#iowapunk

from my personal collection.

I was asked to share some recollections about my friend Matt. He played in a bunch of bands, most notably Ten Grand (aka The Vida Blue) and passed away quite suddenly about ten years ago. Thought I'd share this as I think it came out pretty good: Why People Loved and Respected Matt so Much: Matt Davis represented, for a lot of us, living life to its utmost. His passion for experiencing as much as he possibly could in life drove everything that he did. He gave off a kinetic energy that made it clear that whatever he was up to he was in the moment, entirely present. It was easy to recognize, and be warmed by, that vitality and enthusiasm. Matt made everyone feel good and talking with him, getting a hug from him, witnessing him perform or playing music with him could make you feel as alive as he was. Matt was a mirror against which you could measure the progress of your own satisfaction. Never in a bad way, always inspiring. Matt took everything life had to offer at full speed. The good, the bad and the mundane. He lived a very simple life, of small means, to facilitate the freedom and time necessary to live. He lived in a closet sized room, had few positions beyond guitars, books and records and worked part time service industry jobs. All of this to facilitate living. He could jump in a van and go on tour at a moment’s notice. He would disappear on adventures, make new friends and live without restrictions. He was respected because he treated everyone with dignity. For a guy who lived such an immediate, fast paced life any time you spent with Matt is time you remember with absolute clarity. I remember driving too and from band practices, talking about anything and everything. There was no small talk. That immediate life cut to the quick of things, the conversations were genuine. There wasn't time for anything else. Contribution to Music/Iowa Music: The biggest contribution I would say Matt brought to Iowa music was exposure. Ten Grand, and any other band that Matt did, functioned both as a creative outlet and as an attempt to share with people what it meant to live in Iowa. Matt and Ten Grand had an interesting take on being creative Iowans. They had a song called (I'm going from memory here) "Is This Heaven? No This Sucks" or something like that. On the surface that seems critical, but after extensive conversations with Matt I came to understand that this was actually something of a slogan and that the meaning was that if you were passionate enough you could make art and music in a place like Iowa. You could accomplish these things with the kind of simple means that many Iowans have at their disposal. Ten Grand toured a lot. They went across the country many times and to other parts of the world as well. They played in basements, barns, rock clubs and large venues. At each juncture of their career they took performances as an opportunity to dialogue with people. Independent music (and specifically punk and hardcore) is a culture of peers. Bands are not on a pedestal, even if they are on a stage. I personally feel this echoes the Iowa spirit of shared work and community and a band coming from Iowa is going to embody this inclusion even more. Ten Grand made people feel like they were a part of something, and in doing so were sharing with people all over the country, and the world, what it meant to create and play music in Iowa. It is a fierce pride, taking the good and the bad and everything it means to be an Iowan. It is also a defensive pride, as it can be difficult to dispel the idea that Iowa is little more than corn and cows. In that regard Matt and his bands were ambassadors, fiercely proud of where they came from. I'm sure there are bands from Iowa who played to more people, but few can say they played to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Anything else I wanted to say about Matt: Given that the context of this is Black History Month I want to share what conversations, and experience, I had with Matt surrounding race. Matt was a dignified black man, he knew what it meant to be minority. Within punk and independent music he was an exception in what is an almost entirely white population. Within the context of Iowa City (and Iowa as a whole) Matt keenly felt the possibility of alienation being a black male who wasn't a student, who didn't fit any of the accepted archetypes. Matt was a nerdy, passionate punk rock art kid who, because of his race was continually singled out. He took all of this with grace. He patiently fielded the borderline offensive questions many of us ask those of a different culture or race, always responding with dignity, pride and courtesy. He never forgot who he was, and how his race and upbringing helped to shape that. I'll leave this with a specific memory that I always felt summed Matt up, and was always an alarming bit of foreshadowing. We were driving back from band practice (at one point the band we were in together was entirely based in the Quad Cities with the exception of Matt who lived in Iowa City. This meant someone was driving 4 hours a night to pick Matt up for practice which allowed for plenty of those meaningful conversations I mentioned earlier). We were talking about life in general, work and growing up and things like that. I was routinely baffled by Matt's contentment with the simple life he lived. I worked a full time job. It paid the bills but didn't allow for the kind of freedom Matt had. I guess maybe I coveted that, but it was something that would always come up. Me asking, or wondering aloud, why he didn't want to get a "real" job, a "real" home, et cetera. On this particular occasion Matt turned to me and said "every male on my Dad's side of the family, except my dad, has died by the time they were 40. That means I need to do everything that I want to do now." He said it simply, but with such certainty, that I finally understood the decisions Matt had chosen to make. He wasn't saying he knew he would die, he was saying that owed it to himself to live as if he might. I'm glad he chose to live that way, as I can't imagine anyone getting more out of life than he did. Matt was a gracious, creative, passionate man. He was dignified and kind and I am continually proud to have known him, and to have called him my friend.