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 Matthew Good says his new album, Hospital Music, is something he felt he had to get out. Now past his darkest days. Good sees a bright future. |
If renowned motivational speaker Tony Robbins has an iPod, chances are he doesn't have the new Matthew Good album Hospital Music in his rotation.
The record isn't exactly a pick-me-up, with song titles such as Born Losers, Champions of Nothing and 99% of Us is Failure, among others. But Good says it was one he felt had to get out.
"I was faced with either, 'You're going to keep pursuing this from an entirely honest fashion, where you're going to be honest with yourself and there's going to be no regrets with how you go about approaching this record' or, 'You just shouldn't do it anymore,' " Good says. "At least not professionally, anyway, because I didn't want to impeach my integrity artistically."
The period between making that decision and releasing Hospital Music was a tumultuous one for Good. A bout of depression led to being diagnosed as bipolar, which resulted in Good receiving the improper medication to deal with the illness. In the end it left the artist, performing a sold-out show tomorrow night at Massey Hall, hospitalized.
Good says he wasn't concerned with his songwriting possibly being altered from the medications.
"I know that for extremely creative people who suffer from bipolarity, there's always that concern that once they get on proper medication to deal with the illness, that it's going to change," he says. "I haven't found that to be the case because I wrote half the record when I got out of the hospital. I didn't find myself in any kind of a diminished position artistically or empathetically, either."
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In fact, a cover of Daniel Johnston's True Love Will Find You in the End rounds out Hospital Music. Johnston has also had his share of bouts with depression and mental illness.
"I've been a fan of his for a long time and obviously, given his background, I can relate to it," Good says. "One thing I particularly admire about that song is that given everything the guy has gone through, he still has the ability to write it. And he can convey it in such simple language, something so overwhelming." Other highlights on the album include the opening Champions of Nothing that brings to mind material from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the first single, Born Losers, the latter being brutally frank about Good's ex-wife and her mother.
Despite the setbacks, one thing Good has fortunately had to deal with is the success Hospital Music is having Stateside. Huge fans of his work also happened to work for iTunes in the U.S., enabling the album to be released simultaneously in Canada and the U.S. The single received 340,000 free downloads in its first week alone.
"I was absolutely thrilled with it," Good says. "I didn't solicit it to them, it was their idea. And it's the future. I use iTunes tons myself. I don't think I've bought a CD in years. It was really neat to go on the Apple website when they launched the new iTunes and the cover of my record is in the picture."
Good's solo acoustic Canadian tour runs through mid-November, and he is planning on touring the U.S. next February and March. He's also considering touring Canada again next year for a full-band trek.
One thing Good has enjoyed about performing solo is the rather naked nature of the shows.
"There's not enough there to hide behind and you have nobody to fall back on," he says. "To me that's fun."