Catchy Power Pop Rock music just isn’t done that much anymore, and that makes me somewhat sad as it should be a genre taking over the Universe. Luckily a band like The Great Valley has come along to keep that tradition of hooks and catchy choruses going and they should be thanked for that. We thought them so very worthy of being one of our Best Things You’ve Never Heard and were able to have singer Louis Matos answer some questions for us and share with you all just why you should check out The Great Valley and their debut album ‘Ruthless.’
For those that haven’t had the pleasure of hearing of you, can you give us a little brief on just who The Great Valley are?
We are two brothers that have been playing music together for over a decade. We released our first EP in April 2010 and our first Full Length in March 2011. We come from a musical family. Our parents are musicians and have always supported us in our endeavor.
Growing up together obviously, being brothers and all, but when did you finally realize that you needed to make music together?
We knew at a young age what we wanted to do. We were surrounded by it our entire lives. Mom played the piano and sang all day and dad played the drums. I was 12 or 13 and Nick was 11 when we picked up our rock instruments. We had been playing piano and singing in choir for our mother years before that.
With only the ‘Wrecking Ball EP’ out in 2010 how was it that you captured the attention of AOL?
It just had a big sound that caught their ear. Wrecking Ball is just one of those songs that is so catchy with a demographic that is much wider than some of the bands with more records under their belt.
From that you recorded a ‘Stripped’ session where you did 3 songs acoustically, how surreal was that being a relatively unknown band with primarily an on line fan base to be given that kind of opportunity?
It felt great that people actually wanted to hear more from us. It’s something that we have aspired to be and want to continue to give fans what they love. Some even prefer the stripped down versions but I will always love the full band “in your face” versions.
Your ‘Wrecking Ball EP’ was released in early 2010 and your album’ Ruthless’ released early 2011 within a year of the EP release. How important was it to have the album out so quickly?
We immediately started writing for Ruthless as soon as we released Wrecking Ball. The songs on the EP, except Wrecking Ball, were written two years prior to the release. It was such a struggle for us to get the music out so we were so determined to never let that happen again. Hence, we have the quick follow up with Ruthless. We have never been happier with our music. Now the hard part will be to continue to surpass the song writing on Ruthless with the next release which we are already planning the writing and recording of. Very early stages haha
What if anything did you do differently for the recording of ‘Ruthless’?
Ruthless was done differently than any other recording we have ever done. Nick and I have been writing and recording for as long as we have been playing together. Nothing really ever made it out until WB. We have been in and out of studios and finally just said, “Let’s do something different and more relaxing on our own time”. And that’s exactly what we did. Instead of having the expectation of recording the songs as fast and as accurate as possible we had the opportunity to wake up and walk into our basement to focus on what we were actually saying and writing. 
Can you give us some Inspiration behind the songs on Ruthless?
All the inspiration for Ruthless came from life experience or the human experience you could say. With all the hard work and failure we have seen in ourselves, family and friends it just came out after being pent up inside for longer than I could remember. You can tell in “Wrecking Ball” with the lyrics and music it was more “fun”. “Ruthless” really honed in on what over a decade of failure and ignorance in others can do to people.
Your sound is very power pop / rock oriented, who would you consider your major Influences?
Growing up it was really bands like Nirvana, silverchair, Foo Fighters, Green Day, etc. Further down the road we’re talking your Drive Thru bands like The Starting Line, The Early November, The Movielife, etc. Coheed & Cambria are probably one of the biggest influences musically for the both of us. The list could go on for days but we’ll stick to that for now. We’re such huge fans of just about every genre.
With the internet making everyone in the world accessible and the ease of something like iTunes to purchase your music, is this in a way a help or a hindrance to what you’re hoping to achieve?
It’s difficult to say. We, the music community, are still in transition. Record companies are scrambling for the next big money maker while unsigned bands are barely making enough to get by. I think it has never been harder to be a musician in this day and age. I notice so many copies of copies are being created every second. All those people will be weeded out in the next five to eight years. The intelligent and talented musicians will last the test of time. Everyone will look back at 2005ish to 2012ish (hopefully no longer) as most do the 80’s hair metal bands.
Even though it does make it somewhat easier to get your music out there, are you worried that something like illegal downloading could mean the end of a band like The Great Valley?
No. Illegal downloading has its positive and negative effect. Negative in a sense that the band doesn’t make money for their work and may have to increase the price of their merchandise or ticket sales to compensate for the loss. Positive in the sense that people want to hear them. Music just has to be marketed in a different way because the time for purchasing an album is on it’s way out.
What gives you the drive to do what you love and want to do?
We want to give our family a better life and give our fans something motivational. We want to help people. If our songs gets our fans through tough times, make them smarter and stronger then we did our job.
On a side note, you have recorded a cover of Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. What drew you to this track?
It’s so catchy haha we heard it and thought it would be a blast giving it our own spin.
What’s next on the agenda for the Great Valley?
We have some tours coming up to support Ruthless. We want to meet as many people as possible, write another record and continue on the path we set out.
OK, lastly you have a crystal ball, in five years The Great Valley will…
1. Be a household name.
2. Be in movies.
3. Finally pay their parents back for all their love and support.
Essential Information
From: USA
Sounds Like: Power Pop Rock
Band: Louis Matos – Vocals / Drums/ Keys, Nick Matos – Guitar / Bass, True Arahill – Guitar, Allen Spicer – Drums
Website: www.thegreatvalleymusic.com
Latest Release: Ruthless
