Much-nominated P.E.I. music producer still 'very excited by' latest ECMA nods

It may be the seventh time around for P.E.I. music producer Jon Matthews, but he is not taking ECMA nominations for granted.

"I still get very excited by it," Matthews told Mainstreet P.E.I. host Angela Walker.

"I still feel as thrilled for it as I did the first time."

• Have a listen to the Islanders nominated for 2017 East Coast Music Awards

Matthews is nominated for threeECMAsthis year:

• Producer of the Year.
• Studio Engineer of the Year.
• Live Sound Engineer of the Year.

He has previously been nominated in the Producer of the Year and Studio Engineer of the Year categories as well as the Audio Professional of the Year category.

He is most excited about the Producer of the Year nod.

"That one to me is a really big deal because you're hanging with the big dogs," he said.

"You're hanging with the Joel Plasketts and the Classifieds and the guys that have done this and reached a big national and international profile."

'Something to strive for'

Matthews said he appreciates the nominations, because goals in the music business can sometimes be nebulous.

"In other jobs there's always something to strive for, whether you're going for a promotion or whatever you're trying to do there's a goal," he said.

"This is a thing that gives us creative folks something to work towards."

As might be expected from a professional with so much recognition, Matthews has been busy in recent months, but he can single out a few projects that have really caught his attention recently. Those includes recording A Special Island Christmas with a number of artists, and recording The Royal North.

• The Royal North gets nominated for three P.E.I. Music awards

"I work in a lot of genres, I've done jazz albums, I've done Celtic records, I've done folk stuff," he said, "but it's always fun to be able to go back to the '80s and bring out the giant drum sounds and make a big rock record."

The ECMAs are in Saint John at the end of April, and Matthews has a couple reasons to look forward to it.

It's always great to get together and talk shop with other musicians, he said, and he's hoping he can use his nomination cred to lure some new acts to his Sound Mill studio.

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