Matt Mays home sick

Dartmouths very own ragged glory, roots-rocker Matt Mays, says its hard being away from home.

Ive been living in New York for the past while for mostly business-related reasons. With the release of the new disc and the signing to the U.S. label, theres too much going on down here for me to be traveling back and forth all the time. So Im here until things slow down.

Yeah, Im homesick for sure and Im really looking forward to getting back for the holidays.

The ex-Guthrie will have much to celebrate this year. With the recent release of his first solo work, When the Angels Make Contact, Mays admits that hes anxious to take some time off.

Its been a busy couple of years. The last record did so well that we toured non-stop across North America, Europe and Australia. Then I jumped right into this record, writing and recording and doing all the visual stuff for the accompanying film.

The soundtrack to his film project of the same name, When the Angels Make Contact, is a bold step for the Juno nominee.

It was important for me to push myself to grow as a composer and a player. Aside from the standard style of songwriting, I experimented with some hip-hop and electronica. Im very happy with the way it turned out. Theres a dark intensity there that I find very appealing.

Much of the new disc was influenced by being on the road, but theres a lot of my hometown in there as well. Part of the recording was done down at Kelleys Vinyl Palace. One track, The Dartmouth Soundsystem, even features my local crew catching a funky vibe. It just goes to show you can take the boy out of Dartmouth, but you can never take Dartmouth out of the boy.