A decade ago, a bunch of ragged surfer boys looked to the future and comprehended the ocean of possibilities that lay ahead of them. Ten years on, the ragged boys are now rugged men — and for one of them, it’s time to embark on a new journey. Mat McHugh opened up to GC Mag about his expectations for the final tour and his new album.
The Beautiful Girls began their voyage with Morning Sun — an album simply about things that were real: surfing, playing music and thinking about girls. It had a naive innocence to it and was a refreshing change from the big beats and big productions dominating the Australian music charts in 2002. That album set the tone for the platform that would launch The Beautiful Girls into an incredible decade of music.
Over the course of that decade their music matured and changed as they did. Subsequent albums took on more profound themes as they left the simple world of the Northern Beaches behind and expanded their presence overseas, exploring different musical worlds and developing a unique sound that has cemented their place as icons in the Australian music industry.
After an incredible ten years of contributions to the music scene, The Beautiful Girls has taken Mat to a point where he feels it’s time to present his music under his most honest title — his own name. Love Come Save Me is a gift from Mat to his fans: a thank you to everyone who has supported him, and an invitation to join him as he continues his musical voyage.
We caught up with Mat to see how he feels about writing the final chapter for The Beautiful Girls, and to find out what he hopes to bring us in the future.
For the last ten years The Beautiful Girls has taken you around the world on tour twelve times, and now the journey is concluding with an Australian tour being hailed as an “immense celebration” of your contributions to music. How do you feel now that it’s drawing to an end?
I don’t feel much different — probably because the only thing I see as drawing to an end is using the name “Beautiful Girls” as a pseudonym for releasing my music. I will still tour, make albums and have great relationships with all the people I do now. I view it as a celebration of making it through ten years alive — all of us — and of being able to make music my main thing for that long. Well, behind family, surfing, sleeping and eating.
How has the Australian music scene evolved over the last ten years?
It’s a lot more diverse. Ten years ago it was pretty much dominated by guitar-based rock music. Now there’s hip-hop, electro, roots and whatever else. It’s cool — it’s more interesting that way.
Your music has such a profound point of difference to it. What and who have been most influential in shaping you into the artist you are today?
My upbringing, my culture and my friends have probably played the biggest part. I grew up listening to hip-hop, punk rock and reggae and wanted to mash them all together in the brain of somebody who grew up by the beach in Sydney.
When you were starting out you must have played some pretty dodgy venues. Which gig springs to mind as the best of the worst?
Ha — we still play dod
