Name: Matthew Clements AKA Songbird
Current Project(s): Songbird – My solo stuff where I just do what I feel like at the time and I don’t have to deal with any lip from others.
Bad Dates with Djimi Meyers and Jace Hughes. Dirty boy rock n roll. Currently on hiatus.
Midnight Fistfight featuring Tony Clark, Whit Hamilton, and Kris Kinser. Southern-desert- prog-punk. Currntly on hiatus. May bring back as a 3 piece for a few shows in the future.
Currently have a project featuring some prominent local musicians in the infant stages. Will definitely be something to look for in the near future.
Where are you from? I grew up a feral young animal in the woods of Carroll County and attended school in the Grenada public school system.
Your music Style/Genre: Odd…Generally heavy. Not always metal though. Sometimes I do singer songwriter and super ambient acoustic stuff. There is a smidge of electronica and beat making in there as well.
What is your preferred approach to making sounds? I try to not focus too much on the process. Generally, if I’m feeling inspired I’ll spend hours upon days locked up with a guitar, bass, computer, whatever and woodshed. If I don’t feel inspired, then I’ll take extended breaks and not play for a while. I feel absence can be a big benefactor in the creative process. Otherwise, you can get caught in a loop of doing the same tired thing over and over.
Early music experience: I received my formal musical education while in the Grenada Bands program at GHS. I learned a lot and became a human metronome through the rigorous marching band shows we would have to learn. While in high school, I lived in a trailer behind a honky tonk. I was in the house band with the owner’s two sons. Jeremy and Justin McGregor played guitar and drums, respectively, while I sang and played bass if we didn’t have a bass player at the time. We would practice as a Tool and Metallica cover band then play rock and blues standards at night to make beer and cigarette money.
How has the music you create changed since the first song you wrote? Oh geez. It really hasn’t? I have never really stuck to a certain style enough to really consider anything a change. I’ve always gravitated towards heavy music because of the catharsis it brings me and a lot of the rhythmic motifs I utilize put me in a real primal place that helps me work through issues I have in my consciousness.
Why did you start playing? Every dude picks up the guitar so they can get laid. Y’all quit lyin’. xoxo
What are some of your favorite bands? The Dillinger Escape Plan, Tool, Between the Buried and Me, Nine Inch Nails, anything Danzig is in, Daft Punk, JT and the Tennessee Kids, Gojira, the Black Queen, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Kendrick Lamar, the Clash, Jodeci, SOAD, And the Echo, Cloudkicker, Behemoth, Deftones, Every Time I Die, Jeff Buckley, I’m gonna stop here.
Most memorable person you’ve jammed with: Tony Clark because he can read my f**ked up mind and he gets the things I’m doing.
Do you have a “day job”? If so, where? I help Kenny Cobbing manage the kitchen at Soulshine Pizza Factory during the day and I work under the amazing chef Erika Lipe at the Wine Bar in the evenings.
Aspirations: I just want to be a good dad, be rad, and have a good time man.
Got a website?
songbird.bandcamp.com
abandonplanet.bandcamp.com
BAD DATES on Facebok
Midnight Fistfight @ facebook.com/freekungfumusic 
