Once he was Australia’s ‘best kept secret’. Joe Matera, guitar-wielding troubadour whose musical prowess informed his secondary career, as a music journalist who could dig prodigiously beyond the norm.
I caught him performing, live almost ten years ago, locked into a chilly north of England circuit and displaying a professionalism that seemed beyond the grasp of the crowd. But there he as, a half a world away, pouring himself into a self-penned set of illuminating variation.
Since then, Joe’s career(s) has scattered gloriously; a succession of arresting singles and albums, performing alongside and collaborating with such a wide body of artists, from Steve Harley and Swedish hard rockers Rough Rockers to, vital to this release, Don Powell of Slade, who provided the all-important percussive hammer in Joe’s latest single release, ‘Inside Looking Out.’
Don Powell: “I was really honoured when Joe asked me to play drums on his track. I had SO much fun in the studio recording my drums for him…I can also speak for my engineer Torben Lehmann, we both really got off listening to Joe’s track as I was recording my drums. Can’t wait to do more together.”
The track was recorded remotely due to lockdown via three countries, Don Powell (drums) in Denmark, Janne Borgh (bass) in Sweden and Joe (vocals, guitars and keyboards) in Australia. The song’s title might echo a long-lost thump of Grand Funk Railroad but ‘Inside Looking Out’ is an infectious grower with a subtle fringe which sits in the undertone before exploding wildly in a short blistering guitar outburst.
With ‘Inside Looking Out’, Joe Matera is a secret no more. – Mick Middles
Produced by Tomas Skogsberg (Backyard Babies, Entombed) and Joe Matera
Mixed by Tomas Skogsberg
‘Inside Looking Out’ is released via Mercury Fire Music on October 29th on all digital platforms.