George Matoian

Story

Most of my reputation is as a sax player for jazz and blues bands in SoCal. Also in the past few years I've been writing, producing, recording and releasing songs on CDBaby. I've done a lot of gigs playing sax with backing tracks. Making the tracks morphed into the recordings. Lately I've been working to improve my guitar playing, going to blues jams around San Pedro. At this point I'd like work with some other musicians, try to get a steady Saturday Night Gig somewhere in the South Bay or Long Beach.

Profile

Instruments

Genres

Equipment

What is music to you? What does it give you?

Playing and creating music seems to focus my attention. I guess it's a combination of escape and release.

What is your music dream?

There is no one dream. I'm always searching. Sometimes I envision how a gig will go, sometimes I think about how the recording comes out, sometimes I think about getting a call to get a good gig, sometimes I envision large sums of cash magically appearing in my CD Baby account

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

Trick question, everything we changes the world whether we realize it or not. To say "If" implies "can't" and that is not the case.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

cannot remember.

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

it depends on whether I am playing their music or listening. Usually it's people I gig with.

What inspires you to make music?

I am not sure, but there is a drive

What is the message you want to send with your music?

No message. When I write it's more of sharing events and impressions from my life.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

Like not me.

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

I guess their reality is what they make it. it's great right now, I've envisioned this for a long time. Unfortunately getting your music heard seems to be tied to metadata, so the music becomes tied to the descriptions. The level of musicianship and quality of available instruments has risen risen substantially. However, these levels are not necessarily reflected a lot of the music being produced that becomes popular. The musicians are somewhat slaved to the beats and singers appearance. You can make quality recordings on a budget and release the songs for almost nothing. I love that.

What do you think of Drooble?

I like Drooble

What frustrates you most as a musician?

Not much externally. Internally there's lots, the quality of my performances, and recordings is not always what I think it should be and I can't seem to fix it. Getting over some things to accomplish what I plan. One thing is awards shows and they give the blues or jazz award to a pop band or singer. I don't like that too much

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

Not really as a fan.

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

I think this is unfortunate but it's always been true in different forms. You're asking about marketing. So the best marketer will get the best results. Online, your metadata and descriptions have to be god. You have to know how playlists work and get on them. I played in a lot of bands where the leader was the weakest musician but had a strong personality and charisma and was able to hang out with the club owners and resonate with the crowds. I think that's still the same but in a digital way.