‘We got a great vibe from everyone there.’ – Matthew And The Atlas

Copyright © 2011 Sandra Ciampone

After touring the U.S. with Mumford & Sons this June, and with several appearances set to be made at the UK festivals this summer, Matthew And The Atlas are definitely ones to watch. The English folksters treated the Songs From A Room audience to an acoustic set in London last Wednesday, including the song ‘The Waves’ from the band’s four track EP ‘Kingdom Of Your Own’, out now. Singer Matthew Hegarty was kind enough to answer some questions about their intimate SoFar performance.

Matthew and the Atlas recorded live at Songs from a Room London July 2011

How did you first hear about Songs From A Room? 

We were playing a gig at the Mercury Lounge in New York and someone told us about it after the show.

What do you think about the Sofar movement? 

I think it’s great, it allows the bands to play in a really nice and different environment than they are used too, and gives the audience a different listening experience as well. Hopefully because you don’t know which bands will be playing you get exposed to genres of music you wouldn’t normally listen to as well.

How does performing at Sofar compare with playing other gigs?

It’s always lovely to play to a quiet audience, the space was really nice and we got a great vibe from everyone there, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It’s also unusual for us to play on a more eclectic line up, as they don’t normally work, but because the show was acoustic for all the bands there was a nice thread which ran through the whole night of music and it worked really well.

Copyright © 2011 Sandra Ciampone

Where can we see you next?

Friday 22nd July – Wickerman Festival, Dundrennan, Scotland
Saturday 23rd July –  The Deer Shed Festival, Yorkshire, UK
Fri 12th Aug –  Haldern Pop Festival, Haldern, Germany
Sunday 21st August – Green Man Festival, Breacon Beacons, Wales

Kingdom of Your Own EP

The band’s music is available to buy at  http://www.musicglue.net/matthewandtheatlas/store/. There are also three highly recommended free downloads at the same site. Of course, you can also buy the music digitally from iTunes, and check out their Daytrotter Session here  http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/matthew-and-the-atlas-concert/20054859-37382477.html. Also, for Scottish fans, keep your eyes peeled for a tour of the highlands in August!