March 7, 2024

Theoretical Physics and the Internal Integrity of Music w/ John Matthias

Dr. John Matthias Speaks to T.L. Mazumdar

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From the early years when discovering his grandmother's violin in an attic changed his life, to later phases where balancing heavy-duty academia in theoretical physics with artistic pursuits rubbing shoulders with iconic artists like Radiohead and Thom Yorke, John Matthias's lens on the arts, its inherent integrity and the sense of alignment he recommends artists find with the same, is characteristic of one of the deepest minds I've had the honour and privilege to dig into.

I catch up with my mentor to chat about these themes and a few more.

You can watch the extended, unedited taping session here (includes additional footage and transcripts).

Download my FREE 'Artist Mindmap'. A one-page mini-masterclass for independent musicians.

Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com

Episode Notes / Text : www.tlwrites.com

Chapters

02:49 - Me, Academia and John

04:29 - Artists and ’Alignment’

17:00 - Introduction

17:29 - Should art be economically motivated?

21:39 - John’s Current Music

23:35 - John’s Violin

24:56 - Different Violin Sounds

27:11 - John’s Academic Career

27:58 - Flicker Noise

31:27 - Theoretical Physics & Music

37:50 - Finding your Audience

39:40 - Theory of Affordances

40:00 - Is an Artist a ’Business’?

44:40 - Defining ’Faliure’ and ’Success’

49:00 - The Artists Mindset and it’s Effects

49:58 - Thom Yorke: First Impressions

52:56 - Playing with Radiohead

56:00 - When Music has it’s Internal Integrity

57:00 - Thome Yorke Producing John Matthias

01:00:00 - Back to Academia & Physics

01:01:39 - Q&A: Do we need a music degree?

01:02:00 - Q&A: Do we need to be signed to a label?

01:02:25 - Q&A: Are ’barter deals’ between musicians ok?

01:03:48 - Q&A: Do we need conservatory training?

01:04:00 - Q&A: Different royalty rates for genres.

John Matthias

Musician/ Composer

John Matthias is an award-winning musician and composer working across cinema, television, games, contemporary dance, sound art installation and augmented reality and music.
He has released eight albums via Accidental, Ninja Tune, Nonclassical, Village Green, Sony and Welfare State and Cognitive Shift and he has collaborated with many artists including Radiohead (The Bends) and Coldcut (Man in a Garage). His music has been remixed by many artists including Thom Yorke, Matthew Herbert and Jem Finer (The Pogues) and in 2008 he won the UK PRS for Music Foundation New Music Award (The 'Turner Prize for Music') with Jane Grant and Nick Ryan for 'The Fragmented Orchestra' which led to the development of The Neurogranular Sampler Audio Unit and the 'Plasticity' sound installation at the BFI and Google Campus Building, London. He has performed Internationally at many venues including The Royal Opera House London, The Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris) and Le Poisson Rouge (New York City) and he has contributed music to 12 feature film scores.

As Associate Professor at The University of Plymouth UK for 15 years, he was one of 14 PI's on the €4.1 million EU Marie Curie Project 'Cognovo', which explored Cognitive Innovation from an interdisciplinary perspective and he has also initiated funded projects with The Wellcome Trust, Arts Council England, EPSRC and The PRS for Music Foundation. He is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Sound Art (2022) and has a PhD in Theoretical Physics from The University of Exeter (UK).