Matthew Ricketts
has been our lead writer since the inception of this website. Not only does he have a great feel for how to
approach artists and get the solid answers he seeks, but his knowledge and love
of music comes through in his glowing reviews of the bands’ albums and stage
shows. We recently put him on the other
side of the microphone to get the scoop on his upcoming book release filled with
poetry, song lyrics, and short stories.
LoneStar Outlaw Review: How have you gone from not many people knowing of this hidden passion that you have to publishing a book?
Matthew
Ricketts: It’s been an open secret for many years now. Whoever I was dating would stumble across
things I wrote. It surely came in handy
around Valentine’s Day and birthdays as well.
But there is really only a core group of people that I have continuously
shared pieces with over the years. It’s
a hard thing to open yourself up and show your vulnerabilities in that fashion.
LSO: So why now?
MR: To go back
to the previously mentioned girlfriends, they all have pushed me in this
direction for years and I finally got the extreme push I needed. My girlfriend at the time didn’t give me an
option but to put this out and I’m grateful every day for that. It also goes back to the old philosophy of
“looking back on life and regretting the things you haven’t done”. There’s a thing or two that’s embarrassing
for me in the book but they are still part of who I am. I never hold back on my thoughts and it’s the
best therapy I have ever found for being able to release things.
LSO: What can
the readers expect from this book?
MR: Everything
goes back to poetry. I was never a shy
child but I often kept a lot of things to myself and somehow stumbled upon
poetry to be able to get my thoughts out.
While I was in college I was introduced to a new form of music referred
to as “Texas Country”. These guys were
the same age as me and I loved every single one of them because they had such
passion and they were living life on their terms. I slowly started to see that my poetry could
lend itself to possibly being recreated in song lyrics and that’s kinda where
my thought process has stayed ever since then.
So you’ll read poetry, potential song lyrics, stories to explain where I
was in my life at that time, and even a quasi-obituary I wrote about a great
man.
LSO: Who/what are your main inspirations?
MR: Life in general really. About 99% of what I write is from my point of
view. It’s my life so it’s the easiest
to write about and I sometimes have trouble writing from others’ points of
view. The only time that comes naturally
is when there is a national tragedy like 9/11 or the shootings in Connecticut
LSO: What is a
typical writing process like for you?
MR: I can literally go months without writing
anything and then something happens and I’m able to write 10-20 pieces in a
week. I never push too hard to make it
happen because I’m not trying to make a career out of this. At the end of the day, it all goes back to me
just funneling my outlet. Typically when
I get an idea I go over it a few times in my head and if I feel that it is
going in a good direction then I stop whatever I’m doing and focus on that. After that it’s usually only a matter of
minutes until completion. Often I’ll
hear a song on the radio and get the melody or the beat stuck in my head and
I’ll write alternative words for the chorus and verse.
LSO: So what’s next on the horizon?
MR: Keep working 9-5 obviously, but going through
this process has really geared me towards other ideas I’ve had sitting around
forever. I already have enough poetry to
fill another book but also have started putting together my thoughts on
corporate America
Matthew Ricketts is having a book release/happy hour @ Mezzanine Lounge (2200 Southwest Freeway Suite 150, Houston , TX
Come out and show your support!
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