International touring artist and award-winning songwriter, Matt Epp has unveiled his new single, “Made For Love”.
The single was written on a bright, sunny day last winter. While Matt was staying at a friend’s converted old rural church dubbed “the Art Church,” sunlight was streaming through the tall stained-glass windows in the chapel.
“I remember spinning around the room, playing 12-string guitar and smiling so big and laughing as I played,” said Matt. “The song came out so quickly – I didn’t think twice about any lyric – they just came out the way that they did. The process was so fun and inspired that I didn’t want to change a thing about it when I did the final recording.”
Watch the video for “Made For Love” below, and find out more about Matt via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Parallel to Johnny Cash’s childhood, I grew up in a conservative household and had to sneak an AM radio under the bed covers at night to hear “secular” music. We lived in the country and only listened to an oldies station. Early Dylan, Beatles, Everly Brothers, etc. Later, during a significant spiritual experience in my early 20s, music seemed to be given to me… from that moment on, I devoted my life to songwriting, singing, storytelling. 15 years and 13 albums later, I’m entering yet another era in my life’s work. Aside from music, I’m the father of a 7-year-old daughter named Luma, I built a tiny home on wheels which is my full-time home, and I’m planning to build my off-grid cabin home way up north this year.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
My new single “Made For Love” is an exuberant and joy-filled piece of music for me. I wrote it during a Song-A-Day challenge that I do every so often. I was writing in an old renovated country church, and I remember spinning around playing my 12-string guitar under the light of the stained glass windows and laughing as I sang, because it felt so beautiful coming through me. It almost tickled, haha. The song is special to me because it just fell out, or bubbled up, from a long-dormant part of me. I’ve had such melancholy albums the last few years, and this feels defiantly hopeful, and committed to love and vibrancy in the face of an increasingly monochromatic world. Plus, I actually believe that we were made for love. 🙂
When it comes to the global pandemic, how are you keeping yourself out in the public eye while not being able to perform?
As much as I love connecting with people in an earnest and genuine way, I don’t think it’s really the artist’s job to keep in the public eye all the time. It’s also something that I personally struggle with, doing this work in this particular age where non-stop content is expected and encouraged. I chose to spend the pandemic time in a quieter way; songwriting, learning to record myself and especially helping my daughter process the changes in her environment, and the divisiveness she’s observing around her. I spent a lot of the past two years catching up on grieving, trying to lighten the load, and preparing myself for the significant challenges coming up next.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so if you were able to work with ONE fellow Canadian artist, alive or dead, who would you choose?
I have enjoyed so many beautiful collaborative experiences with Canadian artists already!! I would have to say I’d like to make a record with Dan Lanois – his devotion to music and what it can evoke is something I admire a lot.
What’s your goal for 2022?
My goal for 2022 is to build my off-grid cabin in the bush. This year is going to continue getting crazier in the world, and I want to have a good place for my daughter to be safe and continue learning to grow, forage, catch, and prepare her own food. Next to that, I’d love for my new song to find a place in the lives and hearts of many, many people!