“The live set is like stepping into a time machine portal into the 1950’s when R&B, Rock and Roll and Soul were being created.”-Mario Mathon

As a lifelong lover of music, I didn’t hesitate at the chance to watch my good friend and fellow artist Mathon record a session at Utopia Studios in downtown St. Louis with his bandmates Jordan Mays and Amonte Henry. Together, they form 1917 Soundtrack, a group that defies distinction by a single genre and instead lives on the edges of multiple sounds. R&B, soul, blues, and a little rock mixed in there.  Give it a name but know this.  Hearing it makes your body come alive when Henry is pounding the drums, Mays working the guitar and Mathon strutting around the room with a microphone in his hand singing the blues.  Radio and news footage accompany the opening of their tracks and as they play, it’s nearly as if the band is driving a vehicle into a storm cloud of musicianship and taking you along for the ride.   It’s quite the experience.  Confidence flows through anyone’s veins while they watch music unfold. There’s a detailed rhythm to the recording of an album and that night I got to see the steps and work put forth by three men who want to make it big. What other damn reason would you be expressing yourself with so much passion for?

Each guy has a story that’s rooted in artistic drive and flawed grace.   As a friend and fan alike, I wanted to get the back story behind the need for this trio to use their free time to create something special. I write in my free time and do so because I feel I have something to offer people and it energizes my soul.  When I talked to Mathon about describing his music, the man was as blunt as a solo at Madison Square Garden.  “Saint Louis old school, birthplace, rhythm & blues, rock and roll, Chuck Berry, Etta James, Muddy Waters influence on the whole sonic and physical vibe of the music.”  Wrap your head around that.

Mathon, vocalist and pianist,  hasn’t been easy on himself.  He is one of those artists who will sit there and tell you every day is a struggle.  This is the same guy who signed to a local hip-hop soul development deal as a teenager, eventually selling an urban-radio ad jingle to McDonald’s through local 3rd party producers.  He moved to St. Louis from Chicago at the age of 14, and met Mays based on their shared love of music in Brentwood High School.  Total opposites in personality while Mays was off pursuing his musical ambitions and education, Mathon would dedicate his time to the streets.  Mathon became enclosed in the deadly web of the sale and use of narcotics, eventually doing a two year prison sentence, spending the majority of his incarceration sharpening his musical sword.  Upon release he bounced around from local bands and production teams before hooking back up with Mays to write and record the “I Cant Believe How Much Of An Asshole Im Not Being” EP.

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