Arts
In this episode we talk with Matt Appleton about pivoting. Matt's storied career is a captivating success story. He is a Vermont based saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist record producer best known as the saxophone player and vocalist for ska legends Reel Big Fish. He graduated from Skidmore College in 2003 with a BA in Music and Full Sail University in 2004 with an AS in Recording Arts. He is the recipient of a 2019 Grammy Award nomination for his work on “Made an America” by The Fever 333 as well as two ARIA awards for his work on Silverchair’s “Young Modern” (Album of the Year and Rock Album of the Year). Matt began his recording career as an engineer for legendary English producer Nick Launay. He then spent many years as head engineer for producer John Feldmann. In the studio Matt has engineered, produced, and performed on a variety of instruments for records by Rachel Platten, Panic! At the Disco, The Used, Good Charlotte, Silverchair, Refused, Gavin Degraw, Anti-Flag, Set it Off, Von Smith, The Veronicas, The Mowglis, Foxy Shazam, Story of the Year, and Atreyu, to name a few. As a member of Reel Big Fish, Matt plays approximately 200 shows a year worldwide, including extensive tours of Europe, Russia, South America, Japan, and Australia. He has performed at the Vans Warped Tour, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Sonisphere, Boomtown, Give it a Name, and Slam Dunk festivals among others. In addition to his career as a touring musician, Matt is also a member of the pop songwriting duo Peter Panic and composes for Extreme Music, Superpop, and the Kingdom 2 Division of APM. Their work can be heard regularly on a number of cable and network TV shows, including “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” “Girl Meets World,” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” They are also the creators of DreamworksTV's "Sung History" and "Sung Science" series, which make learning about the past and the natural world fun for kids through catchy musical cartoons.