You can’t get much simpler than a Tascam Portastudio, so Elliot got a Tascam 2488, a drum machine and a couple of cheap synths and set out to make a record. His guitars went through pedals and a little Epiphone Valve Junior amplifier, cranked. “I wanted to use my ears exclusively for this record. The songs needed to stand on their own, no putting lipstick on a pig. If it sounded good, I kept it. If it didn’t, it went.” The resulting record has its own musical mood, it’s own sonic fingerprint and an unforced arrangement which features the music and the message.
And what exactly is that message? A hodge-podge of unreserved mental landscapes that might’ve seen the light of day only within the indie-rock format. The title track, ‘Late August Moon,’ is a love song infested with lust and possessiveness. ‘Find What You’re Looking For’ takes a look at the driving, relentless force of karma. ‘Wild Animals’ describes a journey of awakening characterized by ghosts and fish with fangs. “Daddy Open Your Eyes’ tells the tale of death in a hospital bed and ‘Killing With Swords’ is a song about exacting street justice with a sword. “Angels” is a fifteen year old song that was previously released on a CMJ compilation CD and hasn’t seen the light of day for awhile.
The cover art was done by Chicago artist Jason Fairchild. Fairchild’s pieces have an integrity and originality that seemed a perfect fit with the project.
Elliot Matsu was grew up in Chicago. His musical career began at five years old when he was enrolled in the Suzuki School of Music to study piano. Suzuki stresses that students learn music first by ear rather than by sight reading.
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At the age of 10, Elliot decided that rock 'n roll was his calling. His interests evolved from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys to Guns 'n Roses, Metallica and Motley Crue. His style changed from JC Penny's catalog offerings to stone washed jean jackets, boots with chains on them and t-shirts with the arms cut off. His first guitar was an Olympic White Fender Squire Stratocaster, kinda like Yngwie Malmsteen’s. Under careful cultivation, his hair mushroomed into a thick, puffy mullet.
It was at this time that Elliot hooked up with guitar hero George Bellas to learn how to play the guitar like all of his new idols. George was signed on Shrapnel Records, and played with many big shred/metal names and gave lessons on the side. Although Elliot's shredding abilities stopped far short of his teacher's, his guitar playing and solo composition remains heavily influenced by his teacher's neo-classical style to this day.
With his new licks, kicks, denim and mullet, Elliot set out to destroy the world in his first band, 'Hyperten-shun' (yes, it was spelled wrong "for effect"). The band played a few school dances before it's members graduated from junior high school. Elliot's next band was formed in high school and was called 'Obduracy.' Obduracy played thrash metal at local clubs and released a few home made ep's on cassette tapes. Aside from playing in bands, Elliot held jobs as a bus boy, a telemarketer for a carpet cleaning company, a mattress delivery helper, a UPS delivery helper, an ice-cream scooper at Baskin Robins and a Nordic Track sales person.
After Elliot graduated from high school it was off to college and goodbye to mullets and metal. While at college he self-released a few albums and ep's attempting a more pop rock sound. These were recorded on Alesis ADAT machines (which were very new and cool at the time) with Elliot performing all of the vocal and instrument parts. One such release, titled "Autonomy," was financed by his college roommate and released at retail.
Upon graduation from college, Elliot headed to New York City. Hestudied to get his masters degree in entertainment business at NYU while recording bands and artists in his apartment at night. He spent time working at Billboard, Sony Music, TVT Records and Roadrunner Records. He hooked up with producer Jonathan Appell (engineer/producer for Bette Middler, Carol King) and worked with many big studio musicians on his initial demos including Shawn Pelton (Saturday Night Live, Sheryl Crowe, David Byrne), Steve Wolf (Annie Lennox, Avril Lavigne) Mark Slutsky (Gavin DeGraw, PINK), Vinnie Zummo (Shawn Colvin, Joe Jackson), Rick Skatore (24-7 Spyz), Mark Shulman (Jewel) and Gregg Gerson (Billy Idol).
Aside from his solo work, Elliot also played bass in a band called 'On The Lam' with childhood friend Matt Friscia, who worked at BMG in New York and would go on to play drums in the Poster Children and Team Rockit. Matt eventually started Firetone Records and released Elliot's debut album, "2nd Avenue." The record continues to spin on radio stations and podcasts throughout the indie music world. One of the singles, "Cry," hit #30 on the small market adult contemporary charts here in the states. His other single, "Something Wrong," has gotten much attention in the independent music scene and was played on the runway at the 2008 Fall Fashion shows in New York.
Elliot also played lead guitar in underground NYC punk band Odd Zero, and produced their last LP, Another Odd Zero To Dread. The band was together and playing frequently in rock clubs during Matsu’s second solo release, The Value of Power, which was received well on the indie rock and internet radio scene and included singles “Ellie,” “Down on Bowery,” “Hot Pink Limousine,” “Stars,” (featuring Shawn Pelton from SNL) and “Who Am I?”
A Thousand Years
Elliot Matsu Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you're in my heart whatever they may say
And the wind has brought you here under the stars tonight
And I won't let you go 'til I see the mornin' light
And baby am I crazy
Are you feelin' like I do?
Cause I could spend a thousand years
Hold my hand through the sorrow
Hold my hand through the pain
Hold my hand through the uncertainty
Of what tomorrow gonna bring
Yeah they tryin' to beat us down
Oh they tryin' to lock us out
But we got somethin' that they'll never have
Yeah we got no more doubt
And baby am I crazy
Are you feelin' like I do?
Cause I could spend a thousand years
Lost inside of you
Lost inside of you
(solo)
Lyin' here under the flood lights
Lyin' here with you
Ain't no place that I'd rather be
And this is somethin' new
This is somethin' new
This is somethin' new
Oh
And baby it's gettin' cold outside
And if it make no difference to you
Then I'd like to spend a thousand years
Just us two
Just us two
The lyrics of this song depict a strong love between two people. The first verse talks about how this person is always in Elliot Matsu's heart, no matter what others may say. The second verse speaks about how they will support one another through difficult times, even when others try to bring them down. The chorus is especially powerful, as Matsu expresses how deeply in love he is, and how he could potentially spend a thousand years lost with this person.
The bridge of the song brings a sense of vulnerability, as Matsu describes how he wants to spend a thousand years with this person, just the two of them. The last line, "Just us two", really emphasizes how much the love between the two people means to him. The song ends with a short instrumental solo, which adds to the emotional intensity of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
You're in my heart wherever you may be
No matter where you are, you will always be in my heart.
And you're in my heart whatever they may say
Regardless of what other people may say, you will always have a special place in my heart.
And the wind has brought you here under the stars tonight
The wind brought you to me tonight, and we are together under the stars.
And I won't let you go 'til I see the mornin' light
I will not let you go until the morning light, holding onto this moment forever.
And baby am I crazy
I may be crazy for feeling the way I do.
Are you feelin' like I do?
Do you feel the same way I do?
Cause I could spend a thousand years
I could spend countless years,
Lost inside of you
Lost in your love and never wanting to be found.
Hold my hand through the sorrow
I need you to hold my hand through moments of grief and sadness.
Hold my hand through the pain
I need you to hold my hand when I am hurting.
Hold my hand through the uncertainty
I need you to hold my hand through moments of doubt and uncertainty.
Of what tomorrow gonna bring
I don't know what the future holds, but I need you by my side.
Yeah they tryin' to beat us down
There are people who are trying to bring us down.
Oh they tryin' to lock us out
They are trying to keep us apart.
But we got somethin' that they'll never have
Despite their efforts, we have something that they will never understand or have.
Yeah we got no more doubt
We are confident in our love and have no more doubts.
Lyin' here under the flood lights
We are lying under the bright lights, in the spotlight of love.
Lyin' here with you
I am lying here with you, the one I love most.
Ain't no place that I'd rather be
There is no other place that I would rather be than with you.
And this is somethin' new
This feeling, this moment we are sharing, is something new and special.
Oh
Expressing a sense of pure love and happiness.
And baby it's gettin' cold outside
The world outside is turning cold and dark.
And if it make no difference to you
If it doesn't make any difference to you,
Then I'd like to spend a thousand years
I would like to spend countless years,
Just us two
Just you and me, together for eternity.
Contributed by Cameron C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.