Bio:
Matt Pless is a musician who can't read music, an artist who can't stand most aspects of the pretentious art community, and a writer who usually has fairly poor grammatical skills. All that aside, he creates some pretty cool stuff.
Combining elements of folk, punk, pop and roots rock, Matt Pless can lyrically turn a phrase with the best of them. Known for his engaging and thought-provoking witty lyrics, his music spans topics from love and loss to social commentary, from drug abuse to friendship…even ethereal train of thought abstractions.
Coffee shops, clubs, basements, living rooms…wherever there are people who want to hear his music, Matt will accommodate. He books his own tour dates and along the way has managed to share the stage with Maroon 5, Fallout Boy, Ani Difranco, David Amram, Rilo Kiley, Alkaline Trio, NOFX, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Ghost Mice, Ramshackle Glory, The Queers, Warren Haynes, Ryan Harvey, Bad Brains, and others. A consummate performer with a high energy stage presence, Matt’s universally relatable songs will leave you talking, thinking…and thirsty for more.
As the lead singer/songwriter for his high school punk band, 3 Prong Outlet, Matt released three albums of original pop punk songs and toured with the band up and down the East Coast and out to the Midwest. When he and the band members went their separate ways, it was not a difficult move for Matt to venture out on his own, releasing his first solo album “Requiems for Wishing Wells”. This saw his lyrical and songwriting prowess advance far beyond the realms of his previous ventures. He was tackling more complicated topics with the crowd-pleasing “What You Will”, “The Joker and the Fool”, and “The Gypsy Life” earning the young man from Catonsville, MD a reputation as a lyricist to watch. He followed the release with his first 3-month U.S. tour!
When Matt set out for NYC for the first time, he spent his first night playing in the subway for tips. He continued to play for change and added Washington Square Park to his busking list. As a result of his street singing, he was approached for inclusion in “The Noise beneath the Apple”, a book documenting buskers and street performers in New York City. His song, “New York Monday” is featured on the book’s accompanying vinyl compilation. Eventually, his talent led him to play many of the top songwriter venues in the Big Apple, including The Sidewalk Café, Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Café Vivaldi and The City Winery.
With the release of his second solo effort, “Alarm Clock, Time Bomb”, Matt went right back out on the road for a full summer of touring circling the country playing house shows and street corners from coast to coast. His songwriting structure and poetics were reaching new heights and he began to add finger picking to his repertoire of guitar techniques. “Where the Horses Won’t Go” and “Flowers in the Furnace” are two hypnotic poems from that album that question the world and its social structures. It also includes the biting Woody Guthrie style inspired commentary on the modern technological age called “Talkin’ Information Blues”. Another cut, the nostalgic “In the Past Tense”, earned him a finalist spot in the Great American Song contest. Carolyn Hart, (widow of songwriting legend Bobby Hart of Boyce and Hart) said of it, “Love the song…this really spoke to my heart”. He was now receiving accolades from other sources including the world renowned folk music impresario, Izzy Young who said “ [Matt] has something. It’s good! How can lyrics so meaningful come from somebody so young?”
The release of Matt’s third solo album saw additional growth to his writing ability. An analysis of the ups and downs of love and addiction, “Ballerina” offered songs destined to be classics such as the shadowy after hours world of chemical induced New York night life portrayed in “The Crayon Song” , the upbeat and humorous marijuana laced sing-along “Glassy Eyes” and the thoughtful ballad of lost love called “Tomorrow is a Word We’ll Never Know” which was covered by female country stylist, Kel C. (This upbeat country version became one of her most popular tracks, showing just how universal and flexible Matt’s songs can be.)
Matt continued to tour relentlessly, supporting Irish folk duo “Heathers”, traveling to Indiana to play at a popular underground punk gathering called “Plan it X Fest”, and spending the bulk of the spring and summer of 2011 broadening his fan base in as many states as he could. Early that fall he ventured to Zuccotti Park in NYC during the Occupy Wall Street protests to play some music there and ended up becoming the impetus behind a benefit compilation cd called Occupy This Album. He contributed his original composition “Something’s Got to Give” to the cd which also included tracks performed by artists like Joan Baez, Crosby and Nash, Debbie Harry, Tom Morello, Thievery Corporation, the Guthrie Family, Yoko Ono, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith and Willie Nelson, among others. Matt also created the cover art for the album, a recognition of his lifelong talent for drawing and the visual arts. In the months that followed, he appeared in national music publications such as Rolling Stone, Grammy.com, Relix magazine, as well as The Huffington Post, interviews in Forbes magazine and an appearance on the Tom Hartman show.
In late February of 2013, Matt released his first 7 inch record on the newly formed Fake Art Records label. This vinyl, soon to be collectors item (only 300 copies were pressed) included the songs "Dirty Needles' and "Of Love and Loss". Around the same time, a Canadian indie label called You Look Like Shit Records released a cassette tape collection of acoustic tracks entitled "Tumbleweed". It included alternate versions of some older songs, as well as many new compositions, such as the anthemic crowd favorite "Ashtray" and a melodically dreamy tune called "the Book of You and I". To coincide with these to releases, Matt set out on a 3 month tour of the US that March.
Matt has performed at major festivals such as The Hot August Blues Fest, Clearwater Folk Festival, and Great South Bay Music festival in Long Island New York. He was also chosen as one of 25 New York musicians
to be a member of the much sought after slots in MUNY (Music Under New York) subway performance program. He is also one of the featured songwriters in an upcoming independent film about Greenwich Village folk music from the ‘60s through today called “Bleeker and Macdougal”.
Matt continues to tour as often as he can. With a pocket full of songs, stacks of as yet unreleased material and a growing fan base, he is poised to leave his mark as one of the fine songwriters of our time.
Combining elements of folk, punk, pop and roots rock, Matt Pless can lyrically turn a phrase with the best of them. Known for his engaging and thought-provoking witty lyrics, his music spans topics from love and loss to social commentary, from drug abuse to friendship…even ethereal train of thought abstractions.
Coffee shops, clubs, basements, living rooms…wherever there are people who want to hear his music, Matt will accommodate. He books his own tour dates and along the way has managed to share the stage with Maroon 5, Fallout Boy, Ani Difranco, David Amram, Rilo Kiley, Alkaline Trio, NOFX, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Ghost Mice, Ramshackle Glory, The Queers, Warren Haynes, Ryan Harvey, Bad Brains, and others. A consummate performer with a high energy stage presence, Matt’s universally relatable songs will leave you talking, thinking…and thirsty for more.
As the lead singer/songwriter for his high school punk band, 3 Prong Outlet, Matt released three albums of original pop punk songs and toured with the band up and down the East Coast and out to the Midwest. When he and the band members went their separate ways, it was not a difficult move for Matt to venture out on his own, releasing his first solo album “Requiems for Wishing Wells”. This saw his lyrical and songwriting prowess advance far beyond the realms of his previous ventures. He was tackling more complicated topics with the crowd-pleasing “What You Will”, “The Joker and the Fool”, and “The Gypsy Life” earning the young man from Catonsville, MD a reputation as a lyricist to watch. He followed the release with his first 3-month U.S. tour!
When Matt set out for NYC for the first time, he spent his first night playing in the subway for tips. He continued to play for change and added Washington Square Park to his busking list. As a result of his street singing, he was approached for inclusion in “The Noise beneath the Apple”, a book documenting buskers and street performers in New York City. His song, “New York Monday” is featured on the book’s accompanying vinyl compilation. Eventually, his talent led him to play many of the top songwriter venues in the Big Apple, including The Sidewalk Café, Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Café Vivaldi and The City Winery.
With the release of his second solo effort, “Alarm Clock, Time Bomb”, Matt went right back out on the road for a full summer of touring circling the country playing house shows and street corners from coast to coast. His songwriting structure and poetics were reaching new heights and he began to add finger picking to his repertoire of guitar techniques. “Where the Horses Won’t Go” and “Flowers in the Furnace” are two hypnotic poems from that album that question the world and its social structures. It also includes the biting Woody Guthrie style inspired commentary on the modern technological age called “Talkin’ Information Blues”. Another cut, the nostalgic “In the Past Tense”, earned him a finalist spot in the Great American Song contest. Carolyn Hart, (widow of songwriting legend Bobby Hart of Boyce and Hart) said of it, “Love the song…this really spoke to my heart”. He was now receiving accolades from other sources including the world renowned folk music impresario, Izzy Young who said “ [Matt] has something. It’s good! How can lyrics so meaningful come from somebody so young?”
The release of Matt’s third solo album saw additional growth to his writing ability. An analysis of the ups and downs of love and addiction, “Ballerina” offered songs destined to be classics such as the shadowy after hours world of chemical induced New York night life portrayed in “The Crayon Song” , the upbeat and humorous marijuana laced sing-along “Glassy Eyes” and the thoughtful ballad of lost love called “Tomorrow is a Word We’ll Never Know” which was covered by female country stylist, Kel C. (This upbeat country version became one of her most popular tracks, showing just how universal and flexible Matt’s songs can be.)
Matt continued to tour relentlessly, supporting Irish folk duo “Heathers”, traveling to Indiana to play at a popular underground punk gathering called “Plan it X Fest”, and spending the bulk of the spring and summer of 2011 broadening his fan base in as many states as he could. Early that fall he ventured to Zuccotti Park in NYC during the Occupy Wall Street protests to play some music there and ended up becoming the impetus behind a benefit compilation cd called Occupy This Album. He contributed his original composition “Something’s Got to Give” to the cd which also included tracks performed by artists like Joan Baez, Crosby and Nash, Debbie Harry, Tom Morello, Thievery Corporation, the Guthrie Family, Yoko Ono, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith and Willie Nelson, among others. Matt also created the cover art for the album, a recognition of his lifelong talent for drawing and the visual arts. In the months that followed, he appeared in national music publications such as Rolling Stone, Grammy.com, Relix magazine, as well as The Huffington Post, interviews in Forbes magazine and an appearance on the Tom Hartman show.
In late February of 2013, Matt released his first 7 inch record on the newly formed Fake Art Records label. This vinyl, soon to be collectors item (only 300 copies were pressed) included the songs "Dirty Needles' and "Of Love and Loss". Around the same time, a Canadian indie label called You Look Like Shit Records released a cassette tape collection of acoustic tracks entitled "Tumbleweed". It included alternate versions of some older songs, as well as many new compositions, such as the anthemic crowd favorite "Ashtray" and a melodically dreamy tune called "the Book of You and I". To coincide with these to releases, Matt set out on a 3 month tour of the US that March.
Matt has performed at major festivals such as The Hot August Blues Fest, Clearwater Folk Festival, and Great South Bay Music festival in Long Island New York. He was also chosen as one of 25 New York musicians
to be a member of the much sought after slots in MUNY (Music Under New York) subway performance program. He is also one of the featured songwriters in an upcoming independent film about Greenwich Village folk music from the ‘60s through today called “Bleeker and Macdougal”.
Matt continues to tour as often as he can. With a pocket full of songs, stacks of as yet unreleased material and a growing fan base, he is poised to leave his mark as one of the fine songwriters of our time.
