Were you good at music at school did you study music and how did you decide a career in music was for you?

 

- I played in my school’s rock band which was a legitimate class, not an extracurricular. I don’t know if I was good or simply good by the standards of the class, but I was well regarded in that context. Plus the teacher and I share musical taste. That didn’t hurt. My life in music snowballed until it was unequivocally the path for me. 

 

What have you been up to in the last year with your music?

 

-  Over the course of 2024 I’ve released a new album and I have another in the hopper poised for a mid-2025 drop. And in order to fuel the engine, I write as often as I can. That’s the germ of it all. 

 

What makes your music stand out from other acts. Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that people might not already know?

 

- I focus on songcraft in a way that might be anachronistic but I believe that the method by which I discern the power of the song before dressing it up with the fixings of production is unique to this moment in music history. 1) I’m an evangelical vegetarian. 2) I am a devoted fan of the Golden State Warriors. 3) I hope to appear in a major motion picture someday. 

 

If there are people who have never heard of you what song or clip would you send them and where can they find you on social media?

 

- I’d send them the animated music video for my song Voodoo Doll. My name will lead to all manner of social media and online content. They just have to spell Jaffe correctly. A lot of people have a hard time with that.

 

Tell us what you currently have out music wise and any gigs merch etc you have coming up?

 

- I have a full album coming this year and my nineth album well on its way to completion. The eighth album was a step away from guitar rock with an emphasis on reverberant synthetic production. The new one is a marriage of that excursion and my longstanding HQ of power trio pop rock. 

 

Who are your inspiration in life and in music. Also who are your biggest supporters with your music?

 

- My favorite musicians are Talking Heads and Magnetic Fields and their respective chief songwriters, David Byrne and Stephin Merritt. I’ll name just the two since if I went on, the echelons of inspiration would become blurry and the list would mushroom. Aside from music, I’m very inspired by Shaun Livingston, John Irving, Ralph Fiennes and Julia Alvarez. My father is my biggest supporter. 

 

Have you ever written a song dedicated to a person thing or place if so tell us about it if not who or what would you choose?

 

- Not really. I write for myself. It’s inadvertent gravy if it happens to be an ode of sorts. 

 

Where are your favourite gig venues and festivals on your bucket list.What is your best memory at gig as a music artist and as a fan?

 

- The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Red Rocks in Colorado and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park are my goals. Seeing David Byrne at the Greek was a revelation for young Matt. Neutral Milk Hotel in New York City. Randy Newman at Hardly Strictly. Tom Petty at Madison Square Garden.

 

What moments in your life have lead you to where you are today?

 

- Meeting Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads as a fifth grader and subsequently recording 16 songs with him. Having brain surgery and subsequently developing epilepsy. Working on the first of many albums with longtime collaborator James DePrato and learning how to make the most of a studio. Leaving college to open for Blues Traveler on a national tour. Reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. Starting to drink coffee because I thought the caffeine would help with a congested ear that didn’t pop after a cross country flight. Listening to How It Ends by Devotchka while mountain biking along the California coastline. Being introduced to The Third Man by my twin cousins in Washington State. 

 

What is your opinion on social media and what is your favorite one to use?

 

- I like Instagram because (on average!) the accounts I follow are more thoughtfully and artfully curated than the cesspool of Twitter. My opinion of social media is that it is helpful for my music career and any criticism I have would be tired and trite. 

 

What is your favourite food drink and place to be, also what do you like to do in your downtime?

 

- With my downtime, I like to run through San Francisco, read fiction (I’m very into short stories right now) and read food blogs that lead me to the best kale salads in the city. My current restaurant crush is a Greek place called Novy though it’s not my GOAT restaurant. If I told you what that was I’d have to kill you.

 

What has the next year got in store for you?

 

- I’m striving for more national touring and excited to see my album through to the finish line!