{"id":4792,"date":"2021-05-17T18:42:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T17:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/?p=4792"},"modified":"2021-05-17T18:43:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T17:43:55","slug":"matt-deighton-lost-legend-now-subject-of-a-new-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=4792","title":{"rendered":"Matt Deighton&#8230; lost legend, now subject of a new documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In <i>Shindig!<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0<strong>issue #116 (pre-order soon) MICHAEL WHITE offers a fantastic overview and\u00a0history of the Acid Jazz\u00a0label. Here\u00a0he talks with MATT DEIGHTON\u00a0about the highs and lows of the artist&#8217;s career, and the new documentary,\u00a0<em>Overshadowed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Matt Deighton: Overshadowed (Documentary Trailer)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gLDjRIeXgSs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got absolute critical acclaim across the board. He\u2019s got fans who will kill for him. He\u2019s got musician friends who will kill for him. So, he\u2019s at a time now where, actually, this should be the time where people watch this and go, \u2018Why the hell do I not know about this guy?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chris Sheehan, an artist manager and musician, says this in the midst of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gLDjRIeXgSs\"><em>Overshadowed<\/em><\/a>, a new documentary about Matt Deighton. His question is essentially the crux of this moving one-hour film, which navigates the unwieldy career of a singer, guitarist and songwriter whose outsize talent, coupled with professional misfortune and ongoing struggles with depression, have seen him produce reams of stunning songs without having ever achieved a commercial breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4793\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Mother-Earth-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"585\" height=\"736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Mother-Earth-3.jpeg 585w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Mother-Earth-3-238x300.jpeg 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then again, Deighton\u2019s 30-plus years of music-making seem to have been guided wholly by impulse and chance, never an earnest pursuit of success. In the mid-90s, he walked away from Mother Earth \u2014 one of the marquee bands on Acid Jazz Records \u2014 to pursue a flowering passion for folk music in the vein of Nick Drake and John Martyn. At the same time that he was making gorgeously out-of-step albums like <em>Villager<\/em> and <em>You Are the Healer<\/em>, he played arenas and stadiums around the world as a touring guitarist with Paul Weller and, none more improbably, Oasis (when Noel Gallagher briefly quit following one of his serial rows with brother Liam).<\/p>\n<p>Deighton\u2019s depression became so all-consuming in the early 2000s that he released no new music for almost a decade, finally re-emerging in 2015 as frontman of The Family Silver with Steve White (Weller\u2019s former drummer) and bassist Damon Minchella (Ocean Colour Scene). <em>Overshadowed<\/em> largely focuses on this period of renewed activity and the subsequent making, in 2017, of <em>Doubtless Dauntless<\/em>, Deighton\u2019s first bona fide solo album since 2004. Throughout the film, friends and fans including Weller, Chris Difford, and reclusive singer-songwriter Bill Fay (the only on-camera interview to which he\u2019s conceded this century) sing Deighton\u2019s praises, citing him as an artist ripe for discovery by the masses.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4794\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/13164467_10209272863317012_8190146635151169579_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/13164467_10209272863317012_8190146635151169579_n.jpg 678w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/13164467_10209272863317012_8190146635151169579_n-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ahead its premiere on 14th May, Deighton and filmmaker Kevin Brown spoke to <em>Shindig!<\/em> about the making of <em>Overshadowed<\/em>, Deighton\u2019s reckoning with his past, and his plans for the future.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Shindig!<\/em><\/strong><strong>: <\/strong>Kevin, how did you discover Matt and his music, and how did that lead to the idea of making a documentary about him?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kevin Brown:<\/strong> In 2012, I went down to a gig. I had no idea he was playing. It was at a small venue in North London called The Karamel Club. I went along to see a friend who was there, and Matt was headlining \u2014 it was him and a cello player. I happened to have my camera with me, as I always do in certain situations. I just remember Matt playing and the room went quiet. I realised at that point that everyone was there to see him. There was a sense of pedigree from him. It wasn\u2019t until afterward that I found out Matt had played with certain people and I learned a little bit of his background. I filmed some stuff and edited it together, and I ended up sending it to Matt and he liked it. That\u2019s really how it started. And then it was a year or two later, I think, that we picked up the conversation [about making a film].<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>SD!<\/em><\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Matt, given that you\u2019d been living a fairly reclusive life at that point, were you resistant to the idea of having a film made about you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matt Deighton:<\/strong> I wasn\u2019t resistant. I was happy to have anything filmed, because I was really happy making [<em>Doubtless Dauntless<\/em>] and, before that, The Family Silver. I was just really pleased to be playing music again, because I\u2019d got so ill with depression that I wasn\u2019t really doing any music, so this was the first (instance of), \u201cI\u2019ve got to get back in a band again.\u201d I sold my Nick Drake original albums and bought a Les Paul. Actually, I bought more than one Les Paul from it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Doubtless Dauntless\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PYiHARiLVl0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>SD!<\/em><\/strong><strong>: <\/strong>Yes, original Nick Drake albums are worth that much now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MD:<\/strong> [I sold] all three of them. <em>Pink Moon<\/em>\u2019s worth about a grand now. I used to get copies for, like, 15 quid \u2014 mint \u2014 because in the late \u201990s they were just available. [<em>Overshadowed<\/em>] was going to be a film about The Family Silver, and then that split up and Kevin\u2019s got all this lovely footage. By that point, I\u2019ve got this solo album happening. Linda Lewis is on it and Steve Nieve as well, which I was really chuffed about. I was asking Kevin, \u201cIs this a film?\u201d And Kevin\u2019s just got absolute blind faith in it. He\u2019s like, \u201cIt\u2019ll happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KB:<\/strong> I think [the making of <em>Doubtless Dauntless<\/em>] was very important for Matt. I could see that as an outsider \u2014 looking at his history, what was happening, the fact that he\u2019d been off the radar for 10 years. [Longevity] didn\u2019t happen with The Family Silver, but here\u2019s an opportunity for him to get back in the studio. There he was in a bit of a playground, and it felt like he was this maestro. I knew when I was there that something special was happening. I knew I\u2019d walked away with some great material after that week, but more importantly, I knew that Matt and I had made a lot of ground&#8230; I remember Matt saying a lot about how present he felt. Off the back of long-running depression, he spoke about it as a positive time, and listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown and lots of positive music. I remember him saying, \u201cThis is the first record I\u2019ve made that I\u2019ve been fully present on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>SD!<\/em><\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Yes! Matt, it really surprised me when you say, in the film, about <em>Doubtless Dauntless<\/em>: \u201cIt\u2019s the first solo album that I feel I\u2019ve done a really, really good job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>MD:<\/strong> Yeah, it was. I\u2019d stopped drinking. I\u2019m satisfied with all of [my albums], actually, but a lot of them were done in a mind-altered state. Not <em>completely<\/em> \u2014 I mean, I was able to make a cup of tea and everything \u2014 but I was doing a lot of drugs in the early days, trying to self-medicate with what I\u2019ve realised was manic depression. I didn\u2019t really know at the time. Like Kevin says, I just felt more present on this album, because I wasn\u2019t reaching for a vodka \u2019round about Anytime O\u2019clock, and I wasn\u2019t smoking dope anymore. I\u2019m not saying drink\u2019s bad or anything; it just wasn\u2019t very good for me in the end. It was nice because I was working with sober people as well. I\u2019d kind of changed me scenery a bit.<\/p>\n<p>The [older] albums, I\u2019ve listened to them recently because they were remastered, so I\u2019ve had to sit really close to them and some of them are a bit painful, only because I wasn\u2019t going through a good thing at the time, so it\u2019s like reading a diary again going, \u201cOh, dear. I remember that.\u201d But musically, there\u2019s not really anything I would change about any of them.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>SD!<\/em><\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Given the delicate nature of some of the things Matt\u2019s gone through, were there any conditions in terms of things the film <em>wasn\u2019t<\/em> going to talk about?<\/p>\n<p><strong>KB:<\/strong> I was really nervous, because there\u2019s some sensitive stuff in there. We talk to a lot of people in the film, and I would ask about Matt\u2019s fragility and his mental health. Some people would say, \u201cWell, I\u2019m not really in a position to say much,\u201d but 90% of people had something to say. And what was really lovely about that is you start to understand it from a different point of view, rather than just this one-on-one connection. Matt didn\u2019t want it to be about mental health. In fact, that\u2019s one thing that we <em>did<\/em> have a discussion about, is this isn\u2019t a film about mental health. This is a film about Matt and his music. But we decided we needed to talk about it, because there was this elephant in the room: \u201cHow do we do that?\u201d Well, we can do it through his music, because he writes about it in his music so amazingly. The lyrics in many of his songs talk about his struggles, if you like. So, one of my plans was that I would use the music and let it play out as much as it could, so that you would get that feeling of what it\u2019s like.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>SD!<\/em><\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Was it strange for you, Matt, to see people like Chris Difford and Kathryn Williams and Bill Fay speaking so kindly about you in your absence?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MD:<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s like an obituary. (<em>laughs<\/em>) No, it was a bit overwhelming. It\u2019s not like I\u2019ve had films made about me in the past. It was the first time I\u2019d heard anyone talking about me in that way. It touched me, really, just to see that people had taken the time and were kind enough, generous enough, to say things about me that they wouldn\u2019t say to me face, because it wouldn\u2019t be the natural thing to do. I\u2019ve got no reference point for it. I\u2019m very grateful for it. Everyone, like, Kathryn Williams and Paul Weller being on it and taking the time to have a chat and reminisce and stuff \u2014 it\u2019s like, \u201cBlimey! I must\u2019ve been all right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Matt Deighton - Villager (1995)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W3s2AeigHcg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>SD!<\/em><\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> The premiere of <em>Overshadowed<\/em> is being followed this August with <a href=\"https:\/\/mattdeighton.tmstor.es\/\">remastered vinyl reissues<\/a> of five of your solo albums. Have you got anything else coming up?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MD:<\/strong> I\u2019ve got a new album recorded and done, called <em>Today Becomes Forever<\/em>. I worked with Ken Scott, who did <em>All Things Must Pass<\/em> and <em>Ziggy Stardust<\/em>. He was really good; he came and did three songs. It\u2019s got acoustic things on it that I\u2019m really chuffed with, mixed up with quite loud guitar stuff as well. I\u2019m really pleased with it. I played it recently just to double-check it was all right, in case it had gone of. (<em>laughs<\/em>) I\u2019m doing stuff with Steve White as well.<\/p>\n<p>Overshadowed <em>premiered on 14th May on Sky Arts. You can see it until 13<sup>th<\/sup> June on Sky and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nowtv.com\/watch\/matt-deighton-overshadowed-2020\/A5EK4nmp9qb5ebQTz3xko\">Now TV<\/a>. Remastered vinyl editions of five of Matt\u2019s solo albums are scheduled to be released 6th August. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F4792&#038;t=Matt%20Deighton%E2%80%A6%20lost%20legend%2C%20now%20subject%20of%20a%20new%20documentary&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F4792&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F05%2FWebsite-Field-pic-mobile-1.jpg&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Matt%20Deighton%E2%80%A6%20lost%20legend%2C%20now%20subject%20of%20a%20new%20documentary\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F4792&#038;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Matt%20Deighton%E2%80%A6%20lost%20legend%2C%20now%20subject%20of%20a%20new%20documentary&#038;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F4792\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Shindig!\u00a0issue #116 (pre-order soon) MICHAEL WHITE offers a fantastic overview and\u00a0history of the Acid Jazz\u00a0label. Here\u00a0he talks with MATT DEIGHTON\u00a0about the highs and lows of the artist&#8217;s career, and the new documentary,\u00a0Overshadowed \u201cHe\u2019s got absolute critical acclaim across the board. He\u2019s got fans who will kill for him. He\u2019s got musician friends who will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,7],"tags":[777,926,925,522],"class_list":["post-4792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-music-videos","tag-acid-jazz","tag-billy-fay","tag-matt-deighton","tag-paul-weller","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4792"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}