Matt Friction

Last updated
Matt Friction
Birth nameMatthew Bell
Born (1981-02-08) February 8, 1981 (age 43)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Origin United States
Genres Garage rock, Indie rock, Doo-wop, Psychedelic pop
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar
Years active1998present

Matthew Bell, better known as Matt Friction, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. [1]

Contents

Friction's music career began in 1998 as lead singer and songwriter of the band Silent Friction. He later moved on to establish Garage rock band The Pink Spiders with Bob Ferrari and Jon Decious. During a brief hiatus in 2009, Friction formed two new bands, Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots and The Dozen Dimes, both releasing individual material.

Early life

Matt Friction was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee and graduated from Hume Fogg Magnet High School in 1999. [2] He attended Middle Tennessee State University from 1999 to 2000. [3]

History

1998-2003: Silent Friction and early career

Friction established the band Silent Friction with fellow members Nathan Hansen (bass), Kelby Caldwell (guitar), and James Nelson (drums) in 1998. [4] They played on a regular basis at venues such as NXT Generation, Indienet and The Muse in Nashville. [1] The band eventually formed a loyal fan base after touring several locations. In 2001, Nelson was replaced by Dan Sommers. [5]

Friction played occasionally for Oliver's Army, where Bob Ferrari was the drummer. He also launched a solo project entitled Straight Jacket Valentine. [6] Soon enough, both Friction and Ferrari decided to leave their own musical projects to make music together, recruiting Jon Decious as bassist, and Jamie Mechan, a second guitarist, who played with them only for a short while. After contemplating names such as The Pink Tigers and The Pink Diablos, they settled on The Pink Spiders. [1]

2003-2009, 2010-present: The Pink Spiders

2009-2010: Subsequent projects

In 2009, with the Pink Spiders on hiatus, Friction announced that he was focusing on two new projects. [7] One group, Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots, completed an album in the summer of 2009 in Sausalito, California with producer Jerry Harrison. [8] A new release entitled Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots and containing nine songs was published online in February 2010 through the band's bandcamp website. The album included a cameo by Brett Anderson from The Donnas. [9]

His next project was doo-wop/garage outfit The Dozen Dimes, who began recording in February 2010. [10] The band released an album on its website, thedozendimes.com, on April 6, 2010, entitled Get Real Gone With... The Dozen Dimes. The 11-track release drew influences from a variety of musical genres, including doo-wop, garage rock, psychedelic pop, and soul. [11] An early version of The Dozen Dimes' song "Maybelline" is featured on the Projects' MySpace page. [12]

Discography

Silent Friction

Straight Jacket Valentine

The Pink Spiders

Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots

The Dozen Dimes

The Hot Veins

Broken Bats

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References

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  3. "XX". Linkedin.com. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
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  5. "allmusic ((( Silent Friction > Overview )))" . Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  6. "Silent Friction". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  7. "Pink Spiders Frontman Goes Solo - Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots News". Antimusic.com. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  8. "Matt Friction and the Cheap Shots on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads". Myspace.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-14.
  9. "Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots". Mfcs.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  10. "Matt Friction (MattFriction) on Twitter". Twitter.com.
  11. "Get Real Gone With... The Dozen Dimes". Thedozendimes.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  12. "the Projects on MySpace Music". Myspace.com. Retrieved 11 September 2010.