Matt Von Roderick: ‘Storm’ Front 

Not since Guy Picciotto has there been a cat who can oscillate between trumpet and vocals like Matt Von Roderick.

And on his latest album, The Perfect Storm (out now on Flatiron Recordings/Label 51), he continues to push the boundaries of his craft with the help of a team of producers that include Nathaniel Schellin and Christopher Martin, Grammy Award-winning Danny Garibay and Kenneth Burgomaster.

With a killer studio group featuring the aforementioned Mr. Burgomaster on piano, Nolan Ericsson (guitar), Matt Clohesy (bass) and Peter Retzlaff (drums), Von Roderick explores the grey zone where jazz and art rock intersect in a style not unlike the way the late David Bowie did on his final album Blackstar. Through this model, he succeeds in an artistic peak that’s as personal as it is universal.

“The Perfect Storm is about the realization that storms you encounter in your life can actually contribute to the creation of perfect timing, and help bring forth your heroic attributes,” he explains. “This is depicted in both the music and the album artwork. The Perfect Storm album artwork medium is the Japanese woodcut etching style, so there’s a kind of metaphor that in spiritual growth and through the sometimes uncomfortable chiseling away of the excess mass of one’s self concept, you reveal as Michelangelo did, ‘the David within the marble’ that has been there all along…for our fans and listeners, both the music and the physical album can be a powerful reminder of that truth in their own lives.”

The centerpiece of The Perfect Storm, however, is a beautiful interpretation of The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” from their 1999 masterpiece The Soft Bulletin, which closes out the album.

Rock & Roll Globe had the chance to reach out to MVR to discuss the Lips, playing the trumpet and performing at Burning Man at the end of August.

 

How was Burning Man? What’s that scene like in 2025?

Burning man was wild. It was my first time there and I was thrilled to perform selections from The Perfect Storm, including “Coexistence,” “Signs” and “Do You Realize??”

Audiences there as you would imagine, are very open-minded and appreciative of artistic offerings — and I think there’s a philosophical through-thread at that festival that resonates with the material on the album, and even more so this year because we were literally overcoming sand, rain and mud storms to persevere and gift the music to the festival goers!

 

How did you initially approach the direction you took on The Perfect Storm?

Much of the material on this album comes from a personal place of growth through adversity. My aim was to put that into the music, and then see how big I could think sonically in incorporating the full spectrum of my influences, and then offering the music in service of audience and listeners, so it could perhaps provide value of healing and inspiration in their own lives.

 

How much does the artistry of Chet Baker factor into the duality of trumpet and voice that you both share?

The Chet Baker influence is major. We both share that certain kind of romantic, folk-like tenor voice that pairs well with the trumpet…he was a rare artist in being a truly deep improvising jazz trumpeter while also being a very emotionally effective and unique singer. I’m really inspired by the alchemy that occurs when those two elements are combined in that way.

 

What came first for you — singing or playing the trumpet?

I would say chronologically, the singing came first — partially because that’s what we all do with our voices — we hum, we emote and we sing in a way, from birth. I would also just sing along to music naturally growing up in a musical household, and I enjoyed singing a lot in synagogue as well. That said, the trumpet is a more studied aspect of what I do — I put singing aside for a few years in New York to focus on becoming a jazz trumpeter with a unique sound…then I integrated and re-introduced my voice, and rediscovered the joy combining the two and how they play off of each other.

 

What led you to taking on The Flaming Lips on this album?

I just genuinely love their song “Do You Realize??.” It’s a powerful song that can help lift people out of the matrix, if you will, and remind people of the truth of their nature as spiritual beings. I started performing it during covid times when I was doing solo zoom concerts, and we were all perhaps a bit more aware of mortality at that point. Doing those concerts solo, I built a loop using just my trumpet and voice, and then sang and played the song on top of that — that’s how I perform it live, now.

 

VIDEO: Matt Von Roderick “Signs”

How does the music of the Flaming Lips lend itself to jazz interpretation?

There’s actually a lot of trumpet in their music — their seminal album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was partly inspired by a Japanese experimental jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, and now lead singer Wayne Coyne incorporates trumpet as part of their stage show. “Do You Realize??” in particular has a kind of surreal, floating, ethereal character that can lend itself well to jazz, especially the way that I treat it in a more intimate setting with loops and muted trumpet. The song’s life philosophy aspect is also very strong, and I think lends itself well to how I approach jazz in general, with it being a kind of depiction of the improvisatory game life.

 

When did you first get into the Flaming Lips?

I became a fan first through that song when it came out in 1999, and then I returned to it and dove deeper into their catalog when I was doing my solo concerts during the pandemic. I really love Wayne’s voice, and the depth of perspective I feel behind it. That, combined with the band’s extremely creative instrumentals makes for such a satisfying sound.

 

Did Wayne get a chance to hear your cover to your knowledge?

We just sent the song to Wayne and the band…I’ll update you in a bit!!!

 

What other rock bands inspire your work?

Along the Chet Baker vein, I appreciate bands that have a deep musical sensibility instrumentally, combined with a more folk-like vocal element. A few others that come to mind are Radiohead, The Beatles, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Bjork, Keane, Coldplay, Elliot Smith, Nick Drake — I do a Nick Drake cover that I am going to record soon as well…

 

Any plans for the road?

Absolutely. We are currently booking shows through all of 2026 which will be announced soon as part of The Perfect Storm world tour — first up, our Los Angeles album release show on October 2nd, at the Catalina Jazz Club.