motel void

Big Search is the ever-present alter ego of Matt Popieluch as he continues to make his way through Californian life, channeling the cross-currents of romance, upheaval, and casual adventure.

MOTEL VOID: Your new single, “Hope It Makes You Happy,” features a collaboration with Victoria Bergsman (Taken by Trees). How did this cooperation come about?

BIG SEARCH: I first met Victoria Bergsman many years ago at the LA Zoo. I was playing a show there as part of an oddly placed festival and a mutual friend had connected us, as she had just moved to town. She met her future husband at this zoological performance, who was also one of my best friends. I later ended up playing in her project Taken By Trees and touring a bit. Fast forward a few years and we were working on some of her new ideas. Something she sent me kind of inspired me to write this song, but then I kept it for myself! I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to have her sing on it. She has this unique quality to her delivery that I love.

MOTEL VOID: “Hope It Makes You Happy” was the fourth and final single from your new album, Animal Cheer. Can you share some insights into the writing and recording process behind it?

BIG SEARCH: Animal Cheer is a collection of songs I have recorded with my old friend Jason Quever (Papercuts) between the years 2019-2023 in LA and Crockett, CA. Many of them were built off of home demos, and involved just he and I, as Covid was upon us. Some of these songs, like Slow Fascination, were written long ago, just waiting for their place in the chain. Others songs like Bouquet were written during the process.

I’m not the kind of guy that sits down and says this album is about this or that while I’m doing it. This group of songs are the ones that made it through the gauntlet. The barnacles left clinging on to the ship. Each has some kind of magic in it. Each is a path into a loosely painted picture, which the listener can finish with their own colors. The songs often speak of the struggle with the self – self sabotage, inertia, being in a rut, but also the desire to emerge from it, and to be transformed. Creative inspiration and romantic entanglement. The rub between gratitude and ambition. Of getting older in a world I increasingly feel out of touch with. It all seeps out through the walls of these songs. I recorded the songs at Jason’s studios in LA and Crockett, CA and at my house, among other houses. I have some amazing people playing on this record, including Chris Cohen, Kacey Johansing, Victoria Bergsman, Dark Tea, Oliver Hill (Coco), Holy Matter and of course Jason Quever who played a lot of the bass and drums, co-produced and mixed.

MOTEL VOID: The album will be released on your newly formed label, Extra Texture. Do you have any other releases planned for this label?

BIG SEARCH: Not yet, but there are some ideas floating around! We’ll see how this one goes haha.

MOTEL VOID: In 2018, you released a single “To Feel in Love,” which became ‘semi-viral’ on streaming services and now has over 1.5 million streams on Spotify. Do you know how this happened? What impact has this success had on your career?

BIG SEARCH: To Feel In Love was one of those things that just felt right. Everything clicked. We recorded it completely live, except for synth and flute. We released it on my label at the time, 30th Century Records, with no press and it just had a life of its own. It is one of my favorite recordings I’ve made (also with Jason Quever), though I didn’t write it, crushingly. It was originally by the Italian singer Lucio Battisti. I just think the song itself is so good, and very few people had heard the original in the US. We put a slightly different spin on it, but it was one of those songs that just felt like I had written it. The recording has been great for reaching new people. That’s the song people say they hear in cafes. I’ll take it! Financially, I have charted no increase in wealth from it, but who’s counting?? And there’s still some life to go..

MOTEL VOID: You have played in various bands, such as Sky Ferreira, Fool’s Gold, and Cass McCombs.
Are you now focusing mainly on your solo work?

BIG SEARCH: I am mainly focussing on my solo work, I say while being in 2 other bands haha. Right now I’m playing guitar and keys in my partner’s project Holy Matter, and 12 string guitar for the excellent outfit Essential Forever. Once in a while the shows get booked on the same week and things get hairy, but mostly its a breeze. I do enjoy playing other people’s music. It’s fun to not have to be the lead singer and just focus on your parts! I am tapped out at 3 bands total though.

MOTEL VOID: Who are your biggest inspirations right now, and in what ways have they influenced your recent work?

BIG SEARCH: My biggest inspirations right now.. The 1st two that come to mind are Tim Bernardes and Chris Cohen. Tim Bernardes I discovered through Fleet Foxes. I’ve now seen him play and he’s one of the most gifted, all around talented musicians I’ve ever seen. When that kind of talent comes with great taste and creativity, it’s bananas. He inspires me and makes me want to quit at the same time! And Chris Cohen is just the maestro to me. I love his arrangements and his unique structures, everything about it really. He’s just on this other level, doing his own thing blowing minds. He’s also a very sweet guy who I’ve known through music for many years and who I look up to in a lot of ways. His music inspires me to think differently about playing, writing and recording. He produced and sang on the song Infinite Mirror from Animal Cheer, which was originally released as a single in 2020. Chris and I first met in San Francisco when the Cass McCombs record “A” was being recorded in my garage by my then roommate Jason Quever, circa 2002!