Episode 19: Matthew Schwartz from Pacifico. Live at ” the Bird’s Nest”

Despite first impressions, Pacifico is not an ordinary band. At its most tangible, Pacifico exists in the world as an audible collage: a musical patchwork slowly pieced together by a revolving door of both established and roaming musicians, each adding a unique, artistic inch to the project at hand. But if you didn’t know any of that, you might label it as the surprisingly well rounded solo project of one musician: a guy named Matthew Schwartz. Pacifico was originally formed in 1999 and made notable marks in their career having their songs featured in movies (Wish For Christmas), on TV shows (Now What?, Sausage Factory), in video games (Rock Band Download), and on the radio. Additionally, their music video for “xMultiplyx” played on MTV and FUSE. However, after many years touring, recording demos, and playing showcases, the band parted ways. It was then that Matthew decided to take Pacifico into a less committed approach, which allowed him to work with artists he wouldn’t have previously been able to collaborate with. Pacifico, now with a new focus, started to record songs and release them independently. Matthew has since been finally able to self-release two full-length albums, Thin Skin And An Open Heart where he collaborated with Jason Martin (Starflyer 59), Steven Dial (Project 86), and Sam West (Stavesacre), and Without Heroes, collaborating with Jesse Sprinkle of Poor Old Lu. For his new album and third full-length, Everest, Matthew decided to collaborate with Ronnie Martin (Joy Electric) for his analog synth skills. He also collaborated with published poet Vincent Cellucci for the lyrics, and Trey Wadsworth (Adult Swim) on the artwork. Everest has taken 3 and a half years, 5 studios and 12 musicians to create. With a more complex song structure, emotionally poetic lyrics and a new musical territory. Everest was certainly a hard climb, but what you see at the top is an honest, earnest, beautiful, and fun account of life in the 21st century. www.pacificorock.com