcheck at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne in 2007.

Joe: No, we’re a mainstream Australian pop-rock outfit. One of Geisha’s biggest hits was called ‘Kabuki’, and the band’s debut album in 1985 definitely had a lot of “kabuki theater” imagery…Today the band is more guitar driven and edgy compared to the ‘80s version when its poppy synth-rock sound was compared a lot to bands such as Duran Duran.

Rick: How did you guys got together and how about telling us some of the highlights of the group’s performance experiences so far.

Joe: I interviewed the band’s founder/singer/songwriter Chris Doheny in 2007 for an article I was doing on Geisha’s debut album for Australian Guitar magazine. After the interview, I mentioned I was a guitarist and we got to chatting about similar interests.

Later we jammed together and realized we had a chemistry between us, and so started working together and before long, Chris asked me to join Geisha. And the rest is, as they say history. Thus far we have done quite a number of gigs, first in an acoustic format and since 2008, as a full electric band line up. Each gig and meeting the fans afterwards have been a highlight for me personally.

Rick: Building a career in music has got to be a challenge and one would think that a single focused approach no longer works, but musicians have to be all-rounders with respect to how they have to strategize making a living, let alone cashing in enough to focus only on their own interests. Your thoughts?

Joe: Absolutely, you still have to be single-mindedly focused but you also have to understand that this IS a business so you have to learn to treat it as such. Musicians have a tendency to not like the word ‘business’, or ‘commercialism’ for that matter.

But, those that survive and actually go on to make a living from this tough industry, have a strong business acumen underscoring it all. I’ve never been one for being elitist, I’m all for commercialism in such a way that the more people know and hear my music and work, the better it is. After all, isn’t a musician’s goal to want as many people to listen their music as possible?

Rick: One Australian artist that gained international attention is Tommy Emmanuel. Did he lay down any groundwork for others to learn from and follow?

Joe: In my opinion and in a general sense I don’t think so. But if you’re talking guitarists, he quite possibly did to some extent. In general the first Australian act to make inroads overseas were The Easybeats back in the 1960s.

I’m sure everybody would have heard of their most recognizable tune, ‘Friday On My Mind’. They laid the ground work and opened the gates for later acts like AC/DC, Little River Band, Men At Work, INXS…

Rick: Are the music scenes much different as you move around Australia?

Joe: Definitely, I live in Melbourne and it is considered – and is – the rock and roll music capital of the nation. Usually whether a band are from Sydney or Perth, and they have good following, to gain any sort of cred, a band usually needs to make it in Melbourne.

You’ll find as you move around the country, and the type of bands coming out of each respective city, varies. For example, Melbourne is mostly the harder edge, gritty, guitar, rock and roll bands are birthed, ie: AC/DC and Jet.

Rick: Anybody mixing up Aboriginal music with rock?

Joe: Over the years there have been a number of artists mixing Aboriginal music with rock. No Fixed Address and Warumpi Band in the 1980s were some of the early exponents. The most successfully commercially were Yothu Yindi In the early 1990s. In the late 1990s bands such as Nokturnl were even mixing nu-metal with aboriginal sounds.

Rick: Other than Maton Guitars, what other guitar builders in Australia do you think warrant some international attention? Major and/or Boutique builders.

Joe: There are a couple of boutique builders I think that are worthy of mention; Noyce guitars and Redback Guitars.

Rick: In the not so distant past, it was an extreme challenge getting signed to a record label and now with music downloads and indie labels, do you find it’s easier breaking the “sound barrier” to get you music heard around the world?

Joe: Yes, but there are two sides to every coin. I mean the internet has made it easier, but at the same time there is no gate keeper anymore. Every man and his dog now thinks, that with some home recording equipment and a computer, they’re suddenly producers or engineers!

It’s a little like video games, I mean just because you can play Guitar Hero doesn’t mean you’re now a bona fide guitar hero or can actually play the guitar?

Rick: We like to find out what projects are underway with guitarists and what we can expect next from them…What’s coming up with Geisha and/or Joe Matera?

Joe: I’m working on so many things all the time. I’m a workaholic, but I enjoy every aspect of life and work. By the time you read this, Geisha would have released our new album, titled Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: The Best of Geisha.

Also I have written and recorded an instrumental track that appears in a new upcoming Australian movie. Oh, and I also am hosting my own radio show in the UK that listeners can hear each week at Get Ready to Rock Radio.

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Joe Matera