Q with Matt Schwartz – The man behind local pop-rock band Pacifico opens up

Matt Schwartz has four jobs. You might have seen him at GoYaYa’s, serving up crepes; or trying to find that one song for a film at Fusion Media Studios. Once a week, he also trades a few hours of work at Yoga Bliss for free classes.

However, Schwartz’s final and favorite occupation is writing tunes under the moniker Pacifico. For more than a decade, Schwartz and a rotating cast of players have created quite a set list of pop-rock gems.

I caught up with Schwartz to talk about his new album, Without Heroes. The album release party kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mud and Water. Admission is free, and among the festivities are food trucks, a documentary screening and raffle giveaways.

Matthew Sigur: You had told me awhile back the story behind the title Without Heroes. Tell me that again. There were certain thoughts behind that…

Matt Schwartz: You’d think so. [Laughs] When I write lyrics, they kind of come out of thin air. It takes me usually one to three months to finish a song. When I say a finish a song, I mean melody and chord structure and arrangement. Lyrics are the very last thing I do. During that time, I will be saying something over and over again. Then, I’ll make a couple of demos before it’s actually recorded. In those demos, I’ll write down everything I’m saying. When it comes time to write the lyrics for the album, I look at everything and try to figure out, “What the hell is this song about?”

I hate writing lyrics. I need a muse or something, an angle. When I did that with this album, it seemed like they were all about a central idea. This one, they were all about people I cared about — my grandparents, my parents, my friends, love, artists I look up to. Then, when it came to negative songs, it was the other side of the coin. It was looking at the absence of heroes.

M. Sigur: When you’re writing, you said it takes you months. It sounds like you’re pretty patient with it, and you want the best to come out.

M. Schwartz: Yeah, I’m pretty patient and maybe, pretty possibly, lazy. [Laughs] Whenever I try to write a song, it never turns out to be half as good as when it just comes to me. I’m spending most of my time trying to figure out what it is I hear, what it is that’s there, rather than trying to write something.

M. Sigur: This album—correct me if I’m wrong—it took a good year or two?

M. Schwartz: I started it April 2010. It’s taken three years. Mostly, the songs are about four years old, around that. Some of them were written in 2000 or earlier.

M. Sigur: Living with the songs, knowing they’re not out, describe that for me.

M. Schwartz: It’s aggravating. I’m glad this is finally coming out, and people have a chance to listen to this. Hopefully, they’ll like it and connect, but I’m over it myself. I’ve heard it enough.

M. Sigur: How many times have you heard these songs?

M. Schwartz: [Laughs] I don’t even know. I catch myself, even though I seem sick of this album, sometimes I’ll be listening to something I really like and think, “That’s what I was trying to go for.” I’ll put my album back in, and I’ll listen to see if I captured that like they did. Usually, after I listen and do the comparison, it’s like “OK, I’m done with this.”

M. Sigur: The album was recorded across four states in five studios and with some help a number of good musicians. Was there a location you did prefer?

M. Schwartz: We did so many different things at them, so it’s tough to say. But, at Favorite Gentlemen Studios [in Athens, Ga.], we did one song there, and that was “I Wanna Love You Like I’m Sober.” I feel like that song has a very particular feeling that the others don’t. I like what it has.

M. Sigur: It’s got a distinct space-y-ness.

M. Schwartz: Yeah. It’s got something.

M. Sigur: It’s dark.

M. Schwartz: Yeah, and we recorded most of it all within 12 hours.

M. Sigur: Had you written it in the studio or did it come out before?

M. Schwartz: I was writing for the album at the time. I had pretty much the bulk of the songs I wanted to do. With that song in particular, I didn’t have the lyrics finished yet. I had some demos of it. When I do demos, I make up words as I go. My friend Jeremiah Edmond calls me while I’m in town and tells me they just got a new board, and would I want to do a song. The answer was “of course.” In the studio, I’m listening back while they do other parts. As we’re going through the song, I’m listening to the old demo and writing down exactly what I sang. I’m looking at it and seeing what it can mean. The cool thing is I only changed two words. It seemed so honest and real, seemed perfect for that.

M. Sigur: Over this period of time, was there ever any moment where you thought, “I’m done with this”?

M. Schwartz: No. I know that I’m determined enough that it would eventually come out, but “when?” I didn’t know the answer to that. The main reason it took so long was money more than anything. I funded this thing fully myself. I tried to do a Kickstarter, and I failed; so I was back at square one. I was forced to decide, “Am I going to push forward and do this anyway?” or “Am I just going to let it fall apart?” Well, this is what I do. It may not come out as soon as I want it to, but it’s what I wanted. That was my thinking process. So, I would save up enough money to go record the drums, then I’d wait awhile, then record the rhythm guitar and that kind of stuff.

M. Sigur: You’ve released albums for how long?

M. Schwartz: I started doing Pacifico in ’99, the first album came out in 2000.

M. Sigur: So you’ve been at it 13 years, and you moved here not too long ago. What’s it been like playing here? Did you have any expectations?

M. Schwartz: No. I moved here for love. We were chasing the movie industry. In my opinion, almost every city and town is the same except for the amount of shows that come through, the bar and food options, and the people you know. You can’t replace your friends. But, shows? I never knew what to expect. I had played shows in Louisiana, but never Baton Rouge. I like this city as an art city. With Stabbed in the Art, Music and Movies on the Lawn, the BR Walls project downtown, as well as Nitty Gritty Songwriters’ Night…there’s a good collective of artists. Not only are they talented, but they’re willing to work together for the greater good for the art itself. That is something that I noticed that is different about Baton Rouge that I like.