The Scene - September 2000
Local Profile
By Tom Breuer
Ask any musician and he or she will tell you that finding one's voice can be a long, arduous journey. But getting heard- that's the real challenge.
Oshkosh's Matthew Golay is no different. The pop/folk solo artist is trying to make his way in the local music scene with a repertoire of almost exclusively original songs - a tall order considering most peoples thirst for pop cover tunes around here.
"It's a huge hurdle to get over," said Golay. "You just kinda have to go in there and not let it get you because you know there's a certain song in your set list that you can play and the audience will go nuts, but you have to wait a while before you get to that song until you have to."
Of course, Golay has already leaped a few hurdles to get where he is. The 25-year-old singer and songwriter had just one guitar lesson before forming a punk band at the age of 13 with some of his friends. He later dabbled in heavy metal. And from there, apparently, it was a logical step to artistic folk. Well, it sounds logical enough when he explains it, anyway.
"I think I just got bored with metal," said Golay. "I just wasn't an angry youth anymore, and I just kinda mellowed out and I loved the sound of (acoustic music). I just loved playing it. I still have some angry songs every once in a while, but you don't have to crank up the distortion and scream real loud to show your anger anymore."
Indeed, when he talks about his influences, neither Black Sabbath nor the Sex Pistols are mentioned. He's more likely to cite singer/songwriters like James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, or Jewel.
And the music is more about everyday adult life these days than teen angst or life in hell.
"Usually when I'm writing a song it just comes out of something that happened over the course of the day or that week that I was thinking about," said Golay. Usually my songs, probably a good 70 percent of them, have something to do with what happened in real life,and music is kind of a healing process."
As Golay continues to mature - both musically and as a person - he does cling to some of the past however.
"When I write a song it's to help me through something or to express something, and even though some of those feelings go away, it's nice to have those songs because everyone goes through the same feelings, and if it can help someone it's done its purpose."
Golay has played extensively throughout Oshkosh and the Valley. He hosts open mics every Sunday night at CBC's in Oshkosh, and every Thursday night at the D.B. Paddock in Oshkosh. His album, "Life Habit", is available for free at all his shows.
And while he's not cashing in on the recording, it does seem to be paying dividends. He says his music is catching on fast, and the number of people sitting on their hands waiting for cover tunes is waning.
"Now when I play original music, I actually see people singing along, and that's really inspiring to me," said Golay. Two of Golay's songs, "Crazy" and "Forgotten Tears," will be featured on an as-yet-untitled compilation CD soon to be released by Hardknocks Records, and his songs have received airplay on stations in Madison and Oshkosh.
But while he's starting to catch on locally, he envisions a day when he breaks away from the area and finds a wider audience. "I've been getting really good response from the college crowd, and even the older crowd," said Golay. "I'm going to give the college scene around here another year, and give me some more time to save some money and take a year and travel the states."
Still, Golay sees promise for our area when it comes to original music, and he hopes he can be a part of an awakening of sorts.
"There's a lot of local musicians around here that are really good, and there are a lot of cover bands that are really good too," said Golay. "But the original music scene, I think people are starting to appreciate it more, and I'd like to see it built up to the point where this area starts getting some attention."
