I had the opportunity to speak with Matt Slocum—co-founder, guitarist, and songwriter for Sixpence None the Richer—about the enduring impact of his music on generations of listeners. Slocum met lead singer Leigh Nash in the early ’90s in their hometown of New Braunfels, Texas. Fast forward to 2024: Sixpence None the Richer has released an EP called Rosemary Hill, a deluxe edition of their Christmas album, The Dawn of Grace, and an anniversary edition of their self-titled album. Their 25th anniversary tour just wrapped up! If you missed it, I hope you’ll still get to experience the magic of their music in another way.
Here’s a transcript of the conversation we had:
Me: Hi, Matt! Thank you for taking time to speak with me.
Slocum: Sure. Is this Nicole?
Me: Yeah! This is Nicole from University Pulse Radio. So, you were recently on your 25th anniversary tour called We Are Love. And this year, you guys have also released an anniversary edition of your self-titled album, a deluxe edition of Dawn of Grace, and an EP called Rosemary Hill. Let’s talk about your self-titled album. Obviously, this is the album that changed your life, but when you released each of these songs, did you know right away that “Kiss Me” would be the standout single that would reach this immense level of success?
Slocum: Short answer is no. I think there were a lot of people around us, including our producer Steve Taylor, and a lot of the staff at Squint Records, which was the newly formed, you know, kind of indie record label, also formed by Steve Taylor. It was sort of those outside voices that were really honed in on that particular track. The irony of it is that we actually didn’t want to include it on that album. We thought it was just sort of out of place, and yeah, they sort of had to really convince us to keep it. And obviously, the rest is history. It really did—it really did change our lives. No doubt.
Me: Now I’ve got to talk about “We Are Love” off of Rosemary Hill. I was thinking about the incredible guitar solos and riffs in that track, combined with Leigh’s remarkable vocal range. And I was wondering about the evolution of your sound, particularly on the first album, The Fatherless and the Widow. Comparing these two pieces, would you say that there’s one that is more reflective of who you are as a musician?
Slocum: Well, I think it’s probably reflective of just the evolution of the band and probably mainly the evolution of Leigh and myself. Because on that first record, The Fatherless and the Widow, Leigh and I, neither one of us had ever even been in the studio before. We were just learning how to sing and play in that environment. And we were complete newbies on that. So comparing that with the Rosemary Hill EP hopefully shows that we’ve grown on all those levels. You know, I mean, I think Leigh is singing better than ever, and when you put the old up against the new, you can really hear the saturation and evolution of her voice. And I think just all across the board—the lyrics, the writing, the band performances—I’m glad you bring it up because it makes me happy to think we’ve gotten better. Somewhat better, at least.
Me: No, of course you did! But still, I thought it was a great record too. Just completely different with experience, for sure.
Slocum: Yeah. Although I will say there is a certain specialness to documenting your early attempts as well. I mean, that, you know, it can be embarrassing sometimes, but it’s also just a good snapshot of you trying to express yourself as a teenager too.
Me: Yeah. It’s very cool. Which song were you most excited for fans to hear live when you released Rosemary Hill?
Slocum: That’s a good question. It kind of morphed over time. I think when we recorded “Julia” in the studio and then started rehearsing it, we were, I think, collectively really excited about that one. Just really fun to play. It’s got a lot of energy. But as the tour went on, I think “We Are Love” ended up being a big highlight just ‘cause it was at the end of the set, and the energy that kind of infused into it as we got better at playing it on the road, it really became a highlight. Those things tend to morph and change over time.
Me: I’m sure if you play a song differently, or decide to change up a chord one night, you feel completely different about it, or fans react to it a certain way, you know?
Slocum: Yeah.
Me: Thinking back to your early releases, is there a particular lyric from one of your older songs that still resonates with you in a way that surprises you?
Slocum: Well, I’m not sure if it’s a particular lyric, but I think it’s an overall spirit of the lyrics that back then tended to be on the darker side. You can kind of feel the struggle of just wrestling with various things in my 20s, and Leigh as well. I think we still sort of sense that struggle in searching, even in our new music. But maybe with a little bit more wisdom and years under our belt, it doesn’t take everything so seriously. It has a little bit more sense of humor and just sort of acceptance of ourselves. But still, that kind of searching spirit has always seemed to be a thread in a lot of our songs.
Me: I like that a lot. So I understand that the band has split up and gotten back together several times throughout the years, but after over a decade of not releasing music together, was there a particular moment that ended your most recent hiatus?
Slocum: Yeah, I think the biggest difference with this particular lineup reforming and the hiatus was our original drummer, Dale Baker, sort of coming back to the band. He started coming to Nashville a lot a few years ago to see his daughter, and he and I were kind of getting together for coffee every time he was in town. And we realized he’s pretty much played on almost every Sixpence album except for one or two. And he really is fundamentally the sound of the band. So for him to come back and immediately get to record and tour, everything just sort of felt like it was meant to be. I think in the past, some of the reformations were with other drummers or other musicians, so him coming back has probably been the biggest difference of all those past iterations.
Me: It’s so great to see bands get back together because life is just too short!
Slocum: Yeah. It all seems so real when you’re on the inside of it, but you get out and then you know, well, we probably were taking that a little too seriously, you know.
Me: So, of all the concerts you’ve performed, is there one that remains etched in your memory? And if there is, what made it so unforgettable?
Slocum: Yeah, that’s another great question. I can think of a few, but a really special show we did was part of a festival in Italy called Festivalbar. We played in the coliseum in Verona, Italy, which I think is the only intact coliseum in Italy. Not only was it amazing to be in that environment, but Sting was on the bill, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other amazing people we got to meet and perform with. That was a big highlight. I will say to you, the band has done a lot of television performances over the years and the Letterman performance we did, where Leigh was sort of called up to have an interview with Dave Letterman unexpectedly. That was also a really big highlight.
And then recently, on this last tour we played at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, which is where Leigh and I grew up and that hall has been there– I think it’s the oldest operating dance hall in Texas. We sort of grew up in the shadow of it, and we played a sold-out show there for this tour. That will always be one of our biggest highlights because it felt like we were coming totally full circle. And the crowd was just incredible. And we ended up recording that show, and we’re releasing it as a live album on April 12th for Record Store Day this year. That’s awesome! Okay, so growing up, who are some of your biggest inspirations?
As a guitar player, I think I ended up really loving Johnny Marr from The Smiths. I just love the way he approached the guitar. I loved all The Smiths records and just the style, and The Cars were a big influence. And then, you know, just because of my age, U2 was a pretty big influence. With The Edge and his style of guitar playing. I think Boy came out when I was in fifth grade, and then The Joshua Tree came out when I was in seventh or eighth grade. And those were really huge. Crowded House– I think the first Crowded House record came out when I was in junior high, and that was just an amazing record. Neil Finn is still one of my favorite songwriters of all time. And obviously, we got to pay tribute to him with the cover we did.
Me: Right. If I could like, narrow that down—if you could pick any one of those musicians or a different musician, dead or alive, to join the band for a day of jamming out, who would you choose?
Slocum: Aw man. I mean, I have to, only because he has done this many, many times with other bands to great effect, I’d have to say Johnny Marr because he’s got the set with Modest Mouse, he had the set with Electronic, and he would change the chemistry, and that would be pretty amazing. Oh, I’ll say to you Noel Gallagher was a pretty big influence. Just with the Oasis stuff, you know. Just the way he was channeling The Beatles, which was very cool.
Me: Yeah, definitely. Is there a current artist that you believe deserves more recognition?
Slocum: Good question. My daughter introduces me to a lot of new music these days, and she introduced me to this band called Cigarettes After Sex. Who I thought were amazing. They just seemed like a small indie rock band, you know? And then I found out they actually sell out stadiums, so I don’t, you know, they’re not in need of extra exposure.
Me: Right! Now, obviously, your covers of “There She Goes” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over” are extremely successful. But if you guys were to release another cover today, is there a particular song that you have in mind?
Slocum: That’s another good question. We have talked about doing a cover of “Ordinary World” by Duran Duran.
Me: Oh, wow! I love that song.
Slocum: We went back and listened to it and just thought it was absolutely stellar. Somebody had mentioned doing a version of “Wichita Lineman,” the Glen Campbell song. We actually just did a cover. We got asked to be a part of this thing called a Sweet Relief compilation. The current one coming out has Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Peter Kay, Watkins Family Hour—so anyway, we were pretty honored to get asked, and we did a cover of “The Needle and the Damage Done,” the Neil Young song.
Me: That’s great! All right. How does it feel knowing about the impermanence of certain styles of music as time evolves, yet your music continues to hold an impact with newer generations?
Slocum: That’s really, really surreal and mind-blowing. And unexpected. I’m almost speechless at it because it’s one of those things that you never really—I mean, I think you, as an artist, always want to create something that is timeless and, you know, sticks around forever. But it’s very difficult to do that on purpose sometimes. You know, you kind of create what you feel compelled to create and give it out to the world, and then it’s kind of up to the listeners to take it to that level of perpetuity, I guess. I mean, in particular, the song “Kiss Me,” it just—it seems to have really done a generational job. And a lot of current female pop artists have really latched on to it, and it’s really amazing.
I mean, I think on this last tour, we really noticed a significant uptick. And, you know, 12 to 15-year-old girls coming out and just—you know, they’re just obsessed with Leigh, and, you know, current pop stars, some of them even cite Leigh as an influence, vocally. I think we just hit the sweet spot of creating a song—creating an iconic song with an iconic vocalist. I don’t want to jinx it, but it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to go away.
Me: Right. I don’t think it will! My last question for you is: if you could give any message to the world right now, what would you like to say?
Slocum: I think that answer is going to be different for everybody. But for me, my message would just be like, take care of your neighbor, you know? Just try to take care of the less fortunate. There’s just a lot of people being put in danger by policy shifts, and we got to take care of what’s in our local communities. To tackle the huge national issues can be very, very overwhelming. Just try to identify the people in need next to ya and do your best to take care of them.
Me: Yeah, that’s a great message. And especially a lot of your newer music, I feel like it’s preaching peace and love, and it’s just—it’s what we need right now.
Slocum: Yeah. I mean, sometimes those feel like clichés, but It’s kind of the exact thing we need to be doing right now. It’s just crazy!
Me: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me!
