Kyabram born and bred Joe Matera is a musician, music journalist and author, and has recently released his first book, Backstage Pass: The Grit and The Glamour.
The book has received glowing reviews internationally in many magazines and was recently the number one bestselling music book for two weeks on Amazon’s Music Books Chart in Sweden.
Mr Matera has been on both sides of the musician/critic divide, working in cover bands early in his career and as a guitar teacher, but it wasn’t until the arrival of the internet that an opportunity opened up to write about his passion.
Mr Matera attended school at St Augustine’s College throughout the 1970s and he said his love of music started when he was four years old.
“There was a store in Kyabram at the time called Hilton Electrical where they also sold vinyl albums and music,” he said.
“I remember one day walking in there at the age of four and pointing to this Beach Boys album called Pet Sounds.
“My mother bought it for me, I listened to that and instantly fell in love with the melodies.“
He said he always used to listen to the radio station 3SR, and watching Countdown on television was the turning point for him, as his love for music grew from there.
Mr Matera left school at the end of Year 10 in 1980 and worked for a year at the Kyabram Cannery in 1981, which was when he bought his first guitar.
“I also learned to play guitar along with The Shadows albums, they were a hugely influential British instrumental band from the 1960s led by lead guitarist Hank Marvin, and about 30 years later I would interview Marvin,” he said.
“So who would have thought that a 15-year-old playing guitar in his bedroom in Kyabram would many decades later not only meet but interview one of his guitar heroes?”
One of the subjects he was good at during school was English, which meant Mr Matera was able to combine his love of music with writing as a journalist.
“Once the internet came along, I’d surf along music websites and find email addresses so I’d send them questions to see if they’d answer them,” he said.
Some of them returned Mr Matera’s emails, so he wrote articles about the musicians he grew up idolising.
A magazine in Ireland called Song Writers even decided to start publishing his pieces.
“They got back to me and said they’d publish the piece and pay me for it,” Mr Matera said.
“I’m thinking, wow, you mean I could do interviews and get paid for something I love, so it took off from there.”
Mr Matera’s big break came when he moved to Melbourne in 2001 and was able to interview one of the world’s biggest bands, Nickelback.
“They came out to Australia for the very first time and they were only just starting to break out.”
He said he spent three days hanging with the band and the article he wrote on them saw his career take off.
“That interview gave me my big break, I had plenty of work after that.”
Twenty years later, Mr Matera is divulging his experiences as a music journalist in his new book.
“To most people the perception of the life of a music journalist is one of hanging out with rock stars, partying until the early hours of the morning, jetting off to far-away locations and indulging in all glamorous benefits that come from hanging with that sort of crowd. That perception couldn’t be further from the truth.”
He said the pandemic gave him a chance to slow down and reflect on everything he had done in his career.
“I used to keep a diary of everything I ever did: interviews, gigs, tours, etc.
“When the pandemic hit, we couldn’t do any touring so I looked back at my diary for some ideas for articles.”
That’s when he thought of turning it into a book, with a publisher in the United Kingdom jumping on the idea.
He spent 18 months writing the book and it has done very well overseas since its release.
The book is currently available in most book stores and online.