![]() ![]() Currently, Olive Juice Music is a thriving community of like-minded artists who congregate both on and offline, sharing stages, recording studios and even a music festival: the 2nd Annual OJ All Day Festival packed the Cakeshop for an all-day weekend this past summer. Over time, Olive Juice Music became something a bit more real. Roth began a blossoming new chapter in this environment, and along with Nishioka, started to brand his tapes with a fictional record label (it was still a novel idea at the time). “It was a shit hole full of total freaks,” recalls Roth, “Junkies would perform on stage…it was like someone had invented a place for me.” The venue was, in his words, an edgy, welcoming “bottom of the barrel” for artists who were just starting out and trying to find their voice. It was here that Roth met musicians Paleface and Tom Nishioka, was given his new handle (Major Matt USA), and introduced to Lach’s Antifolk world. Marks then, but for fresh faces interested in playing on the same stage as up-and-coming artists like Jeff Buckley, there was a common response from bookers: try the Sidewalk. He settled down in the Lower East Side, scraping by on $150 a week and exploring the Antifolk scene that had been thriving in the neighborhood for over a decade. Matt Roth arrived in New York City in 1994. ![]()
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