Matt Mays went one for six at the 2004 ECMAs, but he’s the big winner in The Coast’s 2004 Best of Music Poll. Mays, currently touring western Canada, swept five categories.
“Holy shit,” he says en route to Regina from Winnipeg. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter was especially pleased to hear about the double win for the single “City of Lakes,” which is currently spinning on airwaves across the country. “I wrote that a long time ago and dug it out when searching through old four-track tapes,” he says. “El Torpedo put their touch on it and it had some magic to it. It’s great. I never expected it to be a single.” The best male artist award took Mays for surprise as well. “I’m among many great men in that category, especially in Halifax,” he says. “I don’t think I’d stand up in the female category, though.”
Mays’ other wins were a little more dubious in distinction. He was voted as the best new artist in Halifax, which is strange since he spent a few years with the now-defunct Guthries before launching his 2002 debut album. “I guess I’m new to people who aren’t in the music scene,” he says. “I don’t feel like I’m new, but I guess it is my first solo album and majority rules.”
And for those of you who think he’s moving to Toronto anytime soon think again. It doesn’t have the charm of Halifax and Dartmouth, he says, and besides, there are no waves to surf. “I could try and make something happen at Lake Ontario, but I can’t see it happening, being a lake and all,” he says, laughing. “And Halifax’s scene slays the Toronto scene.”
