Name: Matthew Halsall
Occupation: Trumpet player, composer, improviser, label founder at Gondwana
Nationality: British
Current release: Matthew Halsall's An Ever Changing View is out via Gondwana

If you enjoyed this Matthew Halsall interview and would like to stay up to date with his music and projects, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.

For an even deeper dive, check out our interviews with other Gondwana artists:

[Read our Portico Quartet interview]
[Read our Hania Rani interview]
[Read our Svaneborg Kardyb interview]
[Read our Jasmine Myra interview]
[Read our Sunda Arc interview]
[Read our Richard Pike of Forgiveness interview]
[Read our Gogo Penguin interview about their creative process]
[Read our Gogo Penguin interview about improvisation]

For more information on Matthew Halsall's instrument, read our Henry Spencer interview about the trumpet.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I’m not really sure. I’ve always just loved to create things whether it’s music, art, film or even cooking food.

My fascination with listening to records and looking at album covers spans right back to being a small child in my family home. I remember going through my mum and dad's record collection on a daily basis and listening to things like The Beatles' Sgt Pepper and stuff like Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd and it totally blew my mind.

I find being creative super relaxing and therapeutic. It allows me to focus on one thing that I enjoy for hours on end. I’m often at my happiest when I put my headphones on and create things in my own little world, the sounds can transport you to all types of magical fun places.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

When I began thinking about how to approach An Ever Changing View, I felt the need to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, so I spent a lot of time researching locations close to nature with inspiring architecture and interior design. I love composing whilst looking out of big windows with views of things like the sea, mountains and forests.

I also remember having quite a clear vision of the types of sounds and instruments I wanted to use and felt the need to wipe the slate clean in terms of my creative approach. I remember thinking a lot about a quote by Picasso “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

So I tried to be much more playful and carefree when I was making the foundations of each track, channeling my inner child.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

I spent many years collecting various types of percussion for An Ever Changing View, things like kalimbas, glockenspiels, log drums, chimes, bells and shakers. I  even commissioned some custom made things like 18 hand hammered percussive triangles and lots of large clumps of seeds, shells, bells, keys and bottle tops.

When composing I like to have all of these wonderful exotic instruments around me, so I can just grab whatever I think might work and just start recording ideas.

I also have a lot of sample libraries on my computer such as Kontakt Komplete and stuff from Spitfire Audio and these are incredibly useful for sketching out lots of ideas I have for things like double bass, drums, piano, harp, sax and flute.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

For me, I love composing very early in the morning when the sun is rising. I love hearing the birds singing at dawn chorus, but also how quiet and still everything else is at this time of day. I also love composing at sunset and super late into the night for the same reasons, the stillness of human life.

In terms of stimulants I don’t drink caffeine, but I do drink a lot of herbal tea whilst making tunes. I love working in spaces with lots of beautiful natural light, plus warm sunlike retro lighting can be a sweet vibe.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

This varies from track to track. Sometimes I like to set challenges with various tempos and time signatures, other times I feel drawn to specific instruments and react to the sound and feel whilst playing.

On the new album An Ever Changing View, I definitely felt very drawn to the sound and feel of the kalimba and often started tracks with this. I loved its rhythmical energy and the simplicity of just working with a limited amount of notes.


Matthew Halsall Interview Image by Emily Dennison

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

Phase one is very much a solo creative headspace. Then, as the compositions really start to take shape, I book recording sessions with the band.

It’s amazing when you hear everyone playing your ideas together in the same room and I love what each individual brings to the music (especially over the open improvised sections).

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

It’s definitely a mixture of the two. The music needs to have lots of personality and I definitely have a clear visions of how things should sound. But I love the freedom and magical (in the moment) feeling of improvisation.

So it’s sort of a constant push pull process of composing solid structures and ideas and then opening things up and then refining again.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

I’m really open to things happening organically and evolving. Especially in the studio with the band, it can really elevate the music.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

As I mentioned earlier, for me making music is like a form of meditation. I find it very relaxing and therapeutic and good for my soul.

I’m definitely drawn to a lot of meditative sounds and rhythms with almost mantra-like repetitive qualities.

Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

I guess having lots of deadlines like booking a writing retreat and creating things over a set amount of days helps. Also booking things like recording sessions gives you a good deadline to complete compositions and score things out for the band.

Finally, having things like tours booked in the diary definitely helps.

[For Matthew Halsall's current tour dates and tickets, go here]

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

I spend months, sometimes even years living with tracks before I let them out into the world.

I think it’s really important to let things lie for a while and then keep coming back to them with fresh ears. This allows you to detach yourself from being the creator / artist and allows you to become the listener.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

On my new album An Ever Changing View myself and my brother (Daniel) spent a lot of time on the production. We wanted to create something truly fresh, with lots of interesting sounds and layers of things like kalimba, glockenspiel, piano, celesta and various other percussion.

And we went super deep on the mixing and mastering! You wouldn’t believe how many different sets of speakers and headphones and sound systems we tested things on, it was epic.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I don’t really get this feeling, I’m constantly creating music and always make far more than I can release.

I tend to write multiple albums at the same time and always feel excited to crack on with the next release.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I try to capture as much honesty, personality and emotion as possible when I’m creating music and I dedicate an enormous amount of time and energy into the whole process.