Interview: Vertical Horizon

“We’re lucky that people still want to talk to us about this record. I don’t know how it happened, but it did happen, so that’s cause for celebration, for sure,” says Vertical Horizon frontman and main songwriter Matt Scannell. He’s referring to Everything You Want, which launched his band to international fame in 1999 when the title track landed on more than a dozen international music charts, including peaking at #1 in the U.S. and Canada. The album also included the hits “The Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)” and “You’re a God.” Now, to celebrate that release’s 25th anniversary, Vertical Horizon have created a new version on orange vinyl, available via their website at verticalhorizon.com. The band are also doing an extensive North American tour – sharing the bill with Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket – for shows throughout August (full dates listed below).

When you were making this album, could you tell that it was destined to become so successful and enduring?

MATT SCANNELL: No, I don’t think so. I think we knew we had made the best record we could make at the time, and I think we all believed in what we had done. I know that I had been really working to become a better songwriter, and I felt like I had made some real progress, as far as that was concerned. So we knew we were putting our best feet forward. But anything can happen. It’s just the luck of the draw sometimes within the major label system where you’re the flavor of the month with them for a certain period of time, and then decidedly not, or their focus moves on somewhere else. We have had experiences like that subsequent to the Everything You Want record. But during the Everything You Want record, we really benefited from the incredible team of people who were working their tails off to try to help us get every opportunity we could. But as we were finishing recording the record, I think all we knew was that we really liked it. We were very proud of it.

When this album came out, many people seemed to think it was your debut album, even though you had independently released two albums before it…

MATT SCANNELL: Yeah, it was an interesting time because we started the band in 1991, and it wasn’t until 1998 that we signed with RCA Records, so that was seven long years of slogging it out in the back roads of the United States in small bars and clubs. I know, for me, I was getting toward the end of my rope. I was feeling like probably the writing was on the wall, this wasn’t going to work for me, I needed to try to figure out some sort of Plan B. And it was just about that time that we got a publishing deal from Maverick Music, and around the same time that RCA stepped up and signed us to their label. All of those teams helped then propel us forward. It was a bit of a miracle that it happened to the way it did. But by the same token, it’s not surprising that you get to that final place, and you can either give it the biggest push before you hang up your hat, or you can take your marbles and go home. And we were decidedly in the former camp. We were going to go out in a blaze of glory – if it didn’t work, then we knew there was nothing more we could do. And Everything You Want was the result of that.

What was it like for you when the album suddenly got so popular around the world?

MATT SCANNELL: Just euphoric. It was so many different emotions. I think on the one hand there was an element of, “See, we’ve been telling you guys – we think we can actually do this!” Well, of course, that doesn’t really count for anything in the world. Whether or not you think you can do something doesn’t mean you’re going to actually be able to do it. So as much as we were high fiving each other, we were also just dumbfounded when we would see how things were progressing. I’m not sure if it still does, but it held the record as taking the longest amount of time to reach #1 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” [chart] from release to hitting the top spot. And that was this dubious glorious distinction, right? We just kept going. The little engine that could.

What do you think it is about your music that has connected so strongly with fans?

MATT SCANNELL: It’s maybe a catch 22, in that when I’m writing, I don’t think about the world outside the room that I’m writing in. It’s all inward. When I write, I’m trying to effectively fix all the pieces inside of myself that are broken. And I’ve got a lot of them. And so I just dive in there and try to make myself better, one song at a time. So the truth of the matter is, I can’t tell you why songs that come from that small and personal a space, and introverted a space, then fly outward and resonate with other people’s hearts. I mean, I guess it’s just a commentary on the human condition, on some level. We all maybe share similar experiences, even if we’re in vastly different circumstances as human beings.

Now you have this big tour with Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket – what can people expect from that?

MATT SCANNELL: I’m excited that they asked us to be a part of it. We had toured with Gin Blossoms multiple times in the past. And this will be our first time with Toad the Wet Sprocket, but everybody I know who knows those guys just loves them. And so I think it’s just going to be a really good familial group out there. The other thing, too, is once you’ve made it to a certain place in your career, I think everybody is a little more confident in their lot in life, and I think we’ve all realized that we’ve got it pretty good. And so you have less of that angsty competition between bands and all that stuff. You just go out there and do your job and have fun. And then hopefully the audience that’s having fun feels the gratitude that we feel from being continually given these amazing opportunities.

What do you think about the legacy that you have created with your career?

MATT SCANNELL: I’m proud of the work that we’ve done. I believe that it’s good. But more than it being good, I believe that it’s real. I believe that it’s true. I really wouldn’t change a thing. I mean, we’ve got a record that’s out there in the ether that people still want to celebrate now, 25 years on. We’re working consistently – not just when it’s a 25 year anniversary, but every year we play a lot of shows, and we live a beautiful life. And it’s because of Everything You Want. But it’s also because of fans and friends who just continually are there to support us, and buy the records, and buy the tickets to the shows and T-shirts and everything. They put gas in the truck and help us get to the next stop on this incredible journey. I’m always aware that a career in music is not anything I have any right to. This is a gift, this is a privilege, and I somehow have been given it now for a very long time. And so I need to always be grateful and give thanks to the people that put us here. And that’s the fans. That’s the people who lift us up on their shoulders and keep us going, and it’s a pretty humbling experience, actually.

Vertical Horizon, Gin Blossoms, and Toad the Wet Sprocket tour dates:

8/1 – Oshkosh, WI – Leach Amphitheater/Waterfest Concert Series
8/2 – La Vista, NE – The Astro
8/3 – Mankato, MN – Vetter Stone Amphitheater
8/5 – Grand Rapids, MI – Meijer Gardens
8/7 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Cain Park Evans Amphitheater
8/9 – Arcadia, WI – Ashley For The Arts (Vertical Horizon only)
8/10 – Reynoldsburg, OH – Tomato Festival (Vertical Horizon only)
8/11 – Lewiston, NY – Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater
8/13 – Medford, MA – Chevalier Theatre
8/15 – Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Center
8/16 – Cary, NC – Koka Booth Amphitheatre
8/17 – Sugar Hill, GA – The Bowl at Sugar Hill
8/18 – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center at the Heights
8/20 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts
8/22 – Selbyville, DE – Freeman Arts Pavilion
8/23 – Middlefield, CT – Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort
8/24 – Essex Junction, VT – Champlain Valley Fair