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Matt Scannell, along with the rest of Vertical Horizon are out celebrating the 25th Anniversary of their breakout album, Everything You Want.  They will be playing Cain Park on August 7 on a great triple bill with Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Gin Blossoms.

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We had the opportunity to have a Zoom call with Matt to talk about his career, his break out album and his upcoming appearance at Cain Park.

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GD:  Hey Matt, I can’t believe it's been 25 years since your break out album. Where has time gone?

 

MS:  It’s mind boggling, it’s hard to even conceive it. At times it’s been a total slog and at other times we felt like we have been carried by our friends and fans.  It’s really been amazing and we get to celebrate this record that has completely changed our lives. 

 

GD:  It seems with a lot of artists the third album is the breakout album. Everything You want is your third album. What is it with the third album that really makes a connection with fans?  

 

MS:  That’s a really good question.  To be completely honest with you, I’ve never really thought about it that way as the third album being the one.  As a writer and performer, I didn’t have it together until the third one.  Some people out of the gate, they know who they are and they know who they want to be and what they want to be.  That wasn’t the case for me, so I had to put my 10,000 hours in.  On the one hand, we had really paid our dues.  It was six, seven years of work on the road and work in the studio.  By that point, you develop a pretty strong sense of who you are and you develop a sense of armor because this business isn’t an easy one.  It was a confluence of everything and I think it was just time.

 

GD:  When you were recording the album, did you have a feeling that this was going to be the one that broke the band?

 

MS:  We certainly were teed up to have the best opportunity.  We were with RCA records and it was the best time to be with that company and to be on the roster.  We had an incredible team with that company to help us.  Prior to that, we were just slugging it out on our own.  So we were in position to have more success than ever before.  We didn’t imagine we would have the success with Everything You Want that we had.  There’s no way.  We knew we had good songs and we believed in what we were doing.  I think you would have to credit the team of people that we were surrounded by greatly with the things that were achieved with that record. 

 

GD:  Sure!  The song, “Everything You Want” did that come quickly to you or was that something you had to work on  for a couple of months?

 

MS:  No.  Fortunately, every now and again they just come out of the clouds.  I don’t understand it.  I think the more you are in tune to just listening to the quietest voices inside of your head.  “Everything You Want” started to come to me at four o’clock in the morning.  I was asleep and I heard the mantra that starts the song. (starts humming) I thought that was pretty cool, I hope I remember that when I wake up.  But I’m not getting up now, why would you?  So I went back to sleep and fifteen minutes later I heard the acoustic guitar part.  That was great but it wasn’t enough to get me out of bed.  Then twenty minutes later I did hear in sort of complete detail the lead vocal, the drum pattern and bass guitar and electric guitar part that was presented to me on a magical platter. That set me up grabbing for paper and tape recorders and it was all analog and old school  because there were no phones back then. 

 

GD: That’s awesome.  A lot of artists have said that the big hits just sort of appear and they are done with them in twenty or thirty minutes.  A lot of people say that the song writes itself.

 

MS:  Yeah, that would kinda go hand in hand with the concept of being more receiving of inspiration.  Then there are ones that you have to carve, hammer by hammer.  “The Best I Every Had” was like that.  I heard the melody, then I had to make something out of it.  I had to work it.

 

GD:  There are so many great songs on this record of course you have the four singles, but I like some of the deeper cuts as well like “All of You.”  Do you have a favorite song from the album?

 

MS:  Yeah, I love “You Say.”  I think “You Say” is a really neat song and it’s indicative of the journey we took making that record. When we first started recording that song, we made it much heavier, lots of big electric guitars. It never breathed the way it did on the final record. We found a far more interesting way to present that song. Ed Toth’s drum performance on that song is one of the secret ingredients because he’s playing it like a rock drummer in the choruses but his performance in the verses is far more sparse and almost like a Phil Collins track.  There’s something less obvious, it’s sort of a left turn.  

 

I love them all and we’ve been playing the record live on our headlining shows when we can. The songs are like family members. “Give You Back” is another one for me.  The song is kind of small and somber.  You mentioned “All of You.” It’s a good example of me trying to get better at writing.  The verses are a different tonality. The bridge kinda comes out of nowhere, it’s the part that comes out after the second chorus.  It gives you a new refreshing perspective before we give you another verse or chorus.  When I hear that song, I hear myself trying to get better. 

 

GD:  Are there plans for a deluxe edition of Everything You Want, especially now that vinyl is making a resurgence?  Was the album ever released on vinyl?

 

MS:  It has been released twice on vinyl before, but that was years ago.  We’ve done a 25th Anniversary and we are celebrating that.  It's a translucent orange, which is cool.  And we are grateful for them doing that.  There’s not a bunch of out-takes of the songs.  I do have some demo’s which have circulated a bit.  For now, we are excited to have the vinyl repress and playing the whole record whenever we can. 

 

GD:  You formed Vertical Horizon at Georgetown University back in the early ‘90s.  When did you realize that you wanted to become a musician?

 

MS:  It wasn’t until I graduated from college.  My parents put me through school.  They paid for private boarding school and they paid for my college.  It was an incredible investment by my mom and dad and they did the same for my brother.  Being a professional musician wasn’t something I was necessarily planning on.  The deal that I made with my parents was I was going to finish my schooling and then we will see what happens.  After I graduated from Georgetown, I had been working in an adult daycare center and doing gigs in Washington DC on the side.  I called them and I said I wanted to give this a shot.  To their credit, they said, “How can we help?”  I remember it exactly.  You paid for Deerfield Academy and then to Georgetown University, I’m not going to grad school for psychology, I’m going to try and be a guitar player. Their reaction was, “How can we help?”  It was beautiful.  Since I picked up a guitar for the first time, it was the only thing that felt right. With a guitar in my hands, I feel that I can say what I’m trying to say, which I’m better at it now than I was then.  I feel a peace and comfort than I otherwise would walking around this earth.  

 

GD:  Who was the first artist you saw in concert and how did that impact you?

 

MS:  My first concert ever was Van Halen.  It was the Diver Down tour so what was that, 1982?  Eddie had broken his arm or broken his wrist so he was playing with a cast.  I remember seeing him play things on the guitar that I certainly couldn’t imagine any human being being able to play when they were in tip top shape, never mind having a cast on.  So it was truly mind blowing on every single level. The showmanship, the energy, everything you would expect from a Van Halen show.  It was one of the best thing anyone could see but especially a young, guitar loving kid.  That was my first concert, my second concert was Rush.  The Rush show was the one that really was like, those guys music was way more advanced.  I’m more like those guys than the David Lee Roth, crazy showmanship.  I’m more of a kindred spirit seeing those guys on stage.  If there was the slightest thread of connection with a performer on stage, I felt that connection with Rush.  Over time, I developed a friendship with them.  Deeply, deeply with Neil.  Rush is my favorite band of all time.  It was cool to see that and I think that was the Signals tour.

 

GD:  Van Halen is my favorite band so I know what you are talking about there.  Unfortunately I missed the 1984 tour, it sold out too quick.  But I saw the 5150 tour and everyone after that.  I saw Rush on the Hold Your Fire tour, it was mind blowing. What is your favorite thing about performing live?

 

MS:  One of my best friends in the world is Richard Marx.  He and I talk about it all the time like vitamins.  A lot of performance is like a shot of B12 and you get this energy.  You feel right and you are in your element.  I love songwriting and I love making records.  But I love that feeling of going out with your brothers and your sisters.  You walk out on that stage and there’s nothing you can’t do.  You are a unified force.  At this stage in our careers, when you walk out on stage it’s to a sympathetic audience, it’s people who are excited that you’re there. 
 

GD:  You are going to be playing in Cleveland Heights in a few weeks, do you have any memories of playing in Cleveland throughout your career?

 

MS:  One of the most surreal memories for me with Cleveland for a while was one of my guitars hung in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dude!  That’s the best.  Alan White’s drum kit and Tom Dumont from No Doubt and there’s my guitar.  Like, “what?”  I love playing shows in Ohio.  There’s just a joy surrounding live music performances in your state, we won’t slag off on other states, let’s just say more than other places.  We’ve always had great experiences in Cleveland. Whenever it comes up, “Do you want to play Cleveland?”  Yes! 

 

GD:  We love having you.  So, you are coming here with Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Gin Blossoms, what a great triple bill!  What can fans expect from the show?

 

MS:  I’m a huge fan of both of those bands.  Their catalog is pretty astounding.  I think people can expect from them, fantastic songs and great performances.  We’ve never toured with Toad but by all accounts they are a great bunch of guys and I’m excited to spend some time with them.  We’ve done a fair bit of touring with the Gin Blossoms and we love those guys. There’s something that happens over time when you’ve fought in the trenches and sort of rise through the ranks in the music business.  There’s less of a competition and more of a confidence thing, like we can do this and we can bring what’s needed.  We are the first band so we’re gonna try and get everyone excited and have a fun positive evening together. 

 

GD:  I saw you guys play with The Gin Blossoms a few years ago at MGM and there was another band as well, and you all came out and did a song together.  Are there any plans to do that again?

 

MS:  I think that might have been with Tonic.  Yeah, there are plans for something or somethings.  It’s not my place to say but hopefully people will see more than one of the bands out there.  

 

GD:  That will be great!  We love an all-star jam here in Cleveland!  Matt, I want to congratulate you again on the 25th Anniversary of your great album and I’m looking forward to seeing you here next month at Cain Park.

 

MS:  Terrific! Greg, thank you again for taking the time, I sincerely appreciate it.   Can I also steer people to our Instagram and Facebook?  Official Vertical Horizon is our Instagram and our Facebook, @verticalhorizon is our X/Twitter.  Verticalhorizon.com is where you can get our merch stuff and anything else and we are grateful for all the support. 

 

GD:  I will get this out and we will pack Cain Park for you guys!

 

MS:  Thanks so much!

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Make sure to catch Vertical Horizon, Toad The Wet Sprocket and The Gin Blossoms when they come to town on August 7th. 

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If you would like to watch the entire Zoom call, just click below! 

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