GOOL / Gayz Of Our Lives

By Cator Sparks

Singer and songwriter Scott Matthew has received the golden ticket every performer dreams of, a movie soundtrack. Not only are his songs featured on the Short Bus CD but also Scott himself is a breath of calm in cool amidst the sextanctics of the hit film.

I first met Scott at the now defunct, yet infamous glory hole that was the Slide. I always knew I could always find Scott and his then boyfriend Jurgen Oeltjenbruns (http://www.oeltjenbrunsinc.com), in the darkest corner of the club or in the toilet for two. All I had to do was knock and it was like a homecoming! These days Scott is more prone to be performing in clubs than idling in the corner and to find out a little bit more about New York’s favorite new music man I gave him a bell to catch up.

Cator Sparks:
Hiya Handsome. Ready for some gayz gossip?

Scott Matthew:
Absolutely sweetheart, let me light a fag.

CS: So give the GOOL’s a little background on you.

Scott Matthew:
I grew up in Queensland, Australia. (How apropos!) I then moved to Sydney for a bit a bit. There I had a punk band for many years but when that fizzled I started tapping into what I really wanted to do, sing ballads. I was performing at house parties and clubs but nothing to exciting. Then I fell in love with a gorgeous American and when he moved to New York, I followed in 1997.

Here I was doing open mic’s and met one of my idols, Spencer Cobrin, who used to write and work with Morrissey. We started a band called Elvasow of which I am still quite proud. Then I started another band called Songs to Drink and Drive By. Those were all my original songs. Really minimal and beautiful.
When I got the job for Short bus I still had that band and my band members are in the film singing Language. Then Peter moved to Japan so I went solo. A dream come true.

CS:
How did Short bus happen?

SM:
I met John at Michael Potters house (who beat hair and makeup for Hedwig) and gave him a demo and there we go! He emailed me the next day saying I loved it and asked me to submit songs for the movie.
I wrote all the songs, except Language, for Justin Bond and the movie.

CS:
Why the sad song, darling?

SM:
Well we all got it in us. And some of us happen to express it! I’m not the saddest person on the planet but I tap into that creatively. It is easy to feign happiness but you can’t feign sadness. If you see someone crying on the street you know that is the most intimate part of them.

CS:
I love how Salon.com called your music Chamber pot, er, pop.

SM:
Yes, I quite like that description. The pop one, not pot, you scant.

CS:
Your boyfriend, Cameron Dailey, created the terribly amusing and saucy magazine Scum Bag. Do you help him out?

SM:
Isn’t it such an exciting magazine? I help him out a tad (ie –Delivery Boy!) and I’ve been featured but we keep our creativity separate. It’s a good thing.

CS:
What does Scott Matthew see in his magical crystal ball?

SM:
The future looks bright! I don’t have any distinctive plans but I am working on releasing an album and I have 3 options so far. Cross your fingers, GOOLies! But I want more! Big companies and bigger contracts. But for now, I’m excited to be in such a great place.

You can catch up more with Scott on his MYSPACE page!

GOOL says thanks to Cator and Scott!