Hurry released the best record of 2016 according to The Power Pop Show. Sweet Sweet Music talked to Matt Scottoline about the need to be mildly psychotic, sensing a strong melody and Teenage Fanclub.

Sweet Sweet Music discovered Guided Meditation this week. (Blown away by it). It has been out for quite some time now. There even is a new ep. Is that the way the music industry works nowadays? How do you look at the music business? 

I don’t know if it’s specifically how the industry works now, but I do think there’s a feeling of urgency if you’re a musician sometimes, where you want to share the music as quickly as you can. Unless that’s just me. The band is named Hurry after all. The music business is very strange. It isn’t really designed for a naturalistic approach these days. If you want to make it happen, you have to be mildly psychotic, or very lucky. That’s pretty much the only way. I try and ignore it as best I can. But it can be difficult. 

Nothing to Say is such a beautiful song. How did it come together? Do you recognize early on during the writing process that you are on to something?

Thank you. I think whenever I’m writing a song, and can immediately sense if the melody is strong, and I knew that song had a strong melody. I know if I go back to listen to a demo multiple times, there’s probably something there. I remember that song specifically, I kept telling my band mates how I felt like it was going to be very good — and kind of had to make the case. Admittedly, the demo sounded terrible. But the song was there. I once heard an interview with Nick Lowe where he said he knows a song he’s writing is good if it sounds like something that already existed but he’d never heard before. Something like that. I felt that with Nothing To Say.

LISTEN/BUY

She tells you she will decide on a 5-song-mix tape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on? 

1) Teenage Fanclub – “What You Do To Me”

2) David Kilgour – “Fall Away”

3) The Explorer’s Club – “Forever”

4) Matthew Sweet – “Sick Of Myself”

5) Paul Westerberg – “As Far As I Know”

If you could tour the world with two other bands, which two would you chose?

Teenage Fanclub

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

How will 2017 look like?

We are going to record and hopefully release a new record. And play more. It should be a good year.