Matt Johnson (THE THE) on the current state of the music industry

[@lindapostema8867]

I was 17 when i met a few british youngsters in Mallorca. They introduced me to the music of The The. It was totally out of my range as i was a whitney houston/rick ashley kind of girl. Somehow the music fascinated me and I bought 2 vinyls of The The back in Holland: Soul Mining and Infected. For years i have been listening to the music and when i do the music just doesn't go out of my head anymore. The melodies and sounds are extremely beautiful and hypnotic and although the lyrics can be sometimes a little harsh for me (out of the blue and into the fire) i do relate to parts of the song: trying so hard to be myself i was turning into somebody else. And I don't know why but i love the song Armaggedon. Then I can release my anger over this mad world we are now living in. And I've been waiting for tomorrow...do i need to say more ? How can you not relate to that one now in 2022 ? I do listen to this music in the dark too, during my night shifts at work. Best music ever made. So grateful those holiday friends introduced me to The The in 1987.

[@thesoultwins72]

Matt Johnson is sadly one of those truly great artists [like Van Gogh, Tesla, Chandler, Scott Fitzgerald, Gil Scott Heron et al] whose real genius is never appreciated until they are gone. I just think I am utterly privileged to have enjoyed his time with us - and that he is without doubt one of the finest musicians, poets and human beings ever.

[@PhilUKNet]

Well said and, as he shows here, he is a highly intelligent and articulate man.

[@a.f.f.6142]

@@PhilUKNet a lot different from modern musicians..just look at the Scenarium..you dont see a big tv, fashion furniture, or a pool..you see books, lots of them.

[@PhilUKNet]

@@a.f.f.6142 I hate to say it, but my kids are the same. TVs, computers, iPads, iPhones. I loved books when I was kid (because there was nothing else) and still do. This love of technology and dumbing down doesn't bode well for future generations.

[@Westerdd]

I think he is one of the great artists of popular culture . I've can't say if he is one of the finest human beings ever. I don't know him. Think that's a bit OTT to be honest!

[@mikeclifton1637]

Greatest greatest independent music man of the last 40 years. Love him and keep listening with intent

[@doctorshawzy6477]

its a perfect day...greatest pop song ever...

[@eamontdmas]

Best lyricist of his generation, by a country mile...

[@Bruno-bg4uh]

Soul Mining , Infected and Mind Bomb are true masterpieces . I am so happy to own this records on vinyl 😉

[@seurinfrancois2232]

Soul mining use to listen so much love it until now

[@hunterhemingway3477]

Dusk....

[@oliveroneill1388]

It's all about you so

[@jamesure2426]

They're all excellent in their own way. Just those 3 though (for me anyway )

[@crowhillian58]

My musical hero whom I'm happy to say I've met.❤️

[@scoots224]

speaks commonsense understands the system well and has produced some of the truly amazing records i,ve ever heard....its an honour to be able to listen to him......and i don,t do hero worshipping but he is bloody great....

[@artemis348]

An absolute gift. I discovered The The rather young, and didn't get it. I kept listening to them because man, it cost money! And when I got it, totally blew my mind. Matt Johnson is a god. Mind Bomb is on my list of best albums ever, and the writing can only be rivalled by The Soul Cages (Sting). What I love about Mind Bomb is that I started with the cassette. I listened to it very loud, alone, and in the dark as I felt that was how it came out best. And when I got the CD years later, what Matt wrote in the sleeve froze me as that was how he suggested listening to the album. I got what he meant through the music. Pure genius.

[@JulioSalazar-xw7np]

Dusk also is a Masterpiece

[@paralentor]

As a teenager in high school 1986 I can vividly recall life before listening to Infected and life after. All his music including the soundtracks is timeless and I'm not at all surprised people enjoy him to this day.

[@sagarbhabar]

I'm obsessed with the art he makes.

[@seanh6097]

Budding musicians, listen up . This guy knows his stuff and gives us valuable advice for free!

[@tarcrystalline]

I love this man. His music. Everything.

[@gregbooth9680]

Soul Mining is my number one favourite album, with Infected at number two. Kids today don't know how unfortunate they are.

[@rapmaster]

Soul Mining and Mind Bomb for me!

[@mrvertigo23]

I'm an old gadgy and love introducing my friends to Matt Johnson's music. Freaks them out every time

[@clairebordeaux]

I’ve always loved The the. Saw them live when I was 19....excellent live....no auto tune or lip sync nonsense like the more famous (& far less talented) artists. I think Matt played it smarter than the musicians that covet the fame & rock star lifestyle....he could have easily been far more famous, but he sounds too authentic & reasonable to pay the price required by the music moguls to sell out his creative control and enslave his soul to the record execs for that level of fame. Good for him. Those record companies are merciless, and as Florence says, “Every demon wants his pound of flesh “

[@Adamscott11]

This man right here is a poet, Lyrical master. Artistic i just thank you whoever introduced me to him.

[@rabit818]

I wish there was a longer version of this badly edited video. Matt Johnson is well versed and talented. I can listen to him talk all day.

[@ballzack4866]

Pure genius Matty !! His era was quality and he stood very tall.

[@leecole5968]

I got into the the because of the link from Johnny Marr. My 1st album was mind bomb and luckily for me the the played Plymouth Pavilions of all places and I was hoping to see Johnny. He wasnt on the live touring band but was blown away how great Matt was and the rest of the band. I was hooked. Dusk another great album and uncertain smile a fave of mine. Such a clever guy and amazing musician

[@andybuhaltor6725]

This man makes a hell of a lot sense ..and how sad that all these years later Artistes still getting ripped off so terribly..one would have imagined it should have improved..instead it's gone backwards

[@leonardocarretero1054]

Mind Bombs lyrics were 15 years ahead of it's time, however, personally Kingdom of Rain was spot on to it's release, how did this man know exactly what I was going through at that time !!

[@niknayme3754]

Have to tell you Matt, Giant is still one of my all time favourite electronic tunes. What a top tune!

[@garyb67]

The Violence of Truth and Kingdom of Rain will always have me chasing the dragon to feel like I did in the early 90's. Maybe there are just some times and places you can never go back to. Matt is a great artist and I hope he gets inspired, in his own good time and fashion, to have another go at blowing my mind again.

[@rapmaster]

Or bombing it!

[@JamesHawkeYouTube]

I bought 'Soul Mining' on cassette in Melbourne in 1982 and almost wore out the tape. Thanks Matt. Music of my coming of age...

[@samuri_djs7676]

Truer words never spoken. Greed rules this world. Nobody cares in the slightest about anyone else and will stab you in the back to 'get theirs' without a thought.

[@shaunescott2050]

Unfortunately the self is only what matters these days!

[@happyguyx1]

Mat is a dying breed unfortunately. Im an old fk who loved all his albums

[@dexterfitben]

Top man. Great music still stands the test of time.

[@SweetJennyFan]

One of the great things about that 45s album was that you could see and hear the progression in Matt Johnson over the years. From certainty, anger to doubt, reflection. One the greatest British artists ever in my view.

[@joannewilson1483]

You are a poet your words a songs live in the worm holes of my mind I recall the beauty of your work

[@christianlarsen6747]

The new album is a masterpiece. Well done Matt!

[@laurelwells8469]

THE THE One of the Best shows I've seen in my life -- 1993 in Chicago with Johnny Marrs on guitar

[@richardvinsen2385]

Marr. There’s no S

[@S7EVE_P]

I collect vinyl. I wish more bands would release on vinyl and I think a way to combat things like Spotify is to encourage not so much casual listening but actual sitting down and listening to music properly on a format thats real and prevents distraction. Vinyl, Cassette and maybe even Reel to Reel is old tech but far more beneficial in the ways that matter.

[@richardharvey6977]

Love Matt, TheThe, would love to have seen them live. 🙏Fantastic music/ lyrics ahead of his time. Im sure with whats going on in the world he will have more to say to write about musically. Here hoping 🙏

[@bradleylowden558]

I like Matt Johnson’s music, no matter what age he is. Like his Naked Self album. It actually reminds me of Soul Mining with guitar.

[@girlinagale]

Nice guy, much loved in the 80s too. That sound of The The is unique.

[@meandyouthroughandthrough]

Do you know how much I love Matt? All of my heart.

[@michaelg5005]

Mind Bomb is such an insanely great album

[@mrmogford8117]

Michael G criminally underrated

[@esforward69]

Correct, compact but powerful.

[@andrewdyke5561]

And soul mining

[@RJMc819]

Great man, Matt. Keep up the good work.

[@Magicalfluidprocess]

A truly great songwriter

[@frostwise87]

Great chat. Top guy

[@thesoultwins72]

+The Mamosians.....THE best!

[@oliveroneill1388]

A genius amongst us.

[@doctorshawzy6477]

recently discovered the the song perfect...greatest pop song ever written..

[@sanablaise718]

Love this man (& his art obvsly ❤

[@tonytannahill536]

Matt you are one of the best EVER.

[@darrenlee1938]

Wonderful man

[@tiebeththeninja1263]

Brilliant.

[@pointsofhonesty]

brilliant man! I try to support artists through merch or vinyl releases

[@Razorsharpedge]

Brilliant sensitive man

[@KarlHainer]

Great advice Matt. I'm so excited about your tour next year.

[@MrBluebeard3]

Im glad you are ok Matt.

[@patthewoodboy]

everything I hear on spotify/youtube etc that I like, i buy the hard copy.

[@petestronach4949]

respect, soul mining, uncertain smile, . .that piano, jesus i have put holes in the kitchen table playin air piano.. this is the day, anthem... question, . .i believe one drunken evening i stumbled upon a docco, . .or short film about this man, somewhere but i cant remember where or what it was called, 2 words, recent, ish, " _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _", i want to say, insanity, . .something, but, anyway, soul mining vinyl, since mid, 80s, cheers, pete

[@martindoyle6743]

Great. Thanks for posting though it sounds ominous about the new album talked of last year.

[@newforestpixie5297]

Please does anyone know the title of the Matt or The The song which opens with “ it’s the first day of spring with clean air in the wind …” ? I try all sorts but to no avail. 😁👍

[@JakeBickerton]

That track is called Flesh & Bones. Great song.

[@newforestpixie5297]

OMG Thankyou 😁👍

[@andrewdyke5561]

Thethe are one of the most underrated cant even find album rankings

[@Dressagevids]

Love Andy's imagery he was so unique

[@tyronerodgers]

Great interview

[@TheRollthedice]

Great stuff c`mon matt get on the road.........Please

[@stefanwold2345]

I love The The

[@waynewayne2801]

Hello, Matt. You produced some stunning, thought provoking work then that related to your understanding & experience, then. Why not do the same thing, now - that relate to your cumulative experience & understanding that you have, now?

[@Magicalfluidprocess]

Spot on

[@dianelunn-parsons7340]

At Ground Zero, the answer is seventies style pressings of vinyl singles with picture bags. Students and music lovers are aware and back track through record collections. Some of us can hear compression on KZbin

[@spartan876]

i think spotify will become a sort of successor to radio (spotify's selling point is discovery of music) so say an artist uploads a single to spotify, gets a ton of attention by getting onto a popular playlist, gets a bunch of follows on their spotify, instagram etc and then they can sell physical releases on bandcamp (the physical single and/or an LP) and a popular artist could hypothetically make more than they would be able to back in the 80s or 90s due to global reach and also because nobody needs labels anymore. i really do believe things are gonna get better than they ever have been. glad I clicked on this! got here from his interview with johnny marr. cheers

[@rft2001]

Except that a lot of the spotty-lofi people won't buy physical releases.

[@hobbyable1]

Truth is there was never any balance. I grew up in the 80's when record companies were king, they were screwing fans hand over fist and not giving a fuck doing so and most bands etc didn't seem to raise a word of complaint because many of them were getting rich too. The digital age changed the power balance and now record companies and some artists are claiming how unfair it all is.

[@wangdangdoodie]

Maybe the biggest acts were getting rich, but as well as fans, an awful lot of artists were exploited and had to seek redress through lawyers, which in some cases dragged on for many, many years. Obvious examples are Badfinger, XTC, The Lilac time and Be Bop Deluxe. But there are many others.

[@rft2001]

@@wangdangdoodie Even large acts like Black Sabbath made nothing in the 70's. Their management and their record label made all of the dough. That didn't change until the 80's. It depended on deals made between the bands' management and the record labels. I never felt that I, as a record buyer, was getting ripped off. I bought lp's throughout the 80's for $5 to $9 new. That always seemed fair to me.

[@christos1973]

Greatest solo artist ever.

[@daverawcliffe3212]

It’s so incredibly obvious that he’s a genius, so well spoken and everything he says is absolutely correct, yet most people don’t even realize or think about the specifics.

[@slumdogjay]

The only Artis I like that I have never heard a bad album of.

[@JeffMTX]

A man I respect told me the other day, "pioneers get the arrows, and settlers get the land." Many valuable things people create are a combination of both labor and artistry, and in most cases, the "distribution chain" absorbs almost all of the payment made by the recipients of the product. If you don't like it, stop producing, and see if your price goes up.

[@monogramadikt5971]

fear of success, being trapped in amber, becoming a prisoner of other peoples expectations.. well put matt, theres definitely an ugly side to becoming successful, especially when it happens early in your life etc

[@stephensmitherman5243]

Soul Mining is a real Classic.

[@samuri_djs7676]

Even though our group has songs on spotify and Tidal and Apple Music I can't bring myself to subscribe to a streaming service, although every time I use one I discover something amazing that I never would have found otherwise. I don't know. I don't like that once I pay for it the tracks aren't necessarily mine. I don't own them. It's funny how you really have to go hunting for great new music again just like during the 80s - except now it's just a lot of digging through garbage. There's a great deal of sifting.

[@ChromosomeSyndicate]

Richard H Kirk say don't look back and continue and i follow his way .

[@kieran0000]

A Fucking Genius !!!

[@mikewood9514]

A wise artist

[@peterbrown8889]

The Voice of reason is Matt

[@lancebaldock6233]

I think the platforms did pay up, it just didn't filter down to those who made the music. Plus ca change...

[@mitarbeiterva5960]

matt just make a tour and sell cd´s and a live dvd i would buy everything

[@MrWayout74]

Wow! 7 years ago and things are only getting worse. culture well and truly shafted by corporations.

[@alternativefm328]

Be more original and have a definite sound that stands out rather than looking to image and flirtation which only goes so far without ending up a rabbit hole is the way forward for the music industry surely

[@robertstopp8731]

Matt what happened to moon ?

[@paulgardner8867]

Keep buying vinyl and cds

[@sickly_b]

Clever bloke

[@bobbobertson7568]

I am a huge fan of Matt Johnson the artist an Matt Johnson the hockey pugilist. KZbin him and Andrew Peters fight

[@dianelunn-parsons7340]

KZbin has cost ne a good deal. Had data on. It switches itself I think. Could have bought CDs. LPs are in the supermarkets and HMV. Charity shops. We want good quality sleeves though

[@leedummett4412]

genius.

[@discharge29]

SIMON FUCKING COWELL - ARE YOU WATCHING THIS ...

[@musicwithmorals]

I don't use Apple.. hate it and Spotify.. i do download illegally to feed my music habit but i buy whenever i can off bandcamp ..merch, tapes, vinyl whatever. also i read one good thing you can do in this day and age to support bands u like is just like and promote their stuff whenever you can... sharing, tweeting, whatever. i dream of a day when bands can self promote and live off music they put out themselves via stuff like crowdfunding or whatever.. major labels have always been greedy bastards.

[@jackjude]

Downloading illegally js the worst thing you can do, in terms of harming the artist. Then you go on about crowd funding, you should patreon/crowdfund every artist you have stolen from.

[@steelyman08]

@@jackjude I agree, but poverty is real and poor people love music as well. I buy what I can, but could never afford to buy all that I want. Buying a new CD (or a digital download) is a treat for many. I also use cheap MP3 sites. $1.00 per song (Amazon) is too much for many (I hear it gets even worse than that). Yes. It's unethical to download free MP3s. No one can argue with that. I wish I could drop $12-20 for every new album that I want. I just can't. Many people get a friend's copy and rip it. Others go to the library and rip what they borrow. Sadly, even being ethical is a luxury only for those who can afford it!

[@robertdegroot8302]

It is true that Spotify have the largest offices and most posh offices around the world, for no good reason. They are making tons and tons of money.

[@d2mondo]

a sound geezer

[@delroywashington3185]

Great album soul minning , your right listen to it straight back to a flat top dressed in black pointed shoes , funny such a good talk , but the big moneys gone years ago had friends in bands they had big money deals ,

[@olivieralbentosa9062]

Les rééditions en vinyle sont sûrement très bonnes. Tout comme la remasterisation des cd 💿. Peut importe le format, la source et le mode de lecture sont tout importants. Mode du vinyle 🤷‍♂️.

[@Clem_Fandango11]

Who would have thought Matt would have "invested" wisely. There's me thinking he was a rebel against the system....he is right though...Spotify are robbing the music artists blind.

[@cespo77]

Come on Matt it is not about success. Just reform the the with the same line up as you did on Mind Bomb tour ( Johnny, James, David) and go play some festivals or do a little tour. You don't need to travel the entire world and get rich and famous. Screw the music industry. You have made a name for yourself. It would be great to see you. And if Johnny is too busy you can get me to play guitars. I would do it for free! I can easily play those songs lick for lick.

[@-globe]

I saw TheThe on the first night of their warm up gigs before their come back shows this year, very special

[@vanfernandes292]

Artists should do more gigs to make more money. It's easy to stay at home receiving money for digital copies that don't cost nothing.

[@vanfernandes292]

In the past there was a cost to produce a album beyond the artist's cost.

[@jonathanhadley2555]

All safe & corporate.......................................!

[@dianelunn-parsons7340]

Agree

[@dianelunn-parsons7340]

Brave

[@dorianedwards8522]

He ain't dead. What's this 'while he was with us' garbage. HE AIN'T DEAD!

[@robertsteinberger5667]

Can we be honest enough that we hit an alltime low? I mean commercially songs like uptown funk and chandelier were already some time ago. Indie music isnt what it used to be, electronic music even underground gets predictable. Sure you had Tame Impala, Beach House, Ariel Pink and James Blake but they are not so good anymore or have become predictable.

[@sarahscrimshaw3041]

As in Jake Bickerton from John Taylor High School?

[@JakeBickerton]

Ha, yes, the very same one! Did you see the mini-doc we made for artbeat.tv about the Infected videos too? Well worth a watch, imho!

[@sarahscrimshaw3041]

Jake Bickerton no mate. I have not. Got tickets for next year though. My brother says hi. Stuart .

[@JakeBickerton]

If you want to see a five-minute documentary I helped make about the Infected videos (which I think Matt is going to screen before the Infected video screenings coming up at the ICA) - head to artbeat.tv and look a little down the page. There's also an interesting film about Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy we made too, that's well worth a watch, imho!

[@sarahscrimshaw3041]

Jake Bickerton will do. 👍

[@festersuncle6298]

Instant "hit$" like carnation instant breakfast......Neo country is the worst of it!!! * Nakedself was different to me, it was superb live too.