"I'm lucky, I've got a great and fun hobby playing music," says the happy go lucky artist Matt Portella as he talked music, his band mates and more ahead of his upcoming January 25 show at The Vault in Berlin, NJ.
An attorney by day and a musician by night he has been performing throughout the Philadelphia, South Jersey and Jersey Shore areas since his college and law school days. Portella possesses talent accompanied by a great sense of humor along with an infectious personality; a great combination if you're an entertainer; so how did he become a, "Singing lawyer?"
"I was born in Philly but that's because the hospital was there," he explained with a chuckle. "I'm a South Jersey guy, I grew up in Cherry Hill and I live in Haddonfield. My incentive to be a lawyer was my father, my father practiced law and I really just enjoyed the stories that I'd hear from him at the dinner table or when we were just hanging out and I thought that would be a very good means of income for me because my father and I had the same personality. So I knew from a long time ago that I wanted to be a lawyer but at the same time I also wanted to be on stage doing theater or acting or playing guitar and what really caused me to want to play guitar was Ace Frehley of KISS. I thought the KISS show and the theatrics and the glam were just very cool and I thought that Ace Frehley was a cool persona on stage and I really liked his playing; I thought his playing was just good, basic, R & B based rock'n' roll. So that's what caused me to really want to be an entertainer but inspiration wise it was The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel and John Denver; they were the earliest that I remember listening to while growing up and that's because of my mom, that's what she was listening to. I just wanted to be creative so I started writing when I was in college and it was a great outlet for energy and songwriting. I try and mix all of that into my shows, a little bit of theatrics; obviously not of the KISS level but the entertainment value of it. So I'll tend to talk a bit between songs to try and make people laugh to get them to enjoy the night and hopefully also enjoy the music that I've written."
"My music is singer/songwriter all original acoustic based pop/rock/folk mix; I've been playing since the sixth grade but didn't actually start playing out until college and then law school I really got into playing. It has kind of morphed; I played bars for maybe 15 years or so and I really enjoyed it. I pretended that every show I was playing was in a big stadium or concert venue and I would do three or four hour gigs of cover material and then in 2008 I wound up opening for Kevin Bacon's band, The Bacon Brothers down in Ocean City, NJ at The Music Pier. A friend of mine who is a musician said, "Well, you can't do covers you've got to do all originals so it's time for you to release a CD;" so my first CD came out and since then it's been no cover gigs anymore its been mostly original stuff. The first disc was released in '08 and it's called "Stripped" and then the second one is called, "Fractured Image" and that was 2013 and now I'm working on another one."
"Fractured Image" may be anything but for Portella as it was this album that introduced him to some industry insiders and heavy hitters within the Philadelphia area music scene; resulting in some very good fortune and a bolstering of his "Image." A one time solo act, he suddenly found himself with band mates; well known band mates.
"When I was doing the second record I wanted to just lay down some rough tracks in the hopes of at some point putting together a full CD with a full band because my first CD was just solo acoustic. I had called a buddy of mine to see if he knew anybody that had a studio so that I could just kind of get in, lay down some tracks and get out and he is friends with Fran Smith Jr. So I called Fran, told him what my ideas were and he said, "Why don't you come into our studio and we'll just write and lay the songs down and do the whole CD now instead of just doing a rough draft?" and that turned into the full project."
"When I play live I mix it around depending on the venue and how I'm feeling. I'm either solo acoustic or I'll do a duo with Steve Butler who is in Smash Palace and who also does "In the Pocket" with Dave Uosikkinen from The Hooters. He and I will either do an acoustic duo unless we're feeling fancy that night and maybe Steve will play electric instead or we may mix it up a bit. So I'm either solo, duo or if I'm using a full band, Steve is with me and Dave Uosikkinen will be on drums and then Fran Smith Jr from The Hooters will be on bass. I've got one song recorded that I'm committed to on the new CD with Dave on drums, Fran on bass with Steve on guitar but due to my profession it takes me a while to get the CDs out due to a constant juggling of time but I like it (laughs)."
Despite getting, "A little help from his friends," he still seems to have trouble digesting his modest success but as time flows on like notes on sheet music he is beginning to come to terms with his accomplishments.
"The musical world is becoming smaller and smaller which is very cool to me," he continued with a sense of satisfaction in his voice." I'm a part time musician and I've got friends who are full time musicians who have made it and have really put out phenomenal stellar stuff and for me to be brought into that realm of people and musicians and artists; I shake my head in disbelief sometimes that I've been so lucky and blessed. Sometimes I pinch myself; I'm like wait a minute, I just did a show with Dave Mason, I just did a show with Jeffrey Gaines and now I'm doing a show with Ari Hest and it's a cool thing for me."
Ari Hest is an international touring musician who happens to be a favorite of Portella's and someone whom he has admired over the years; it was his work which ultimately led him to approach Hest and see if he'd be interested in collaborating on this upcoming show.
"I'm really excited to do this show with Ari because I'm such a fan and really just love his music," he stated with exuberance. "Ari is a cool guy, I met him in Philadelphia a couple of months ago, I've been a fan of his for years which is how this show evolved. I love his music, his one album "Twelve Mondays" is one of my favorite albums, there's not a bad track on that record. So I'd seen him in Philly at a show and just started chatting with him and then asked if he'd be interested in playing The Vault and he was; we communicated, got the show together and we're ready to give people a good time that night."
Portella is no stranger to the venue either as he has performed at The Vault on multiple occasions and has a deep appreciation for the history housed inside the building as well as the man responsible. The Vault is home to the remnants of the RCA Victor Catalog including some of the original equipment used to press the first vinyl records at RCA's Camden, NJ plant, sheet music, pictures and more. Those attending the show will not only hear great live music but can also view these museum pieces.
"I love The Vault," he blurted out without hesitation. "Graham Alexander who has put that all together has really done a phenomenal job with bringing back vinyl and Victrolas and getting music back to its roots and back to where it came from. To me it's refreshing it's like the circle of life; it's like the circle of music and it's really incredible what they have done. They just opened a huge studio at the Victor building in Pennsauken and I told Graham that I want to come see it and record there; I've seen photos and it looks phenomenal."
So what can those who plan on attending the show expect?
"You'll get me and Steve and I believe Ari is bringing another artist with him and it's going to be an evening of just cool chill music. Ari and I are going to be a nice mix, he's got a wonderful stage presence, phenomenal voice, incredible music and sometimes I come out like a bull in a china shop when I hear the excitement from the crowd (laughs) and depending on the night my energy will skyrocket and The Vault is awesome because it's a great room with a great stage and it's bring your own drinks and bring your own food which I think is phenomenal."
Matt Portella, Ari Hest and a look back at history all in the same room; throw in BYOB and BYOF and the $25 ticket cost looks even better. This all ages show starts at 8 p.m. and has the ingredients to be a fun night of entertainment.
The Vault at Victor Records is located at 150 South White Horse Pike in Berlin, NJ; to purchase tickets please visit www.victorrecords.com .
To discover more about Matt Portella please visit www.mattportella.com and Ari Hest can be found at https://arihest.com/home.
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!
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