Project Description

Interview With:

MATTHEW FLOYD JONES

Interviewer:Kelsey Hentschel

How did you first get into music? How did your career first begin?

I first got into music at 3 years old when my parents bought a tiny Casio keyboard and I surprised everyone by playing tunes I’d heard. Which is incidentally EXACTLY how Richard Carpenter first showed himself to be a musical prodigy in 1950s America. But unlike him, I didn’t then begin my career as a teen winning unsigned talent competitions and going on TV with my own jazz trio – I was actually 22, working in a gift shop selling postcards, when my housemate and I made up some ridiculous spoof songs and sang them on a barge, after which our comedy partnership Frisky & Mannish was born.

.

How do you find the balance between your everyday life and your musical one?

There is no balance – it’s all musical. I sing to myself instead of talk. I do impressions of Edith Piaf in the shower. I make up songs about everyday activities. I am often one step away from bursting into song on the street a la the Artful Dodger, and only social embarrassment prevents me. Music is everything.

.

You’ve got an upcoming Australian tour soon! For Richard Carpenter is Close to You, can you tell me a bit about the show?

It is a tragical comedy, or maybe a comical tragedy, about what it feels like to be stuck behind a piano all your life. It takes Richard’s public identity as a loose jumping off point and then goes way out into the stratosphere, and a lot of it is semi-autobiographical stuff about my own joys and struggles as a keyboard-playing sidekick to a fabulous female vocalist. It’s about frustration and ambition and personal demons, and also about gorge tunes and 70s fashion.

.

How did you come up with the idea for the show?

I wanted to do at least one ‘personal statement’ type show before retiring, but I was struggling to find a way in. I’ve always loved the Carpenters growing up, I know almost every song of theirs, and Richard’s music arranging was definitely a big influence on me, but it hadn’t occurred to me until recently that I could actually lay claim to being the closest thing to Richard Carpenter in the comedy cabaret world. And suddenly it all flowed – pretending to be a caricature of Richard helped me unlock loads of pathways in myself, and I’m really proud of the outcome.

.

While you’re in Australia have you got many touristy activities planned?

If I go outside in Australian heat for more than 15 minutes at a time, I come back looking like a shrimp from a bin. And I hate sand in my pockets. So no beach time for me. Luckily Melbourne (if I remember rightly) is much more civilised with its weather, so I will just drink all the coffees and window-shop all the vintage clothes and pretend to be a cool kid for a week.

.

Where do you envision yourself to be in your music career 12 months from now?

Just the one Grammy Award, that’s all I need, I’m not greedy like Adele.

.

.

Do you have any plans for 2018 re touring the show worldwide?

I have a UK tour booked from October to December which I’m thrilled about. And I would love to take it to America if I can, although I am STILL paranoid that Richard will find out about it and sue me, despite all my efforts to make it a clear parody that is not intended to slander or defame. So I have to go East Coast, not California.

.

If you could pick absolutely anyone to bring on tour with you, who would you pick?

Julia Child, or Meryl Streep in character as Julia Child. Or even Milk the drag queen as Julia Child. Just someone to do a fruity old lady voice and make delicious buttery egg-based dishes while I soundcheck.

.

.

Are there any venues or locations you aspire to play in the future? Any major goals or milestones?

Well, I’ve already done Sydney Opera House. Is there any higher to go? I mean, I should’ve stopped there to be honest! I don’t really set goals because I am terribly OCD about not achieving them exactly as pictured, so I find it better to think about ballparks instead. Current ballpark = make lots of money on a cruise ship and use it to buy a grand piano.

.

Will there be more shows in the future? Any hints?

Frisky and I have been plotting and planning. Nothing in stone, but lightly printed on parchment, I guess…

.

What kind of music did you grow up on?

Carpenters obviously. Apparently I loved your very own Kylie when I was 5 – had a cassette that I wore out. Later I found Kate Bush and that rendered everything else pretty obsolete. But mainly it was musical soundtrack albums: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, Lloyd Webber – and my favourite, The Music Man.

.

What’s one question you’d like people to ask you about your music?

“Where can I purchase and download it?” (Answer: HERE)

.

Matthew Floyd Jones in
Richard Carpenter Is Close To You
Butterfly Club
12 – 16 June @ 8.30pm 
Tickets $32 + BF
(concession & group discount available)

.

“The show’s stroke of genius lies in the characterisation of  Carpenter”(4 stars) – The Times (UK)

“A uniquely talented performer… Pitch-perfect parody’” (4 stars)– The Stage

“Parodied to perfection”…(4 stars) Broadway Baby

“Matthew Floyd Jones achieves something rare: sympathy for Richard, an aching sense of the sadness, but above all laughter at its ridiculousness – all achieved with a hugely commendable lightness of touch. (5 stars)– The Review Hub

.

Bound to sell out quickly, so do not delay, tickets for Matthew Floyd Jones in – Richard Carpenter Is Close To You run at Butterfly Club available now HERE

.

Website for  
MATTHEW FLOYD JONES go HERE 

.

.

AMNPLIFY – KH

Kelsey Hentschel

Studying a Bachelor of Business, specialising in Music Industry! At just 24, Kelsey has years of experience across multiple sectors of the music industry, gaining valuable insight into this world! Kelsey joined the AMNplify team upon returning to Australia from her time living in London. While abroad, Kelsey collaborated with Sony Music UK, and an array of independent artists. Kelsey has been globetrotting since the age of ten, coming up on twenty-four countries, and counting! It’s been a struggle for us to keep her in one place! Kelsey has a vast passion for music. As she would say, “Music commands ever facet of personality”!