selected concert reviews
"Matt Sargent’s Tide has five types of action—rise, fall, sustain, return, silence—for each of the nine sliding instruments. It all seems so simple and so natural, and yet it sets up a complex set of interactions." [soundexpanse.com]
"As cars passed by on Charleston Boulevard, they triggered a computer to extract and play noises recorded in the ghost town 155 miles away: a droning sound from wind blowing through mesquite and creosote, rocks dragging across the gravel and wind blowing into bottles that were collected in the remote area and hung from a fence. Mixing the desert sounds with the natural ebb and flow of the traffic, the surround-sound speakers, place outside the Arts Factory, created a compelling synthesis of here and there." [Kristen Peterson, Las Vegas Sun, review of manmade mountains + underground river]
"The four-person HSA Ensemble played crossing/rising, written for cello, percussion, oboe and saxophone by festival co-organizer Matt Sargent. The saxophone and oboe emphasized an ascending four-note pattern, while cellist Katie Kennedy added the squeak of strings bowed above the bridge. Percussionist Bill Solomon (the other co-organizer) augmented the motif with the clack of a wooden rod against different sized porcelain rice bowls and drew a bow up and down against the side of a small, tightly fastened cymbal to produce a sound similar to high-pitched feedback." [Eric Danton, Hartford Courant review of Hartford New Music Festival]
selected record reviews
"It's no understatement to say that Matt has been at the forefront of the Hartford renaissance. [In addition to performing with Sunspots] he played guitar with Sunspots Kat Mulvaney and drums with Girls in the Boy Scouts, was one of the founders of the Hartford Sound Alliance, he helped some of Hartford's most important new venues like La Paloma and The Studio @ Billings Forge design their sound systems, he brought other artists in from out of state, and he helped almost every band in the area in some way, whether it be with a recording, lending or fixing a critical piece of gear, a music lesson, or an honest recommendation." [Karl Messerschmidt, Hardware City Arts]
"Recorded by guitarist Matt Sargent over seven months in sometimes unusual locations — the band touts a reverb effect captured “in the hallways and stairwells of a borrowed Samuel Clemens-era Hartford mansion” — the album collects seven songs ranging in length from 2 minutes to more than 7 minutes. “Rainy Days” pairs chiming guitars with understated keyboards, and adds what sounds like a little horn riff before Sargent’s guitar solo brings the song home. Scott sings through an echo effect surrounded by layers of bold guitar on “Wrong This Time,” while melancholy electric piano and somber bass drive closer “Fade You Out” into an epic guitar-soaked outro that builds for close to three minutes." [Eric Danton, Hartford Courant, review of Sunspots debut album, mixed/engineered by Matt Sargent]
"Matt was kind enough to let me preview two tracks, “Wrong This Time” and “Rainy Days.” was impressed at the clean, Motown-meets-Abbey Road type sound that Matt was able to extract from the space. The recording presents Sunspots’ sound as both up close and personal and yet larger than life at the same time. [Karl Messerschmidt, Hardware City Arts, review of Sunspots debut album]
Selected Interviews:
Michael Hamad, Hartford Advocate
Barbara Geehan, River Gazette (St. Mary's College of Maryland)