Trenching it up

Look at his cute face. Ain’t he sweet?

Matt Webb tugs Regina’s heart strings

Article: Robyn Tocker – A&C Editor

[dropcaps round=”no”]I[/dropcaps]f you’ve never heard of the Canadian band, Marianas Trench, you are missing out on some great music. The band as a whole is stellar; and separate, the members keep pumping out the tunes. Matt Webb, the guitarist for Trench, does his own thing on the side when the band isn’t busy in the studio or on tour. I got the chance to talk with him about his career in music and even sat in on his concert at The Exchange on March 16.

Every musician starts somewhere, so what did Webb begin his musical love affair with? The piano, or course.

“I was forced at gun point by my parents to take piano,” Webb jokes. His knack for piano led him to pick up the guitar. He says the piano is a great base for any musician.

“If you can play piano and learn the technique behind it, you can virtually pick up any instrument after that.”

By surrounding himself with music, Webb met the vocalist of Marianas Trench, Josh Ramsay, in high school. Both having such an obvious “music bug,” the boys decided to create the band. He refers to Trench as a “tight knit family.”

“It’s awesome. I don’t know how else to put it,” says Webb.

Comparing Webb’s solo work to what Trench does, the two are polar opposites. Webb says his solo album is really stripped down, more of an organic sounding record based around the guitar. It’s another creative element Webb just loves doing.

His new album Right Direction is based on his experiences in the last couple of years. There’s a running theme of being away from home and longing for family and friends, says Webb. But that’s just how he interprets his music.

“The nice thing about music is it doesn’t have to mean the same thing to people who are listening to it as it means to me.”

The concert itself was a blast. Jessica Lee was the first act to hit the stage with some stellar pop tunes. She got the crowded room off on the right foot. She was up on stage dancing and really playing it up with her fellow bandmates.

Fake Shark – Real Zombie followed. Suffice to say, they were an…interesting group. While I couldn’t hear much over the screaming 14 year olds, what I did hear made me wish Webb would get on stage faster.

Finally, the man of the hour made his grand appearance. His sound was different than the others. While it was still energetic and got the crowd going, I got the feeling this was more alternative than the others, which suits me just fine.

Along with playing great songs from his new album, Webb had an “air piano duel” take place on stage. The lead singer of Fake Shark also made a guest appearance with the band.

Overall, it was a great night. I got a CD signed by Jessica Lee, saw our resident graphics editor go on a selfie rampage, and bantered with a bartender. You can’t get much better than that.

[button style=”e.g. solid, border” size=”e.g. small, medium, big” link=”” target=””]Image: Emily Wright[/button]