JOE MATERA

SINGER/SONGWRITER/GUITARIST

JOE MATERA is an Australian singer/songwriter, guitarist and recording artist for European based record labels, W.A.R Productions (Austria) and RVPrecords (The Netherlands). As a 30 + year veteran of countless original and covers outfits, his impressive playing CV includes, being lead guitarist in Australian rock outfit Geisha (2007 - 2010), founding lead guitarist for classic rock band Double Vision (2003 - 2008) and popular local band On The Prowl (1995 - 1999). He has also contributed guitar to a number of various projects and other artist recordings and has also worked with legendary US producer Tom Werman (Motley Crue, Cheap Trick, Poison) and famed Swedish producer Tomas Skogsberg (Entombed, Backyard Babies, The Hellacopters)

His original guitar instrumental compositions have also appeared on various soundtracks including Australian movie Ricky!- The Movie (Nov. 2011) which featured his acoustic instrumental 'Starry Night'. He has served as lead guitarist in the orchestra for local award winning stage productions of Les Misérables and Chess, and as a seasoned live performer, has shared the stage with some of Australia's top acts such as Dragon and Taxiride, and as a solo artist, he has supported the likes of Mental As Anything, Brian Cadd, Russell Morris, 1927, Bay City Rollers, Canned Heat, Andrew Strong, Karise Eden (The Voice) and Peter Criss (KISS).

His first official outing as solo artist was the acoustic instrumental 'Travellin' West' in Sept. 2010. In November, 2011 he released 'Slave To The Fingers' an all-electric instrumental EP CD via European record label W.A.R Productions.

In April, 2012 Joe played guitar and performed with legendary English singer/songwriter STEVE HARLEY for a series of live acoustic performances for radio and TV on Harley's first ever promo tour of Australia.

September, 2012 saw the release of the CD ‘Creature Of Habit’ Joe’s first full length studio album via W.A.R Productions. This was followed by his first ever European tour that same month. The album also featured his first lead vocal outing on the track 'Fallen Angel' which was also issued as a European only CD single in January, 2013.

Joe's 2nd full length studio album 'Terra Firma' was released in January, 2014 on CD via W.A.R Productions in Europe. The vocal track 'Shining Star' was issued from the album as the first single. In May, 2014, Joe undertook the 'Terra Firma European Tour' - his most extensive European tour to date - in support of his latest album, that saw him performing headlining shows in Austria, Czech Rep., Germany, Poland, Netherlands and England. A 2nd vocal track 'Tell Me Why' off the same album was also released as single in July, 2014. 'Tell Me Why', 'Shining Star' and 'Travellin' West' were all featured in a German film documentary titled "Deutsche Meisterschaft der Golfer mit Behinderungen", released Oct, 2014.

In June and July, 2015, Joe successfully embarked on his third European tour. The 'Louder Than Words Tour' saw headlining shows in Austria, Netherlands and Germany. The tour culminated with a slot on the main stage at the huge 'Wings & Wheels Festival' in Heist, Germany. July, 2015 saw the release of Joe's third full length studio album 'Louder Than Words'.  A much more predominantly vocal based outing, it was issued on CD via W.A.R Productions in Europe with the title track released as the album's first single.

The album also featured the track 'Feel Your Love' which earned Joe a Commended Entry Award in the 'Rock' category of the prestigious 2015 UK Songwriting Contest. 'Feel Your Love' also garnered Joe his very first Top 20 charting song in Germany, where it peaked at #15 on the Radio Berlin 'Hey Music' Chart in late 2015.

Early 2016 saw Joe signing to Netherlands based record label RVPrecords as the label's first international signing to their artist roster. As part of the new deal, the label issued ‘Now And Then’ a compilation album of Joe’s best tracks spanning his entire recorded catalog thus far.

2017 saw a busy schedule of live shows and touring, which included being the opening act for Scottish tartan sensations, Bay City Rollers ft. Les McKeown at two of the band's sold-out shows in Melbourne. September 29th saw the release of Joe's fifth studio outing, 'Heart Of Stone' released via RVPrecords in Scandinavia and Europe. The title track and single, was co-produced by legendary Swedish producer Tomas Skogsberg. A fifth European tour, in support of the new release followed in October, 2017.

In early 2018, Joe joined Swedish based rock band Rough Rockers as permanent member on guitar. September 21st, 2018 saw the release of the all vocal and acoustic solo EP 'Waiting For The Sun' via Mercury Fire Music. The title track was released as an official single. In April-May 2019, he undertook his sixth European tour in support of 'Waiting For The Sun' that took in shows in Sweden and the UK. In September, 2019 he released the single 'Overload' which was fully recorded at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. In April, 2020 he released 'Electric Wire', a compilation of his best instrumental tracks from his back catalog. This was followed by the single, 'Only One' in October, 2020, 'Take A Look' (feat. Janne Schaffer) in April, 2021 and 'Inside Looking Out' in October, 2021.

He is also a regular co-host of the 'Music Maestros' segment on Australia's ABC Radio Statewide Drive show with Nicole Chvastek.

MUSIC JOURNALIST

Since 1999, he has also been a respected music journalist, and has had over 600 articles published. His many interviews and features have appeared in countless music magazines around the world. From Australian Guitar and Rolling Stone in Australia to Classic Rock, Guitar & Bass, Record Collector, Sound On Sound, Metal Hammer and Total Guitar in the U.K, to Guitar World and Goldmine in the U.S.A and Chitarre in Italy. During the 2000s, he provided exclusive interviews to online website Ultimate-Guitar.Com, and contributed to UK's Guardian Series Newspapers' 'Limited Edition' magazine as well as Fairfax Newspapers' M magazine, The Sunday Age in Melbourne, Australia.

During the course of his writing career, Joe has interviewed a who's who of the music world, which include artists such as Aerosmith, Metallica, Guns & Roses, Thin Lizzy, Foo Fighters, Kiss, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Steely Dan, Roxy Music, The Doors, Bon Jovi, Black Sabbath, Def Leppard, Korn, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Marilyn Manson, Cheap Trick, Queen, Nickelback, Alice Cooper, Slayer, Foreigner, Blondie, Yes, HIM, The Shadows, John Mayer and many, many others. He also spent time on tour with numerous artists such as Nickelback, The Angels and Joe Satriani.

His first book, 'Backstage Pass : The Grit and The Glamour' was published worldwide by Empire Publishing in the UK in November, 2021.