Today we speak with someone who isn’t just a guy from a band but actually is the band. Whoa, right? Matthew Bower has been making music under the mantle of Skullflower and a mind-boggling number of other aliases (Double Leopards, Sunroof!, Hototogisu and so on) since the early 80s. His output varies in texture and approach but is never less than 100 percent committed and explosively potent. It’s been a while since we last spoke to Matthew so we thought we’d see how he’s getting along.
Vice: Hey Matthew, for the uninitiated, how would you describe what comes out of the PA at a Skullflower show?
Matthew Bower: A big, gushing noise. A noise wall. A noise waterfall.
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You have made music under a lot of aliases and with a lot of outfits but, despite members coming and going and periods of inactivity, Skullflower seems fairly constant. Does it feel like being the closest thing you do to a “Matthew Bower band?”
I don’t know what’s most personal. I think I am trying to make a more universal statement.
The noise scene can seem pretty insular, like it’s catering to the same people who go to the same shows and squabble over the same cassette that is limited to three copies. Do you reckon that inaccessibility helps ensure the people who actually do get hold of one of your records or make it to one of your shows are the ones who will appreciate it the most, or do you secretly wish that a Skullfower jam was all over the radio?
Sometimes the punters, or victims, don’t really want this music so why even bother exposing them to something that they have no interest in? With the internet people can listen to bits of all sorts. I don’t want to be elitist but at the same time I don’t want a more generally entertainment-focused public debating what we do either.
Your back catalogue makes for a hefty body of work. What is it that still makes you want to get up and make noises all day?
I’m often fatigued and burnt out but music is an inexact science like cooking or alchemy. You throw stuff in and don’t know how it will come out so making music is the only lottery or game of chance I play on purpose. And I still love it.
JAMES KNIGHT
