In a career spanning 20+ years, Joe Matera has been lead guitarist in Australian rock outfit GEISHA, composed his own soundtracks for movies, released his own instrumental EP’s, and spent time with the likes of Metallica, Def Leppard, Queen, Guns & Roses, and Slash working a respected music journalist writing for Australian Guitar, Guitar World, Performing Musician and more. In his teens, his passion was playing guitar and he’s one of the few that turned it into a successful career.
Australian guitarist and music journalist Joe Matera was gracious enough to take some time to do an interview with Guitarist Nation this week and share a number of thoughts including … putting together his new EP “Slave To The Fingers”, how he first learned to play guitar, working with some of the biggest names in music, and his journey as a guitarist and journalist. We talked for about 45 minutes and Joe gave some great insight on his career and his take on the current state of the music industry and paving his own way as an artist.
Podcast Interview with Joe
Podcast: Download
Interview Highlights
- Background and inspiration to learn guitar
- Working side jobs to support his music aspirations
- Putting together the new EP
- Most important concept for beginners to learn
- Using tablature as a learning tool
- Getting into music journalism
- Working with great bands and guitar players
- The state of guitar in Australia
- Thoughts on the music industry today
- Legal issues with teaching popular songs
- What’s next for Joe
From “Slave To The Fingers”
Joe’s lesson in the 2011 Holiday Issue of Guitar Player:
Learn more about Joe and his music, visit
JoeMatera.com
Latest News:
- Interview with Guitarist Justyn “The Stuntman” Czarnecki
- Interview with Fingerstyle Guitarist Merel van Hoek