their chatter.

their words.

(and that day saw the birth of a new resistance)

Local guitarist mixes politics, pleasure
By Travis Phelps
The Western Front (archived 9.28.00)

The air fills with the musty smell of hot vaccume tubes. A relaxed figure walks across a hard wood floor slowly pulling a guitar up to his chest. He positions himself on a stool so that he can view the sea of lyrics spread out on the table before him. A four-track-recorder quietly hums in the back ground ready to receive the first note. Matt Fuller constructed his latest emotional release on his living room May 29, 2000. The five song acoustic CD entitled “A Sandcastle Still Ice-Maker” chronicles Fuller's everyday political feelings of the world. Fuller began playing the guitar during his freshman year in college. He quickly adopted it as his main emotional release. He refused to take lessons to avoid being contaminated with structure, and began playing with friends in the dorms. “I don't like people being trained to express themselves,” Fuller said. Fuller also refuses to take ownership of his songs. He likes to think that music flows through and not from him. “I don't feel like the songs are mine,” Fuller said. “ I feel like me and my guitar are an antenna.” Fuller does, however, take full responsibility to control how the songs sound to his audience during his many performances. He explained that during one of his recent performances at a local coffee house he deliberately destroyed a song. Fuller wanted to jolt the audience and make them listen for the meaning in his music. He calls this the, “power trip.” “It's the fact that I could play poop in a hand basket and people would clap,” Fuller said. “Songs are billboards for ideas. Don't talk about how your day was. Talk about how you would change the world.”

It seems that Fuller really wants to change the world. “A Sandcastle Still Ice-Maker” was released on Music As Social Awareness Records, which Fuller founded two years ago to help those who were less fortunate with music. Fuller has always enjoyed making compilations tapes for his friends, and has been a fan of local music for many years. He watched local record labels such as Elsinor Records release various poorly recorded demo tapes of local bands. Inspired by the ease in which Elsinor was created and his many musically gifted friends Fuller decided he would start his own label to share his music with the world. “I saw how easy it was to start a crappy tape label,” Fuller said. Fuller donates the profits he makes from his CD and tape sales to various charities such as the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children. “The music industry is a huge resource for charity,” he said. He is also very confident in the direction of MASA Records. “Right now it's just friends or friends of friends,” Fuller said. “But I want some politically minded artists.”

Other local musicians such as Jackie Fiegal have joined MASA Records in support of Fuller's charity work. The artists have played various shows in Bellingham raising about $300 for the Red Cross Cosovo Relief Fund. Fiegal describes her music as folk influenced by the blues that sometimes transitions into punk rock. Lyrically she tries to express her feelings about everyday life and change. “I sing about my life and the people I meet,” Fiegal said. “I try to sing about social issues.” Fiegal and Fuller have been playing at numerous locations around Bellingham attracting the attention of some Western students. Seth Rittenhouse noticed a very artistic contrast in Fuller's music. “His lyrics are very dark in comparison to the music he plays,” said Rittenhouse. Tim Raymond heard Fiegal and immediately recognized a very blues oriented sound driven by a very powerful voice. “She can really belt it out,” Raymond said. “She has a lot of angst behind it.” Fiegal and Fuller are now focusing on expanding their influence. They are planning to tour the west coast in September to continue the quest to help those who are less fortunate. Fuller explained that they are still booking gigs, but plan to play in Bellingham, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.