NORMAL PEOPLE - MATT HSU

CP  

Can you start by telling us a bit about your journey? How did you end up becoming a one-man orchestra? Were there any moments from your childhood that set you on the path?

MH

There are so many tiny moments that shape the person you are. Some of the brightest memories are going on childhood bike rides around the gullies and creeks of Sunnybank, with a chunky discman of bootleg Studio Ghibli music from Taiwan, imagining I was in ancient spirit filled forests or floating castles, and just being immersed in that imaginary world with Joe Hisaishi’s music. I really loved how music was able to immerse me in worlds.

My parent’s have loved music their whole lives, they met at a disco in Taipei, and it’s always been part of our household. I remember being a toddler crawling in squares of sunlight listening to Bee Gees, Shirley Bassey, Anita Baker, Buena Vista Social Club, a-ha and Taiwanese pop songs. It’s all in there somewhere when I make stuff.

I think though, the most direct influence on ‘Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra’, has been my time with The Mouldy Lovers, the band I matured as an adult with. That was the single biggest foundation of my love of playing instruments and making music. The DIY approach of untrained kids trying music and lyrics and instruments without the pressure of ‘doing it correctly’, really shaped the basis of how I make music.

CP

Your work often blurs the lines between music and activism. How do you see your music as a form of protest and a tool for social change?

MH

I think every living person is constantly co-creating with each other. Every day we shape the environment we live in, and if that sounds vague, I mean things like decorating our bedrooms, shaping our neighbourhoods through street art, creating paths through parks with our shortcuts. We’re always co-creating the world around us, even the culture in our friendship groups are moulded by the kinds of humour we have or how real we are with each other. Thousands of small exchanges with strangers affect the wider communities we’re part of. We also create conflict, and can perpetuate or dismantle social norms and systems that we’re part of everyday, with seemingly small and trivial actions and encounters. This is a very long winded way of saying, in some tiny way, everything we do or make shapes the world, so when it’s super deliberate like making songs for spending time with my obscure gang, I choose to make what I think is useful, equitable and happy-making, even if often the impact is trivial or invisible.

CP

Your experience as a Buddhist monk and your tour with Japanese artists must have been quite unique. How have these experiences shaped your approach to music and life?

MH

I was a monk in training for less than a week, but there were a lot of experiences leading up to that point and it left a lasting impact on my worldview and the way I approach making things, or my sense of responsibility to the world around me, and in my friendships. Thinking back, I was also surrounded by a lot of artistic representations of compassion through chants, sutras, sculpture and carvings which… wow, I’ve never thought about how that has impacted my music. Maybe there’s something there. 

When I work with Tenzin Choegyal, who’s like a wise uncle to the Obscure Orchestra, we share an understanding of the same philosophical groundings, which makes our friendship really beautiful. I think seeing people express and carry their culture through their music was slow-motion mindblowing. Over years of listening to things from Afro-Cuban jazz to Indigenous Taiwanese song, it helped me overcome big blocks of internalised racism I’d grappled with through my teens and 20s.

CP

Diversity is a recurring theme in your work, both in the instruments you play and the stories you tell. How do you embrace and celebrate diversity in your music? In your opinion, what needs to change in the music industry to make it more inclusive and equitable for artists from diverse backgrounds?

MH

I think growing up as a Taiwanese kid in the dominantly white culture in 90s Australia, I couldn’t help but be shaped by notions of difference, not realising I was considered different until some random stranger angrily and urgently telling me, probably a seven year old, to ‘go back where I came from’ and me being super confused by that. I think the context you’re surrounded by and the notions of ‘normal’ is what creates difference. It made me resent the things about myself that drew racist people’s attention. I wanted to blend in and not be seen as different/‘Asian’ to avoid being called ‘ching-chong’ and all those things. So, moving past that and coming to accept and eventually celebrate my cultures has been a hugely cathartic thing in my life. I think I can’t help but impart those experiences, like trail mix on a hike, peppering it in everything I make, in the culture of the Obscure Orchestra ensemble, or in the collaborations I undertake.

What needs to change in the industry? Good question! The music industry (and entertainment industries at large) are great at ‘photoshoot diversity’, with POC, First Nations, queer, non-binary, transgender, disabled and other marginalised artists used as talent, being the coal face artists. What fashion brands, record labels, film studios, galleries, museums, dance companies are not so good at is allowing opportunities for a diversity of people to step into positions of power and decision making. When you look at who are managers, board members and CEOs in those spaces, it’s pretty obvious who gets to hold power. 

Fortunately, a lot of artists are realising they don’t want to be part of spaces that only use them as ‘talent’, and are creating their own opportunities, projects, businesses and organisations, creating the worlds they want to see.

CP

Can you share a specific moment in your career that you're particularly proud of, where your music created a sense of solidarity or empowered others? 

MH

Truly, I could never have imagined myself in this life, so every gig or release or even rehearsal, feels immense. A few years ago we collaborated with Museum of Brisbane’s Play Moves exhibition, a show all about breaking boundaries between audience and artist, and allowing people to participate and play with the art. We loved this joyful, less hierarchical approach to art and created Obscure Orchestra performances, little mini OO trios to play in each of the five exhibition spaces. My bandmates all created their own pieces and improvisations, before coming together as a full ensemble for the end of the night. I couldn’t be more proud, catching everyone creating their own thing in their spaces.

It was also a huge honour playing the opening ceremony for the 2024 Queensland Music Award, reuniting with again Sachém on stage after our QPAC show together, paying tribute to ABC’s Bluey who I have special history with as a composer, and paying tribute to Regurgitator, one of my biggest life/music influences.

CP

What advice would you give to emerging artists, especially those from marginalised communities, who are trying to find their voice in the industry?

MH

Hey youngblood! I can’t wait to hear what you make! Take music advice with a grain of salt, most people can only imagine what already exists in the world, so naturally the goal of their advice is to sway you toward some pre-existing music convention or norm, and sound like some artist that already exists. But you’re you. Only you can sound like you, so be the most you you can be.

Also, make art because you love making art, not because you hope to be rewarded somehow. That core love will mean you make things you’re proud of and stand by and feel fulfilled no matter what measures of success are placed on you.

Surround yourself with a good community, even if you’re a solo artist, your community is everything, musicians and non-musicians alike.

CP

Finally, is there anything on the horizon that you're particularly excited about or any new projects that you’re eager to dive into?

MH

Yes! I’ll be releasing two albums in one day, in November. Which is scarily soon. I set out to complete an album, and ended up with about 25 songs, all of which I’m really proud of. It feels the closest thing to my entire self, every thought, feeling and strand of DNA, distilled into a collection of music. 

CP

What is something that maybe isn’t normal right now, but you think should be?

MH

That’s such a good question. Let’s see...
- Potato chips that are healthy and still tasty.
- Again but ramen.
- Lab cultured meat replacing factory farming..
- Dancing in workplaces being as acceptable as occasionally stretching
- The ability to understand the language of every species, at every age. I’d like to talk to dogs.
- Global basic income and healthcare would be literally world changing.