Quick-Fire Quips is a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the State of Alabama! Today, Alabama Public Radio host Baillee Majors talks with Matt Mandrella, music officer for the City of Huntsville's Music Office.
Baillee: Hey, Matt, how are you?
Matt: I am doing great! Thanks for having me on. This is going to be fun.
Baillee: Yeah, it's a pleasure to have you! For those who are unfamiliar, what is a music officer?
Matt: I am actually honored to be the first music officer in the United States. It kind of sprung from [former] Mayor Tommy Battle's idea that music could be a focus of tourism, quality of life and a more broad economy for Huntsville.
We commissioned this music audit through a company called Sound Diplomacy that laid out the groundwork for ideas to have, and through that came the idea of starting a government music office.
As music officer, I oversee the Huntsville Music Office, and basically, I'd argue we maybe have the coolest government job in the world, in that every day we get to come and figure out how to make all things Huntsville's music environment and ecosystem more awesome, whether that's for quality of life, for tourism or for entertainment.
Baillee: Tell me about Make Music Day [June 21].
Matt: Make Music Day is awesome! It’s an international initiative, and it has grown into a nonprofit that spearheads the event in as many cities and communities as possible.
The rules are really fun and simple: you can go as big or as organic as you want. Anyone who wants to host a performance can, and anyone who wants to play can, as long as it’s free and open to the public.
While a lot of professional musicians are involved, in my mind, it’s really a day to showcase casual instrumentalists and performers. It’s about pop-up shows on front porches and in fire stations.
We work with the Huntsville Hospital System, for instance, and they actually activate musicians throughout the building that day as part of their music therapy program. I usually set up a performance on my own front porch with a couple of community sets; it’s been a lot of fun helping coordinate that.
Our main role is just encouraging as many people as possible to come out and participate. While you have buskers downtown on the square, my favorite aspect is the 'porch jams.'
We’ve learned that there is so much talent in this city—our fire department, for example, puts together a bluegrass jam in one of the stations every year.
It’s really awesome and brings everyone together. It’s one of those very few 'bulletproof' music events that get no discouraging comments on social media, because you can’t really complain when everyone is invited to play.
Baillee: Are there any [other] events that you want to throw out for people to mark their calendars?
Matt: Concert season kind of start[ed] rolling out in April, in terms of the big outdoor shows.
Of course our Von Braun Center and Mars Music Hall and various concert spaces inside that facility are going to constantly have shows.
And Ditto Landing, which is a lot of people don't realize Huntsville does have a waterfront on the Tennessee River.
Another one we're excited about is 805 After Five, which is on Campus No. 805... where we showcase touring acts with locals as well.
I'm really proud to say that on our music calendar, we know for a fact that we've had over 2,200 live music events in Huntsville last year.
When you average that out, it’s easy to say there are a lot of options to see music in Huntsville, not just every week, but every day. We are trying to have something for everybody.
Baillee: Alright, now that the introductions are done, we will get you warmed up to do the questionnaire! To do that, I want you to say "Quick-Fire Quips" three times fast.
Matt: Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips.
Baillee: Okay, awesome! Did you practice that?
Matt: I did.
Baillee: Well, you did great! Here's the first question: What comes to mind when you hear Alabama?
Matt: Oh, I'd say beauty. You know, the "Alabama the Beautiful" tagline is, I think, pretty spot on.
I grew up in the Baldwin County region, close to multiple bodies of water, and then having now been in Huntsville, with kind of like the mountains and everything in between — the natural beauty of the state is really spectacular.
Baillee: Speaking of Huntsville, what is a hidden gem that people should know about?
Matt: Ooh, there's a lot! I'd say our local music scene. My kind of like no-real-data-behind-it theory is that Huntsville obviously has a city workforce that's very intelligent, to say the least, with the defense sector and NASA and everything here.
You know, the number of advanced degrees and PhDs here, and usually really intelligent, smart people who are awesome at the work they do are usually the quietest and most humble in the room.
I think that definitely extends to our music community, where there's some just absolutely amazing talent, top to bottom, across all genres, both on stage and behind the scenes, doing really just globally impactful work.
It's kind of an exciting part of my job where they're too humble to get on Monte Sano Mountain and talk about how awesome they are, and so I take a lot of pride in screaming about how awesome they are for them.
Baillee: What is your favorite thing about living in Alabama?
Matt: I have a daughter who's six... She's at the age where I can kind of take her to work a lot. We put on her ear protection, and she can dance around to the shows and she has a great time.
My parents just relocated to Huntsville to be closer to her and to spoil her rotten, so right now just family and work. It's a pretty awesome balance right now.
I get to spend a lot of time with my parents, and it's just in a great environment to raise our daughter.
Baillee: I feel like your daughter probably brags a lot that her dad has the coolest job in the world!
Matt: Well, she's also at that age where when it's just her, it's awesome, but when her friends are around, it's like, "Dad, get away." You know, she's that age where parents aren't that cool.
Baillee: Ahh, I see... as a former child myself, we grow in and out of that, so hopefully you'll get some of those "oh, my dad's cool" years coming up soon!
Okay, let's see. What is a bad stereotype or something that people get wrong about Alabama?
Matt: Ooh, you know, it's kind of the exact opposite of what Huntsville is. Just the backwoods, low education, kind of stuck in outdated beliefs — just absolutely the exact opposite.
Alabama gets a lot of negative stereotypes that just don't really reflect on the true values of the core people of the state.
Baillee: Yeah, I think Huntsville is a really great example where there's a lot of art and culture and music and a lot to discover.
Huntsville is such a great example of that in our state — the things that people don't think about with Alabama.
Matt: Right, and football is awesome, but there's more to Alabama than football, right?
Baillee: Yes! As someone who's not very sportsy, I cannot agree more.
Matt: And they let you live in Tuscaloosa?
Baillee: I know, I try to keep it under wraps — that's off the record. I'm allowed back at work sometimes when I have to be on my best behavior!
Baillee: I read online that you were the only officially recognized music officer in the state of Alabama as a whole. Why is this position so rare?
Matt: Well, it was rare, but it's starting to pick up more. Europe and across the pond have had government music offices for a long time that are focused on enhancing culture and tourism and everything in between. So we're the first U.S. city to really go full in on that European model and establish a music office in that form, and put a music officer in place.
And in Texas — I lived in Austin for about 12 years — Texas has, you know, they're kind of the OGs of state music offices, where they've had one established for decades.
There's a Tennessee music office now, they're doing great work in North Carolina, the Alabama Film Office has actually pivoted to the Alabama Entertainment Office and they have an entertainment officer, so they've combined some music incentives with the film incentives the state offers.
Baillee: What is your favorite part of the job?
Matt: I think it's a combination. Of course, just getting to work in music every day is such a huge plus and just good for the state of mind and mental health.
But also just the uniqueness and newness of the role — I can't do a worse job than the guy before me. So that responsibility to lay a foundation, not only for the work we're doing now, but to set that baseline for success for ten, twenty years down the road — having a role that's focused on community development and long-term economic and urban development — that's the fun and challenging part.
Baillee: You mentioned how exciting it is to get to work in music and around music every day. How are you involved in music on a personal level?
Matt: You know, I've always been a huge music fan, and back in college I started playing around in bands and different things like that, and kind of played that Gulf Coast regional circuit down at the beach. In my mind I was going to be the next Dave Matthews or John Bell from Widespread Panic.
So I moved to Charlotte for a bit to keep exploring that and keep up that dream, and then it was kind of at a point where it was like, okay, I've got to move to Nashville or Austin to try to make it. And I was in Austin for about five minutes. Long story short, it was very intimidating.
But thankfully I was able to recognize that my talent on stage in my head was not the reality of what it took to be a performance artist, and so I took a hard pivot and really dove in behind the scenes to absorb as much as I could about how the industry mechanics worked behind the stage.
I landed a seasonal position at SXSW with one of my mentors, who's still a good friend today, named Brad Spies... I did that for about three years, and then saw the Huntsville Music Office position pop up on social media, and it just seemed really exciting and interesting.
Baillee: Would you say music has made Huntsville a little bit popular? Do you think there's a want for music there?
Matt: Absolutely. And I think the Orion Amphitheater, and just the attendance at all our shows and community events across the board, are definitely reflecting that.
The Orion Amphitheater is nominated for the Polestar Award for Best Outdoor Venue in the country this year. It was recognized as Best Outdoor Venue a couple years ago. And I still kind of have to pinch myself and remind myself that we're in Huntsville when shows are happening there, because the team does such an incredible job on both the artist and the fan experience.
And just Alabama as a whole — you know, there are a lot of nice catalysts, like The Red Clay Strays. I'm a 6'8" guy. It's kind of like I'm living vicariously through their lead singer [Brandon Coleman is 6'6" tall], because it's like, "Oh, this is what I thought I would be."
But that's a huge catalyst. And you know, we take a lot of pride in leading by example — we think the Huntsville music scene is the North Alabama music scene is the Alabama music scene.
We really get behind that rising-tide-lifts-all-boats mindset. We want to see Huntsville reach its full potential, but when we reach our full potential, the state reaches its full potential. And wow, what an exciting thing for our grandkids.
Baillee: Okay, sidebar — real quick. Did you say you were 6'8" tall?
Matt: I am.
Baillee: I'm 6'0" and for a woman that is pretty tall. So hearing that someone is walking around at 6'8" in Alabama is kind of comforting.
I feel like you always have a good view at a concert. Like, you never have to worry too much about not being able to see over the crowd.
Matt: Correct. But you never get that front-row access because... it's a lot of taps on the back and "Hey, would you mind if I just scooted in front of you?" So yeah, I always have a good view, but I can never high-five the lead singer. Hashtag —
Baillee: Hashtag—Just let tall people live!
(Baillee and Matt laugh)
What's something that you wish more people knew about when it comes to the local music scene?
Matt: I think it's really diving in and discovering new artists and giving locals who are doing original music a shot.
It's very easy to find music that you can all listen to and sing along to and groove to. But now more than ever — with streaming limiting revenue streams to a certain extent, where people aren't buying CDs and records and cassettes like they used to because of streaming services — it's affecting how artists are able to be compensated.
So it's now more important than ever to buy merch, support local artists who are really putting themselves out there, creating original music, and trying to develop their bands.
You can't make people like music, but our hope is that we're at least encouraging as many people as possible to give new music a shot and then decide if they like it.
Baillee: Speaking of music — if there were an alien invasion, what three albums would you give the aliens to represent Earth's music?
Matt: Oh. That's a toughie. I'm a huge Beatles nerd, so let's just say the Beatles' greatest hits, Volume 1 and 2.
My personal favorite album of all time is by a band called Frightened Rabbit, and the album is called Midnight Organ Fight.
For the third — it's tough. I want to throw something country and hip-hop in there, so maybe like a mixed CD of Death Row's greatest hits and George Strait's greatest hits — the kind I burned on a drive back when Napster was a thing in college.
Baillee: Do you have any superstitions or irrational fears?
Matt: Ironically, I am extremely terrified of heights.
Baillee: Me too!
Matt: Or maybe extreme heights, because I'm not scared of walking around, right... I can go to the Sears Tower and look out the window, but if it's like a two-story building with an open-air rail looking over— no.
Baillee: Yeah, I can't do the Ferris wheel.
Matt: it's funny. As a kid I used to love roller coasters and all that, but last time I went on a roller coaster, and it wasn't even a big roller coaster, I turned white. It was just terrifying.
Ferris wheels are about as much as I can do, as long as I'm kind of encapsulated.
Baillee: Even the Galleria in Birmingham — if you've ever been, it's a multi-layered mall but it's kind of opened up, and you can see down over the rails, it's almost like an arena.
I think part of my fear comes from my mom, because whenever I would go over to the rail to look over, she would yell at me that I was going to fall. So maybe that's part of where the fear of heights came from.
Matt: My other fear — speaking of mothers that instill fear in you to this day — is hard candy. Because when she was a kid, she almost choked on a piece of hard candy.
As long as I can remember, she was very scared to ever get us hard candy, and if she did, it was like "Be careful, be careful eating this so you don't die." So I was raised to be terrified of eating hard candy.
Baillee: Oh goodness.
Matt: "Be careful, be careful eating this so you don't die." So I was raised to be terrified of eating hard candy.
Baillee: Thanks, Mom! Can't ever enjoy a Jolly Rancher!
Matt: That's the only thing I can say negative about my mother. She's awesome.
Baillee: I love that! Tell me something on your bucket list.
Matt: Ooh, traveling more. Really exploring more of Europe. Got to finally go to London. I have a fear of flying factored in, but I finally saw London.
Planning to see more of the Scandinavian region. Been to Mexico a couple of times, been to the Caribbean, but really wanting to just see more of the world.
And especially now that she's at an age where she can walk around and you don't have to carry her all day or push a stroller — really wanting to give my daughter a proper worldview.
Baillee: Did you have a childhood hero when you were growing up?
Matt: I had a few. On the sports side, I was a huge Michael Jordan fan, and to this day I have way too many pairs of Nikes and Jordans that I shuffle through.
And then just various music heroes. For a while my mom was so awesome about rocking out in the carpool lane, and she was very big into the hair bands — it was kind of that Bon Jovi, Bret Michaels hair band thing for a while. Then that kind of morphed into more of the Dave Matthews and the Widespread Panics.
But then once I started doing music myself and traveling and getting exposed to more college radio and independent artists, that's when the web really started broadening.
Michael Jordan and Dave Matthews were probably my two core heroes. I tried to model my basketball game after Michael Jordan — unsuccessfully — and my performance career after Dave Matthews — also unsuccessfully. So those were probably my guys.
Baillee: Okay, Matt, here is the last question: What does Alabama need?
Matt: Oh, let's see. What does Alabama need? Gosh, I think just more intention around music. I think it'd be awesome to see more state music offices and more city offices within the state.
What a great opportunity — if we had every city with a music office and all of them doing tour grants, what a great opportunity for Alabama to be a city of choice for musicians to live in and sustain their careers, and also just bringing their art to more people.
Music is such a great escape from whatever's happening in your interpersonal or professional life, whether positive or negative.
Similar to going to a movie, going to a concert and immersing yourself in the music gives you at least a two-hour respite to just really be one with the artist and have a little peace and happiness.
Baillee: Alright, that's it for today's Quick-Fire Quips, a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the state of Alabama! That was Matt Mandrella, music officer for the city of Huntsville. I'm your host, Baillee Majors. Find us at APR.org for more Quick-Fire Quips!
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