Willard's Canteen
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Willard's Canteen is the moniker of one-man band Matthew Pamatmat, a northern California musician known for being a prolific proponent of psychedelic folk, ambient soundscapes, and weird rock. Recording exclusively on a four-track tape recorder and using a motley assortment of instruments, Willard's Canteen has created around 200 songs and released at least thirteen albums on CD, including the double album How to Tell a Dead Horse from One that is Merely Resting and the simultaneously-released CDs Eatin' a cupcake in Hell and Gnap Gnightmares. Willard's Canteen music is known for its lo-fi quality and unique, inventive sounds and surreal lyrics, and on rare occasions when the reclusive Pamatmat plays live he often enlists the help of musician friends and places a glowing plastic goose onstage.
Discography: Willard's Canteen I, II, 3, IV; Orangutan; Fucked Up at the Four Track; Bananer Funnel Kakes from the Old Cuntry; How to Tell a Dead Horse from One that is Merely Resting (2xCD); Dark Side of the Scrapbook; Eatin' a cupcake in Hell; Gnap Gnightmares; Judy Garland of Severed Heads; A Spectacular Butchery Site; and, most recently, the double CD Morphing Fields.
The first five Willard's Canteen CDs are in mono, due to a simple technical glitch Pamatmat overlooked in the drunken, feverish pace that characterized the creation and release of these albums. Fucked Up at the Four Track is the first Willard's Canteen album in stereo, and all following releases are mostly in stereo or a combination of stereo and mono.
Pamatmat makes Willard's Canteen music in rare spare moments when he is not working, writing (he has been a successful freelance writer, writing on a number of diverse and philosophically-tinged subjects), or pursuing an MA degree in humanities and philosophy. Willard's Canteen captured the attention of music critic Sara Bir, who wrote an insightful article for the North Bay Bohemian. The article can be found at [1]
Willard's Canteen music, images, and info can be found at [2]
