As a composer and performer,Matt forged a distinctive style using an extraordinary breath-driven synthesizer as his primary melodic instrument. He and his band, The Venusians, made unique contributions to the budding genres of World Fusion, Ambient. and Jam-based music. Using both traditional and contemporary instruments, they were innovators of a sound and style that would become a staple in the world of Special and Gala Events, where they maintain a strong presence to this day.
As a soloist Matt plays a newer innovation known as the Hang. It has become his greatest gift and passion to share the beauty of this heart-inspiring instrument in many capacities. To inquire about booking Matt as a soloist or with his band, go to the “Booking and Contact” link on this website. To watch Matt’s Hang music videos and video of the band, you can visit his YouTube channel by clicking here: MattYouTube
For more about Matt’s music background, read on.
Early Days…
Matt was raised in a lively, musical household as the seventh of 10 children in Geneva, NY. His dad, Sam Venuti, was an exceptional jazz pianist and a natural “by ear” player with no background in music theory. All of his children have musical talents and started learning the piano at young ages. At any given time there would be two pianos, an organ, drums, brass, and string instruments playing throughout the house…not unlike a rehearsal studio.
Sam Venuti Quartet (Sam on piano) 1952
Matt inherited some of his dad’s “ear-playing” as well as an aversion to studying music theory, favoring improvisation over formal practice. After contributing to the musical cacophony of the household with his experimental ramblings, Matt’s mom allowed him to suspend piano lessons. The peace didn’t last long as he found interest in the trumpet and flugelhorn.
The EVI…
One evening while Matt was staying in Boston he walked into a jazz club and beheld trumpeter Mike Metheny (brother of Pat Metheny) blowing into a fascinating device called an Electronic Valve Instrument, or EVI. The instrument had trumpet fingering and was wildly expressive and captivating. Matt was hooked, but Metheny informed him that the instrument was not commercially available and was nearly impossible to come by. That information only made Matt more determined and within a few months he purchased a used EVI and within a year from then he was touring for the AKAI Corporation demonstrating the EVI (AKAI had obtained the rights to manufacture and distribute the instrument from the inventor, Nyle Steiner). Matt was now performing at music trade shows throughout the country and was forging his sound with both the original Steiner EVI and the newly designed AKAI model.
Matt with Nyle Steiner’s custom midi EVI
Go West!…
Matt moved to San Francisco upon the urging of his cousin, trumpet great John Coppola. Within a short time he formed the first incarnation of his band, “The Venusians”, and started performing in the budding yet largely underground “Electronica” and World Music scenes. Over time as these genres gained popularity the band was performing in popular clubs and festivals. One release that received significant airplay and attention was “Hot Planet” and The Venusians became favorites at happenings such as Burning Man, the Hog Farm, Earth Dance, Oregon Country Fair and the Harmony Festival, as well as the top Bay Area music clubs.
Full Time Music…
When Silicon Valley was gaining control of the world economy, The Venusians found a new audience in a lucrative market…playing the grand-scale parties hosted by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and the like. Their musicianship, cutting-edge style and innovative instrumentation made them in demand to perform in the lavish and burgeoning world of the Dot-Com party phenomena, where million dollar-plus budgets were commonplace for these private and often star-studded events. Matt was now working full-time composing and performing with the band. He occasionally worked with other artists such as Pop Icon Thomas Dolby, who introduced him to the prestigious TED Conferences. Matt performed with Dolby as the lead instrumentalist in the TED “house band” in 2004. He opened the conference solo and later introduced the instrument as a presenter. In the meantime, he continued to compose music that was a unique fusion of styles and began licensing his music for soundtracks and other commercial interests.
The Hang…
Matt began to yearn for a new way to express his music and he sought out an organic counterpart to his electronically-based background. When his friend and radio personality (appropriately named Jane Heaven) described something that she had seen at an event, Matt knew instinctively that this was what he was looking for. An exhaustive search eventually led Matt to Bern, Switzerland, where a new instrument had been created in the year 2001 by two ingenious artist/visionaries named Felix Rohner and Sabina Sharer. Their creation was called a “Hang” which means “hand” in their language. Made by hand and played with hands, the Hang was no typical musical instrument.
A third generation “Integral” Hang
Presently…
Matt recorded several Hang inspired CDs such as “Dance of the Helix”, “Hangisphere”, and “Hang Therapy”. He shares his time performing as a soloist and with his band. He most often performs his “Hang Immersion” concerts in intimate and quiet settings, where the “choir-like” overtones and rich harmonics have a mysteriously profound effect on both listener and player.