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Matt Ellis is an Australian singer/songwriter with an acoustic folk/rock sound. Born in Sydney and raised in Hong Kong, he began singing in bands in high school influenced by punk and rock ‘n’ roll. Matt Ellis has now been a thriving solo artist for six years and has just released his third album, "Tell The People", in Los Angeles, California.
"Tell The People's" eleven tracks were recorded and mixed in eleven days with Ellis co-producing alongside drummer, Branden Harper. The pair chose to cut the majority of the album live in the studio, bringing great energy to every track. The new set of songs were written on the road and during a two month stint in Mexico's Yucatan, where Ellis continued to write and demo songs. The results attracted a brilliant line-up to the album sessions which included Nels Cline (Wilco) and Tim Young (David Sylvian, The Youngs) on guitars, Greg Leisz (KD Lang, Beck, Joni Mitchell) on lap steel, pedal steel and mandolin, Tim Luntzel (Bright Eyes, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris) on bass and Dave Palmer (Fiona Apple, AIR) on piano and rhodes. "Tell The People" was recorded and mixed by Ronan Chris Murphy at Veneto West Studios and launched at Hotel Cafe, late 2006. Matt is currently performing live in and around Los Angeles promoting "Tell The People".
2005 was an incredibly successful year for this restless talent. His website, mattellis.com, was re-launched hosting “On Your Way”, the first music video from Matt's self-titled album. The release of the video was supported by a hectic touring schedule in Australia, Canada and the USA, including a spot on the Cockatoo Island Festival on Sydney Harbour at Easter and showcases at Canada’s NxNE Festival and Harrisburg’s MMC9 in June. Matt stayed on the road through July and August playing a twenty date acoustic tour through New York, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has been based in LA since that time playing around town with many of LA’s rising stars, expanding his fan base even further.
Since releasing the debut album “Peel” in late 2000, Matt Ellis has rarely come up for air. While the reviewers raved, the audiences packed in and unashamedly screamed for more at his every show. “An intriguing debut from a striking talent” wrote Michael Smith, Editor of The Drum Media. Revolver’s Simon Tracy bluntly stated “The songs? Structured but raw and diverse. The playing? Fucking fantastic.” Other reviews from Juice, Rolling Stone and The Ozmusic Project affirmed that Peel was “an independent release of the highest quality by a brilliant, emerging Australian artist”. Having prospered around the local live circuit, Matt embarked on tour to reach audiences in the United States and Asia through 2001. He performed at venues such as CBGB’s Gallery and The Living Room in NYC, and The Gig and The Knitting Factory in LA where he was received with the enthusiasm of his adoring home crowds. Matt’s dedication and ardor reaped in the goods as tracks from “Peel” were played on radio nationally in Australia and College radio in the USA. His songs consistently ranked well on the interactive music charts of sites such as mp3.com, mp3.com.au and ninemsn where “Peel” sat in the top 10 for six weeks, while his own website was trafficked by an average of 10,000 hits per week! The self-produced music video for the title track “Peel” went to air on Foxtel’s Music Country, MTV, Rage and Ground Zero and although added to rotation in South East Asia, was soon banned after outraged viewers called in to complain that the clip incited reckless driving. The banning prompted an invitation from Channel [V] Asia for Matt to be interviewed and perform live at the station. Some months later, the second clip “The Cause” received similar exposure both locally and overseas.
By October 2002, prolific Matt had written another album’s worth of material and was ready to record again. With a production team consisting of long time collaborator (and a musical phenomenon in his own right) Tamlin, ARIA award winner Jonathan Burnside and himself, Matt and his inspired band laid down beds for 12 new songs in Sydney. As a taste of the forthcoming album, a double A-side single of “In This Life/ Where It Starts” was launched in August 2003 to a crowded house at Sydney’s Gaelic Club. Described by The Brag’s Single Guy as “A lovingly rendered piece of pop melancholia”, the release also scored Matt an endorsement with Cole Clark Guitars Australia, the preferred guitar of Ben Harper and Jack Johnson to name a few. His second album, “Matt Ellis”, was launched to a full house at Sydney’s Vanguard Hotel, to more rave reviews from local press. Zolton Zarvos from the Brag wrote, “As uplifting as it is powerful”, while the SMH described it as “Tortured rock topped with lashings of bluegrass and a dose of folk.” Tracks from the self-titled release enjoyed airplay on Australia's Triple J, Sydney’s FBi Radio, Newcastle’s New FM, 2NUR and countless other stations Australia wide. “Matt Ellis” is available in Europe through Glitter House and has also received airplay on College radio in Germany, Canada and The USA. Matt Ellis releases are now available through iTunes Worldwide and CDbaby.com. For more information visit www.mattellis.com and myspace.com/mattellisband.
