Busker of the Day: Matt Pless
- Mar 3, 2009
- 3 min read
Being raised on Indian reservation during the seventies, I found entertainment in books. One day, I came across a quote in a Jack Kerouac book; “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn…”Throughout my world travels, I kept careful watch for the ‘mad ones’,but it wasn’t until 2009, when I moved to New York City, that I found them. They were playing music on subway platforms, singing and bantering with audiences. They are buskers. These are their stories, which in turn, become our stories. This week, we catch up with Matt Pless in Washington Square; a modern day Dharma Bum, whose Dylan-esque lyrics and style, took me back to a time in the not so distant past.
TNBTA®: Where are you from? Matt: I was born in Baltimore Maryland. No, I have never been to a Ravens game, I don't like football or baseball, I don't drink Nati Boh and I have never met John Waters. LOL.
TNBTA®: Where have you busked? Matt: All over the place, Venice Beach California, Nashville, a bunch of places on the Northern East coast, Vermont, New Hampshire, Boston, Fort Collins Colorado, Humboldt County California and all over New York City. With an acoustic guitar and great songs you can plop down and perform pretty much anywhere in the world...so I do.
TNBTA®: How are the audiences different from place to place? Matt: An audience can differ not only from town to town, but from day to day and from location to location. I have had great luck in the past playing in Washington Square Park in NY. I think my style of music gets less attention in places like Union Square or Central Park. There’s something about Washington Square with this gritty folk music thing going on. It has changed a bit since the remodeling of it; it's just too perfect now; something in the air. I have noticed that people uptown in NY are too rich and busy to stop and throw you a dollar or listen to your song. New England has very gracious people in many of those states; I have had good busking experiences there. If you busk in a place where it is common to see a musician doing so, sometimes I think it makes people numb to it, they see it all the time so they don't really care. If you busk in a place where people are not used to seeing such things, sometimes I think they don't quite know what to make of you. But nothing is set in stone man. There is no definitive crowd reaction anywhere. This is day to day chaos we are dealing with; this thing called life. It can go in any direction or do 15 back flips when you least expect it.
TNBTA®: What motivated you to take on the streets? Matt: When you go on tour, sometimes you are waiting all day in some random town and you get bored. This happened to me in Burlington, Vermont in 2004 or so. I noticed people performing on the street and I was walking around with my guitar, a song popped in my head, so, I sat down on the ground and started trying to write this tune that was needling at my subconscious. As I mumbled words and melodies out loud, a woman walked by and said; “open your case and sing louder!" So, I did. Before I knew it, there was a crowd hanging around and I made 15 dollars in like 20 minutes. It can be a bit nerve racking at first to sing without a microphone in some random public place; but once you overcome that, it can be liberating.
When I first moved up to NY, I was renting a closet space in Queens for $120 bucks a month. I didn't have a job and didn't want one, so I started busking. I would take the A Train every day, and play around the city, then go to an open mic at night. I did this for almost 2 years, longer hours than say, a food service or a sales job, but you get to make your own schedule, you get to do what you love, and you get to meet people through your music and see how it affects them. You see a lot from behind a guitar sitting on the side of the road.
TNBTA®: How would you describe your music? Matt: There are wizards at the gates of the subconscious, if you play your cards right, they will give you wonderful songs. Go find your Wizard. How would I describe my music? Lyrical, thought provoking, catchy, relaxing, exciting, inspiring, depressing, beautiful, haunting and real.
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