Pounding The Pavement

Photo by Candace Houle

From a quiet life in Brandon, Manitoba to living and learning in Liverpool, Katlin Mathison, has always had his eyes on professional growth. The brains behind Winnipeg’s Okay Mann talks about his drive to being the best musician he can be,  the Liverpool scene, and his one-on-one co-writing session with Sir Paul McCartney.

.   .   .

 

CH: What started your interest in music?
KM: I played music for a long time when I was a kid. I played piano and guitar, and when I was in high school, I played in bands. I liked to write songs in my early teens, and I played in a band and toured around Canada when I was 16 & 17. I decided it was what I wanted to do so I went to school in Edmonton for Jazz and Classical composition and then I went to school in England, called the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. There I studied songwriting and production, and that was just it. I mean, a music degree is not that useful, but it was good to understand what it takes to make a living. I moved back closer to home in Winnipeg and tried to get into the scene. I’m still trying to get in.

CH: What was it like being in Liverpool and being in a completely different environment than the Winnipeg music scene.
KM: Before going there I had never actually been in the Winnipeg music scene. I played around a few times, but I’m actually from Brandon [Manitoba]. It was cool. It was a lot different from what I expected it would be. I was 20 when I moved [to Liverpool], and I thought it would be the same because we all speak English, but it’s a lot different. Liverpool, in particular, was eye-opening because every night there was like five or six bands I could see even on a Tuesday. There’s always stuff going on which is kind of like Winnipeg. There’s always a lot of good music. I was in a music school, and all my friends were in bands, so it was a good environment to learn those skills.

CH: Paul McCartney helped write your song, “Without you Dear.” What was that experience like?
KM: So the way that worked out was Paul McCartney co-founded [the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts]. Of the people who major in songwriting, they pick a handful to have one-on-one sessions with Paul, and I was lucky to be picked. I met with him a few times. Usually, I would bring some songs, and he totally left it up to me. I could bring in nothing,

or I could bring a finished song and kind of run it by him. I chose to go halfway and picked a few songs. There are other songs that I co-wrote with him that I had written most of, and I just worked it through with him; rearranged the structure or added a word here or there. He’s super nice and super chill. It was really weird. I was sitting holding a guitar. He sat at the piano, and I’d play through the song, and he’d be like ‘play the chorus again,’ and he would start playing it on the piano, singing and just doing anything. That was so crazy having him sing what I wrote. That was kind of cool.

CH: You recently recorded in Iceland correct?
KM: I shot a video in Iceland in December. That was a stopover to recording in Norway for the next record. The Little Mersey EP that came out two or three months ago was recorded half in Liverpool and half at home. I just sent files back and forth. I’ve had some success in Norway in the past, so I like to go there a couple of times a year to just write with some people I know there. I like to keep the industry contacts I have there; keep a good relationship. I actually have a gold single in Norway from when I was 20. It’s pretty funny how it’s a pop song. It’s weird.

CH: What are your inspirations when you’re trying to write a song, you’ve mentioned that you try to write one song per week.
KM: It’s a lot of everything. I listen to a pretty wide scope of things, like classical or hip-hop, which I don’t think directly correlates to my music but it does kind of trickle in there somewhere. I think your ears are always recording whatever you hear so the more you put in, the more you take out of it. As far as musical influences, I’ve been listening to a lot of Tallest Man on Earth and Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, and Frightened Rabbit. These are artists that resonate a lot with me. I’ve been listening to some older stuff like John Prine, just classic good songwriting lately. But as far as the inspiration for the drive, it was actually my roommate Dylan MacDonald. He plays in the Middle Coast. He and some other musicians started this thing called The Song Club, where you have to write, record and send in a song every week. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Even if you turn out a song, and you’re like ‘yeah I probably won’t use that,’ it’s just a good muscle-flex. Sometimes I’ll write a classical piece, or sometimes it’s more a pop tune that I’m not going to use, it’s just getting good writing.

CH: You are starting to establish yourself in Winnipeg’s music scene. You’ve played with a number of different bands, Finn and Micah Visser. Do you prefer doing solo stuff or do you like playing with a band?
KM: I do like the band. I do play with a group now with Okay Mann. I’m lucky that I have a lot of friends that are really talented and I trust. It is good to take what I put in the initial direction of a song or an idea and then flesh it out with them. As far as live playing, I prefer playing with people. Going back to that Liverpool thing, I chose it because when I was in high school, I was always fronting bands and when I moved to England, I thought I wanted to get better at not fronting bands. In England, I was in a whole bunch of bands, and I was never a singer. I played synths or I played bass, or backing things up just to kind of get better at it.

I’m basically just trying to get better at everything that I can whether it’s writing, recording, the business side of things, design stuff or whatever.

CH: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Do you see music as a full-time gig or do you see it just being a hobby for you?
KM: I can certainly make ends meet with music now. I like to stay really busy. I’m most productive in music when I’m also doing other stuff. In 10 more years, I think I’d like to be working in the industry, probably not as a performer. I’m giving it my all right now and pushing that. I’m basically just trying to get better at everything that I can whether it’s writing, recording, the business side of things, design stuff or whatever. I just want to get good at those things. That’s what it’s all about, skill building for me right now. I would like to see myself working more so in the industry, either out at a label or a PR agency. I’d like to see a manager but I know I’m not that organized. I’m kind of building the skills for them now. I’m doing marketing at Skip the Dishes and then playing full-time too.

CH: What new projects are you working and what’s coming up for you?
KM: For Finn, we’re working on an EP. We’ve been writing and recording a lot. We’ve got a bunch of new tunes I’m quite excited about.

For me, I’m also doing lots of weird stuff. I’ve been ghostwriting a lot of raps for UK artists. I just write and record them and send them back and then they usually re-record them. It’s a fun thing that I don’t attach my name to. For Okay Mann, I’m working towards a few singles and then maybe an EP. Most of them are already written. The music video is done. Right now it’s all about building out a team because for the last [EP] I virtually did all the PR and all that myself. I’d like to build the team around this time. I’m just writing a lot, trying to get better at everything I can and then building a team.

I’m also trying to expand to some new markets. I’ve been fairly good at hitting the markets I know I have pull in – Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, that kind of thing. I’d like to get out more so I’m planning a tour of British Columbia in May, and I’d like to get further to Eastern Canada later this year too.

CH: Okay, last one! What is the origin of the name, Okay Mann?
KM: Okay Mann comes from the movie, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. It’s one of my favorite movies. Steve Zissou is this guy’s purported father, and he comes up to him and introduces himself as a grown man like ‘hey I’m Ned Plankton’ or whatever and Steve just goes, ‘Okay, man.’ It’s the most harsh shutdown but it’s also kind of polite. I laughed at that really hard. I’ve gotten into the habit of saying that to people whenever there’s not a built-in response; like ‘oh I’m really tired’ or something where there’s not really anything you should say but you should say something. I just say ‘okay man’ all the time.

It also works on another level like, ‘I’m okay, man.’ I write sad songs, but I’m okay, man. The reason there are two N’s in Okay Mann is that I was touring in Norway quite a lot when I was conceiving the project, and man in Norwegian would be MANN. From a graphic design standpoint, it’s four letters so with four letters, it’s easier to fit into things.

Stay up-to-date with Okay Mann through Facebook.com/okaymannmusic, and through twitter and instagram @okay_mann.