The 39-year-old keyboardist and guitarist for acts like Rob Thomas, Rod Stewart, and Matchbox Twenty manages to find a rare hole in his busy schedule, meeting me during the lunch break of an off- Broadway show he is rehearsing in New York City. Enjoying a momentary pause from his usual plate of heavy travel, Beck is taking the opportunity to dig into a multitude of writing, recording, and musical directing projects around New York. The hiatus will be short-lived, however. Come early ’09, he’ll hit the road hard once again, touring with Rob Thomas in support of the superstar singer’s upcoming solo record.
Beck has built a formidable reputation as a multi-instrumentalist who can step seamlessly between musical styles. Accomplishments such as his swing-era piano comping on Rod Stewart’s Standards albums and his R&B-inflected guitar riffs with Gwen Stefani have made him a staple on both the downtown New York music scene and the worldwide touring circuit. Born and raised in Westchester County, New York, Beck started his musical training with studies in classical piano. The son of professional musicians and educators (his father is a violinist, his mother a French horn player), he was accepted to the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division at the age of seven on piano. In his early teens, he discovered rock, teaching himself how to play the guitar, albeit in a peculiar way — left-handed — even though he’s righthanded. “Starting on piano, I never thought much about the guitar,” he explains. “But we had a guitar lying around the house and I just picked it up, not even realizing that I was playing it lefty. By the time I decided that I wanted to incorporate it into my music, I was already used to playing it and figuring out chords that way. Actually, I’m glad I did, because I feel like I have a unique take on voicings and strumming. I go for things a little differently because of the way I play.”
Beck studied both jazz piano and guitar at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and immediately hit the live music scene with a vengeance. “I said to myself, ‘Let me just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks,’” he tells me. “I really wanted to make a living at this.” Beck began to make a name for himself playing gigs on both keyboards and guitar in a dizzyingly diverse array of situations. “I dragged a synth around to rock clubs, and played in Broadway orchestra pits,” he says. “I took anything and everything that came my way.” His gigs have included filling the keyboard/guitar chair in the landmark rock musical Rent, which he anchored during a subsequent tour.
Beck’s ability to switch musical genres and instruments led to his first big break in ’99, when a friend recommended him for a slot in singer Lisa Loeb’s touring band. “I ended up playing gigs with her bass player, sometimes on keyboards, and sometimes on guitar. He thought I’d be perfect for Lisa’s band — and it all worked out.”
Word of mouth also landed Beck his breakthrough gig with Matchbox Twenty, when singer Rob Thomas and drummerturned- guitarist Paul Doucette heard of Beck’s ambidextrous abilities. “I was playing gigs with Peter Stuart, from the band Dog’s Eye View,” Beck recalls. “It was Peter who planted the seed in Rob’s head about me and, at the same time, I had also met Paul through my work with Lisa Loeb. So when Matchbox had an opening for a keyboard player, they already knew my work and thought I’d be a good fit. All went well, and we toured for a year and a half.”
A consummate professional with an ironclad work ethic, Beck offers up some valuable tips for aspiring sidemen. “I think the more that you can do, the more you’ll be able to get different kinds of gigs,” he says. “Even if you don’t play anything besides piano, you need to know how to play different styles. You should be able to groove on an R&B gig, and also keep it simple enough for a straight-ahead rock gig and not add too much. I find that a lot of times, many keyboardists are just too heavy-handed for the gig. You can’t always play lots of notes and full chord voicings. I always ask myself, ‘What would [longtime Tom Petty keyboardist] Benmont Tench do?’ I look to him. He’s an idol of mine.
“Also, you need to be able to put your ego aside so that you’re able to bend to what is needed,” he continues. “You spend a lot of time being told what to do as a sideman, and you need to be as amicable as possible when everything changes at the last minute. Because it always does.”
Other words of advice from a guy who knows not only how to get the gig, but how to keep it? “Show up prepared to do what you were hired to do,” Beck says. “Know the material. When I’m learning new music, I get really OCD with it. I’ll get into the habit of going to the gym and listening with my iPod on the treadmill every day. I think that’s important — to get everything ingrained in your head until it becomes second nature. Being prepared is step one.”
For more on Matt Beck, visit www. myspace.com/mattbecktwenty and www.mattbeck.com.