Since winning the Road To V competition in 2008, Matt Trakker has had a reshuffle. Five members have been reduced to three (Matt Rider - Vocals/Guitar, Eoin Keeley - Bass/Vocals, Daniel Bodie - Drums) and by all accounts the change has worked. As Matt explains "Playing as a three piece gives it a very different feel and we've had really positive feedback about it. We want to create a good, full, interesting sound without being as guitar heavy as we were."
Matt Trakker have been recording with an eclectic range of producers too. There have been a number of sessions with the hip-hop producer A.S.H which has created some great results, as well as sessions with more conventional producers, all the while demoing new songs at home. The emphasis really has been put on creating the sound the band want, not just being satisfied with the sound that just 'happens'. That sound starts somewhere around the melodic rock of early Foo Fighters, takes a short detour at the melancholy folk of Bon Iver and finishes with the instinctive song-writing of Jackson Browne. Lyrically, Matt Rider’s wry observations are honest, humorous, and heartbreaking in equal measures with a distinct lack of pretentiousness.
After attracting interest from Atlantic Records soon after Matt Trakkers V-Festival performance (their third ever gig) it was agreed that at such an early stage in the band's career, a major label deal was not the way to go, with the band admitting that they weren't set on a line-up, let alone a definite direction. As Matt puts it, "Signing to a Major at that stage would have been like marrying a girl after your first kiss. You'd have to be pretty mental."
2009 promises to be a big year for Matt Trakker. With the sound evolving and maturing, the band are in talks with a number of labels and have continued to hone their songs up and down the country and as Mark Beaumont of the NME puts it “[tear] the place up with rampant self-belief and pummeling tune frenzies.” Matt Trakker will once again be playing V-Festival this year with the band taking to the stage to continue what they started last year. Which bears repeating was only their 3rd ever gig. Which is a bit crazy...
