The Easter Parade: “I think my love of songwriting came from listening to great songwriters such as Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Tom Waits, and Randy Newman”
The Easter Parade is the solo musical project of Northamptonshire singer/songwriter Matt Steven, and today marks the release of his debut EP, Raindrops on the Lens. A short and sweet five-track offering described by Matt as "a quiet little record," the small collection may be modest in size, but I'm completely smitten with every aspect of it.
Intrigued to learn more about the man behind the music, I was over the moon when Matt agreed to an interview! Chatting with us about the inspiration surrounding his debut EP, his love for legendary songwriters, and his unexpected desire to one day compose a "little opera", please welcome our new friend Matt Steven, AKA The Easter Parade!
Hey Matt, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! I'm really excited to introduce you to our audience.
Let's kick things off with an easy one...Who is Matt Steven, what first drew you to music, and how did you discover your passion for it?
Hi! Thanks for having me. Well…I grew up in Northamptonshire, in the middle of the UK. Music was always a natural path for me because I was surrounded by it growing up. A lot of my family were musicians or just really loved music, so I spent a lot of time listening to records and playing instruments.
I think my love of songwriting came from listening to great songwriters such as Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Tom Waits, and Randy Newman, and wondering how they managed to capture so much emotion in a short space of time.
There’s usually a great tale behind a name...How exactly did The Easter Parade come about?
The name came quite quickly, really - mainly because I needed something to put stuff out under. The EP was inspired by a host of black and white films, each one feeding into a different song. Roman Holiday was the spark for Sing Our Kids to Sleep, and Once Upon a Time in America (though technically in colour) influenced Yesterday’s Grace.
The first of all these inspirations was the movie The Easter Parade, so using that as the name just made sense because it seemed to capture the spirit of the whole project.
Raindrops on the Lens is your debut EP, and by the time this interview is published, it will already be making its way into listeners’ ears.
You've described the five-track offering as "a quiet little record." Do tell us more 😊
I think it is a quiet little record in many ways - both in sound and in scope. It’s just a small collection of songs I wrote, inspired by old films, that felt right to share with anyone who might want to hear them.
A lot of the EP captures live moments as they happened. That felt more natural to me - something I think I’ve maybe picked up from artists like Randy Newman. Adeline, for example, had been recorded properly, with overdubs, instrumentation, etc, but the original demo, which was just one or two takes singing at the piano, felt more fitting. So I went with that instead.
Sing Our Kids to Sleep is a track from the EP, but it was also the very first song you released to the world.
It's an incredible piece of music, and I'm wondering what made you choose it as the song to introduce yourself as an artist.
Thank you, I really appreciate that. That one just felt honest. For a long time, I didn’t put any music out because I wasn’t writing anything I felt was worth saying - so it was important that the first track I released meant a lot to me, both musically and emotionally. I think I knew when I heard the strings back, that it was the one to start the project with.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences - and if I peeked at your ‘Recently Played’ section right now, who would I find there?
I’m a creature of habit, so I’m not sure it’s changed much over the last few years. I tend to gravitate toward really good, honest songwriting - artists like Ron Sexsmith, Tom Waits, Randy Newman, The War on Drugs, The Blue Nile, Ed Harcourt, and The National.
For this project in particular, I also drew a lot of inspiration from film composers like Ennio Morricone and Thomas Newman. There’s something about the emotion and space and melody of the music that just moves me. Especially Morricone’s scores for Once Upon a Time in America and The Untouchables. It was important to me to try and implement some of this atmosphere into the project.
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
What would your life look like without music, and what fills your days when you’re not busy creating?
Haha, great quote. Though wasn’t it Nietzsche who also said, "what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger"? I’m not sure I completely agree with that one. Life would be very different on a day-to-day level without music - I guess I’d probably just take up fishing.
What, to you, is music’s role in society?
This is a difficult question because music has so many roles in both community and culture - whether it’s uniting people or connecting us to traditions and our past.
For me, music has always been about bringing people together or making people feel something.
Thanks again for chatting with us Matt! It's been great getting to know you.
Before we say farewell, what comes next for you musically - and I guess, in a broader sense, what do you hope your musical future has in store?
Thanks! Honestly, I’m not sure. No grand plans at the moment. I’m working on another EP, probably a bit more upbeat than this one. I’d love to do some music for TV or film - this project feels made for that. And who knows, I’ve always fancied writing a little opera just for the fun of it.
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