A Dirty Dozen with MATT DEVINE from VENTILATOR – October 2026

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According to a recent press release: “As part of its ongoing 40th Anniversary celebrations, the enduring Hoboken, NJ-based indie label Bar / None Records will be re-issuing Reseda Spleen, the 1996 debut from brawny L.A. Psych-pop outfit Ventilator. The album was mainly recorded at home by project primum mobile, Matt Devine on a used Tascam 388 ¼” tape recorder. Devine produced Reseda Spleen with mixing chores handled by the legendary Earle Mankey (Sparks, Mumps, Runaways, Beach Boys, etc.). The album features bandmates Byron Reynolds (Possum Dixon), Jeff Caruana, and special guest Brad Laner (Medicine). It is being released on 12” LP vinyl, digital download and streaming services October 9.” We get guitarist Matt to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Reseda Spleen is an album I made in my old apartment in North Hollywood on a 1980s Tascam 388 in 1994–’95. Originally released in ’96, it is being reissued this year on vinyl by Bar / None Records. The 388’s an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder with a built-in mixing board. What a listener might not realize is that the drums were tracked with inexpensive microphones: basically Shure SM58s with a Radio Shack PZM on the kick. That’s it. As far as hidden nuggets go, there are more than a few punch-ins I had to do, but I think I did a decent job avoiding anything obvious. One stuck out, so I added a vocal ad-lib to disguise it. All you have to do is find these sounds on the record, and whoever finds the most wins.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Seeing the Rolling Stones in 1980 on Casey Kasem’s America’s Top 10. I was 11, and my older brother told me we had two of their records in the house: Out of Our Heads and Some Girls. I made them mine and listened endlessly.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

So many big rock show moments for me by the time I was 18… I could say Redd Kross at the Roxy in ’86, Hüsker Dü there the same year, The Replacements at the Country Club in Reseda, summer of ’87, but I’m going with Johnny Thunders at the Roxy in ’87, with Jerry Nolan and “Killer” Kane backing him up. Thunders is a good choice, as he was a major influence on those three bands. He played with such abandon, and his guitar tone was massive. I picked up a lot watching him, including going VA-RRROOOOOOM on the low E string, which I would do for weeks afterward on my cheap Yamaha Strat copy through a crappy solid-state Fender amp. Didn’t sound the same at all, but it was a blast.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Todd Rundgren, because he’ll do anything and everything to make your record sound amazing, even if you end up hating him while he has all the fun. Who else does that? I want to know what Badfinger and XTC experienced firsthand. It’s just for one song, so I can take it.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I happily make music avocationally, so playing guitar and songwriting is what I do to unwind. Friends ask me to contribute to their projects from time to time. I’ve recorded for my buddy Brad Laner on a few of his Medicine albums, and I’ve performed with GospelbeacH live and on some recordings, including the lead guitar on “Dark Angel” from Let It Burn. I channeled my inner Glen Buxton on that one.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I would describe Ventilator as rock ‘n roll. On Reseda Spleen, there are acoustics and lap steel and harmonies at times, and some of our recordings were experimental, especially on the second Ventilator album, Rock Folk Suicide, but it’s the electric guitars and Byron’s drumming that make it rock ‘n roll to me. Let It Bleed might be the ultimate rock ‘n roll record, and the second song on that is “Love in Vain.” And the third song is “Country Honk.” So there. I don’t get hung up on comparisons people make, as everyone approaches things from their own angle. It’s all good.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Jeff, Byron, and I have been rehearsing at my house on weekend afternoons, and I’ll fire up the Big Green Egg and start grilling. So I cook, with my wife Linda. There’s not much drinking going on. As far as who’s first to break out an acoustic, it’s Jeff. Within minutes of walking in the door, his guitar case is already open and he’s playing something cool.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Brian Wilson. A friend’s band was performing at a little club on Santa Monica Blvd in ’98, and at the time Rodney Bingenheimer was playing one of their songs, “You Made Me Hate the Beach Boys.” Well, who shows up but Rodney with Brian in tow. I reintroduced myself to Rodney – on KROQ that summer, he was spinning a Possum Dixon track from New Sheets that I played guitar on – and he invited me to sit with them. Brian was welcoming and talkative, and when I mentioned working with Earle Mankey, who engineered at Brother Studios, he was really happy to talk about Earle, someone he hadn’t seen in years. At one point Rodney asked me, “Did you hear Tammy Wynette’s version of ‘In My Room’? It was her last recording ever.” Brian immediately lit up and excitedly started singing it. It was quite a moment. He had a sweetness and childlike joy that few people carry into adulthood.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

I play my Stratocaster unplugged a lot, and it’s very calming – a relaxing exercise I’m grateful I can turn to. If I couldn’t play rock ‘n roll, I’d be a full-time dreamer.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Q: “Whose idea was it to go to India?” A: “I don’t know, probably George’s.” Being asked “Why did you leave Permanent Green Light to start Ventilator?” might become tiresome over time, since my answer isn’t especially exciting. I left in ’94 because hanging out in clubs wasn’t as fun as it used to be, and putting together a home studio captured my imagination and led to the three of us connecting less.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I wish a couple songs on Rock Folk Suicide had a middle eight.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Excluding Stones or Beatles sessions, because picking just one to attend is an absolute impossibility, I’d say it’s a toss-up among Radio City, Never Mind the Bollocks, and (GI). Any of those albums would be fascinating to watch happen, as each is a full-on guitar extravaganza, with the same guitarist tracking overdub after overdub, on such killer songs. Rock ‘n roll guitar is where it’s at.

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Category: Interviews