Matthew Good: The MMVAs, The Regina Incident And More

12/04/00 11:00am

by Aaron Brophy (CHARTattack)

We've said it before, we'll say it again. Matt Good is one of the most fun guys in Canada to interview — mainly because he doesn't give a shit. We're sure all you readers are aware of the stuff he said about Our Lady Peace and Creed and whoever, but he talked about a ton of other stuff, too. Here at ChartAttack we're not ones to waste a good tongue-lashing, so here's a bunch of other junk he ranted about in an hour-long interview done while Good was taking a break from working on his forthcoming record, The Audio Of Being. Enjoy.

You seem to be getting banned everywhere.
Good: I'm not banned from your magazine for life? C'mon, let's set a precedent here. I'm on a roll.

Can't do that. You're our bread and butter.
Proving only that certain members of your staff are on drugs.

How were the MuchMusic Video Awards this year?
For the four of us it's kinda funny — we don't ever know. I mean the MMVAs were a prime example. The whole night was summed up for me when I went to the after-party for 12 minutes and then I left. It bothers me really, but I think it's kind of cool. I think the thing I love about us in the end is that we've got such a sordid reputation. I love it.

It's getting tired, but do you want to explain the shoe incident more clearly.
I talked to Jeff Martin [of The Tea Party] about the whole Regina thing: It was the second last song. Somebody hit me in the head with a shoe. They missed me with the first one. They were trying to hit me. After the day I had backstage with the whole KKK and everything I said, "You know what? Fuck this shit! Am I gonna get it in the eye or something? I'm not having fun here." If this was fun, if the crowd would've been wicked where it was one of those nights where the crowd was ape-shit and over-the-top, I would have stayed out there for sure if I was having a good time. People were getting hurt 'n' stuff and it just wasn't cool — so I left. I talked to Jeff about it and went from what it was to a fucking gravestone being ripped out of the ground by some unforeseen force of nature and flying halfway across the province and hitting me in the head. It turned into this whole thing, and it totally wasn't.

Do you think that night is sort of symbolic of a greater problem in live music?
It's really strange in this day and age. I started playing music at the tail end of an era and the start of a new one where live audiences have changed completely. You owe them all this shit and it doesn't matter if you've got blood coming off your head or not. And that's just not cool, dude. I've seen a million fucking bands y'know — Venom — who people would consider far more heavy than myself. Shows, like, that were far safer than half the shit I see go down when we play or when anyone else in this country, whether it be Ed[win] or The Tea Party or whoever. And it's just like, "Why?" It just doesn't make any sense to me.
You just put your head down and forge ahead and hope people will wake up. The whole thing for me is that it took me two shows to get over it. I walked onstage and I wasn't thinking about playing, I wasn't thinking about what I was doing. I wasn't thinking about being impassioned. I was thinking, "Something's coming at me, where's it coming from?" I can't play rock shows like that. That's no fun. I mean, there's 15,000 people there! That's not cool.

For better or worse, you're now one of the few Canadian artists who actually can provoke an audience, much like a Marilyn Manson of sorts.
This country kinda sorely lacks it too. And one of the funny things I always find about it — especially in the Prairies, though not being belligerent just towards the Prairies — the press out there have their heads so far up their ass. You're talking about some place [that] takes itself so fucking seriously that they won't allow Marilyn Manson to play. What fucking fool can't see that as just the KISS of the '90s?!

It's a joke. He [Manson] knows it's a joke. He'll admit it's a joke. It's a sickness that we have on this continent, that the government and the media believe the best way to educate the public is to not have them experience things, to make their own judgments. When they treat the public like they're stupid, they'll be stupid. If you expose them to the elements, they'll weather them far better and they'll teach their children to do the same — but that doesn't happen.

Go to PART TWO of this interview.