Searching for Matt Gray

[64KReady]

Hello,

I have a quick question I was hoping readers of this site might help me with:

Several years ago I fell in love with the music Matt Gray wrote for the Commodore 64. Like many before me, I attempted to contact him, and failed.

Unable to personally thank him, I remixed his work (a strange act of homage that readers of this site will be familiar with). As I am not a musician, though, I remixed his and other C64 musician's words (http://mattgray64.wordpress.com/).

To my question: While researching for that article, I found that there are few sources that discuss the professional Commodore 64 musician's experience writing for games in the mid to late 1980s. I found no memoirs or biographies (official or unofficial), nor did I find any works (beyond brief interviews and presentations) that discussed how these musicians composed their music, how they negotiated and interacted with game companies, and what life was like in this unique scene, which appeared to afford those working in it the freedom to create remarkable music.

This whole period fascinates me. I would love to read more about it. Is anyone able recommend to me a book (or perhaps an essay) about what life was like for a Commodore musician at this time?

Thanks,
Ruairi

[Chris Abbott]

There are an awful lot of interviews lying around on the net, many of them on this very site. I wrote an article myself for one of the Retro Gamer specials which you don't seem to have referenced. There's also that YouTube video of the talk that Rob gave in Finland, I think. That was far from brief, and is the nearest you'll get to a biography.

Other than that, like Douglas Adams having to repeat the same anecdotes again and again, the composers have been asked so many times that their material has kind of worn down to a series of polished anecdotes: Mark Cale and the Mercedes, Rob Hubbard and Commando night, legendary drinking parties at PCW shows, etc.

Matt's life basically has always revolved around the microwave and the studio: it was thus when I first contacted him in 2001 (like you, through his brother Lou), and it still probably is.

[Chris Abbott]

BTW, you say you're searching for Matt Gray, but it sounds as if you've already found him....! (as much as anyone ever does!)

[64KReady]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the quick reply. I encountered your name several times during my research and I regret not having made contact.

I would love to read the article you wrote for "one of the Retro Gamer specials". If possible, could you please reply to this post with a link to the article? Otherwise, if you provide a detailed citation then I can attempt to retrieve your article myself.

I am aware of most of the interviews that exist on this site and other similar sites (I intend, though, to investigate the anecdotes about Mark Cale and the Mercedes, and the drinking at the PCW shows). I would agree, too, that Rob Hubbard's presentation in Finland (as well as Linus Akesson's presentation in Germany) are exceptional insights into the early Commodore 64 music scene and how the music was composed.

I suppose I am looking for a longer written work that has organised all the primary material into a coherent narrative; in short, I'm lazy and I'm hoping someone else has done the work.

I suppose, too, that you're right in suggesting that I have already found Matt (curiously, I found him not through Lou, but rather through his older brother). And yet it doesn't feel like I found him; or at least the conclusion is unsatisfying (I would have given a lot to share even the briefest correspondence with him). Anyway, as you say, I got close ... "as much as anyone ever does".

Thanks again for replying, and sharing your own experience ("the microwave and the studio" - I like that).
Ruairi

[Chris Abbott]

It's not online, but I pasted it into Remix64:

http://www.remix64.com/articles/compute ... years.html

Chris

[64KReady]

Thanks Chris.

A fantastic article — I enjoyed reading it.

An important article, too — I think there will always be people who are interested in the key players behind the early Commodore 64 music scene.

All the best,
Ruairi

[Commie_User]

A superb article. I had a similar theory myself about the SID defining an era on its own. I knew I had all those machines on my wall for some reason or another.

I also love the idea of home computers being ersatz studio equipment even back in the 80s, when you still didn't need any pro gear to turn out something you could have had sold in all the shops.