henry interview

7/27/2019 Henry Interview

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Interview with Matt Lefabvre by Henry Kinder

One Thursday afternoon in the fall of 2013, I walked into Middlesex Music

Academy located on Main St. of Middletown, CT. I was helped by the owner, Matt

Lefabvre, but I did not know he was the owner until I interviewed him a week later. He

has tussled blonde hair, and a short beard without a mustache. Matt is welcoming, yetunassuming, and the glint has never left his eye from the first time he picked up a pair of

drum sticks. Now, he tries to instill that youthful passion in other young people. I talked

to him after closing on a Thursday evening, a week after our initial encounter. He wore a

red button up, a black tie, cargo pants, and skate shoes. He is 29 and grew up watching

a movie that was released when he was 1, in 1985: Back to the Future.

Have you always lived here?

Yes, I have always lived here. I grew up in a town over, pretty much. Had a family early

and stuff like that. Settled in pretty early, you know. Nice place for a family.

What is your role here at the Middlesex Music Academy.

I am the owner. I used to work here way back when it used to be called Matts Music.

The owner retired, sold the business. That owner retired, and I got to take over.

The Matt of Matts Music was neveryou Matt...

No, the first ownerhis name was Robert Matterazo, and at the time in Middletown there

was Bobs stores, it was a clothing store, there was Bobs garage, there was Bobsfurniture. So he didnt want Bobs music. And I just happened to be a kid named Matt.

Worked there 10 years, and it was always a point of confusion.

Do you ever consider changing the name back to Matts Music?

Not really. Its not about me.

What would you say it is about?

Its about learning, its about music. Do you play an instrument?

Yea, Im a drummer.

Yea, me too! So one of the best things in life is that first instrument. That first drum set.

Coming to that first lesson, you know what I mean? Having that first epiphany of Oh, I

actually understand this, or Im actually doing this! So, Im really emotional when it

comes to that. A student, a kid, picking up an instrument for the first time. Even an adult,


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this is something I wanted to do all my life. I mean that first lesson is hugely exciting.

And so thats kinda what Im trying to bring. So thats kinda what Im trying to bring. To

get people into music, give them all the tools they need to succeed at that first

instrument. Also partly lessons, which is why were not the guitar shop anymore. Were

the music academy.

Off that idea of the magic of your first lesson, can you tell me a little bit about how you

first got involved with music, and what sparked your initial interest?

It was pretty mundane I guess. I have a brother whos 13 years older than me, so when I

was growing upI was born in 84 and so when I was 6, it was the early 90s. I think

when I was 8, Nirvana first came out and stuff like that. Even earlier than that, my older

brother was a big Motley Crue guy, big Van Halen, that kinda stuff. So I was really

young, listening to all that stuff. Everybody was. And then, my brother went away so I

got away from that, and then all of a sudden, one day, one of my friends was like I play

drums and I was like, Oh, thats awesome. I want to play drums. Weird, real weirdinspiration.

How old were you when you started playing drums?

I was 10.

Were your parents supportive of your musical endeavors?

Yea, absolutely, absolutely. My brother, my older brother, he was even more supportive,

because when I said I want to play drums, he was like Great, if you come up with halfthe money, then Ill the other half of the money down for your first drum set. He was,

excuse the pun, he was instrumentalin the process.

Was you favorite stuff to play as a kid that Motley Cru, that Van Halen rock stuff?

I mean, yea, thats the stuff that I grew up listening, but I mean Im a real child of the

90s. So Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, that kind of stuff is what I initially loved. And

I still love it, love to listen to it, thats what really got me going. Obviously musicians are

always developing and changing, and so as I got better, I realized that that stuff is kinda

easy. I got into a little bit of Jazz, I think Jazz is really fun to play, so I got into that a lot

more.

Who are your inspirations in the Jazz world?

Im a big Steve Gadd fan. But theres always Buddy Rich. Giant douche. Best drummer

ever. Again, a big Gadd fan. I really like the way he approaches different beats and

different rhythms. I like to a listen to a little bit of everybody, I really like the way he does


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that, and then Ill copy exactly what hes doing beat for beat, note for note. Ill add it to

my arsenal and hopefully get better.

You mentioned when I talked to you last week that you play whatever type of music

pays. Is it hard to make ends meet as a working musician? Do you think living where

you live makes it easier or more difficult to be a working musician?

Of course, absolutely.

Do you think that living here makes it easier or more difficult?

Well its tough to say. Because, Connecticut is a really small state. There is not a lot of

people out there really humping in the bars, making money. In the same respect, the

people that are, you have to be on top of your game. If you were to go to New York, or

whatever, its probably easier to get gigs, because there is more of a music scene. In the

same respect, its probably harder because theres much more competition. Its a weirdstate. Side note Middletown is probably one of the best music scenes, because the

promote. With the Buttonwood tree and all the coffee shops and stuff like that. People

come from New Haven to play the stupid coffee shop down the road. A lot of people are

big advocates, so Middletown is a good place to be for original music and creative

artists and things like that.

Do you think having Wesleyan in Middletown has any role in that?

Oh sure, absolutely. I mean, Im not old, but in the same respect, older people tend to be

stuck in their ways. Every year we get a new generation of young people who havedifferent ideas and things, and they really add to it. Not to mention the fact that

Wesleyan has some awesome music professors. World renowned guys.

To get to the main topic of this interviewYou also told me last week that you dont

watch a lot of movies, but that if you had to choose a film that has had an impact on

your life you would choose Back to the Future. What significance does Back to the

Future have for you? If any.

Its one of those movies that I could watch, and then immediately watch again. If I saw it

last week, I would still have fun watching it again this week. It hasnt changed my life or

anything like that, but its one of those things... Ive been watching it since I was born,

pretty much. It wasnt life changing or anything like that but its one of those constants in

my life.

Do you remember when you first saw it?

No. Again, I have brothers older than me, and it was on all the time anyways.


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I re-watched Back to the Future last Sunday because it had been a long time since I had

seen it. Seeing it through the lens of a musician: it has a really cool 80s rock

soundtrack, including Van Halen

Nothing but Huey Lewis...

Exactly! Huey Lewis and The News... Do you think your connection with the movie had

anything to do with the soundtrack?

Yea absolutely. A lot of movies to a great job at adding a soundtrack that provides

emotion, and theres a good way to do that, and theres a cheesy way to do that, you

know what I mean? And I think that they do a very good job, except for the fact that

there is too much Huey Lewis. And dont get me wrong, the songs that he does in there,

theyre appropriate and they create the right feel, you know what I mean? They set that

atmosphere. But, its freaking Huey Lewis.

One thing that I had forgotten about in the movie was a subplot about Martys guitar

playing and his band as being too loud to play at the school dance. It also opens with

Marty plugging a guitar into Docs massive amp, and being sent flying backwards after

strumming one chord. When you saw it for the first time, do you think you identified with

Martys character as young musician?

Oh yea of course, absolutely. Especially when you are 18, no matter how good you are,

no matter how much you suck, youre still the best person in the world because you are

the best drummer, you are the best guitar player. You know, its that feeling that this isawesome and because this is awesome, subsequently, Im awesome.

One of the most prominent and obvious themes of the movie is Time. What role does

Time play in how you think about your life?

Im kind of a science buff. I have a friend who is going for his PhD in astrophysics. I am

nowhere near his level, but I am very interested by the relation between space and time,

just bettering myself by learning what I can. I guess thats about it. The betterment of

self through knowledge, I guess.

Do you ever wish you could travel back, 30 years into the past?

I dont know what I would do, you know what I mean? They make Marty fit in; hes still

an outcast, but he fits in. I would stand out so badly. I would get lynched right away.

Burned at the stake. Absolutely. Theres nothing that I would do. What would you if you

go back in time? Bet on football. I dont know. Back to the Future II.


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You touched upon this idea of Marty as an outsider, and hes portrayed as almost a

rebel. Hes a skateboarder, playing guitar, do you think you identify at all with this aspect

of Marty?

Im not nearly as cool. I definitely like to beat to my own drum, but I wouldnt say in the

same respect that he does. Changing the world... Changing the time.

In the scene where Marty is playing guitar at his parents Under the Sea Enchantment

Dance he goes into this crazy solo

Johnny B. Good

yea the Johnny B. Good solo, it references The Who, Hendrix. And the audience is like

What is happening and he just says, I guess you guys arent ready for that, yet. If

someone came here from the future and played the popular music from 2043, what

would it sound like?

What would it sound like. I have no idea. I know I wouldnt be able to appreciate it. I

dont appreciate the stuff that happens today. Music is very much a giant progression.

Each genre, each song, each band builds upon those who came before, and you cant

just jump into a band and say, great, I like this band. You have to recognize their

influences, you have to know where theyre coming from. You have to have had

appreciated what has come before to truly understand and appreciate what theyre

doing, you know what I mean? From a musical sense. From an aesthetic sense, yea,

you can like something or not like something, but as a 90s kid, why do I love

Soundgarden? Why do I love Alice in Chains? Because I listened to Motley Crue andVan Halen, you know? I heard that become Metallica and Cobain came out and did

what he did. That whole progression is when I was impressionable so I got all those

impressions to appreciate what I appreciate. So listening to all that, I kinda skipped over

the Sunshine Gang. That progression of the rap music, when Biggie Smalls and 2Pac

and those guys were out I didnt pay attention to that because I was head banging to

S.T.P. So I dont really appreciate Jay-Z and those guys in the way that other people do,

because I didnt follow that progression. Now, that being said, I dont appreciate Taylor

Swift and Lady Gaga and other pop artists in that sense, but I have to learn their songs

and play their songs for those who do. So I appreciate them on that level, understand

that there are people writing these parts, composing these songs, you know, theres a

whole team behind these people. And I can appreciate that because I have to play it. All

coming back to music from the future, I have no idea. I dont think you can appreciate it

unless you follow that progression into the future.

For my final question, Docs character is very against the idea of learning too much

about the future because he believes people should follow their own destiny. Do you

believe this? Or is there something you would like to know about your own future?


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Thats weird, because I have been thinking about that a lot lately. Im a Star Trek fan too,

Next Generation. They talk about that, like the Prime Directive. Are you a Star Trek guy?

No, not really.

Ok, youll have to look this up to understand, but Im going to say it anyways. There

Prime Directive is to not interfere with what they call Primitive Cultures, right? So know

matter what you see, no matter what you do, you gotta let them do there own thing to let

them learn. I truly believe that. You are only going to learn from your experiences.

Somebody explained it to me someway where I could put you in a room with no

windows your whole life. I could tell you about a tree, I could show you a picture of a

tree, I could tell you how a tree smells and how the bark feels. You will never understand

until you actually go outside and actually see that tree, touch that tree. I kinda believe

that you have to have those experiences. Would it be nice to know, Hey, this is where

Im going to end up, or whatever? Sure. But, do I believe we should all? No, noabsolutely not. You have to experience, you have to learn that kinda stuff for yourself to

get to that point. I have been thinking about that with like whats been going on in Syria,

and stuff like that. I totally agree that were all humans, if youre doing something terrible

to other humans it definitely is our duty to step in and protect those who cannot protect

themselves, but, in the same respect, who are we to tell those people how to run their

country? So I dont have an answer, I dont have an opinion either way. Its one of those

questions that I go over and over, that I grapple with. Its tough.

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