Award-winning Canadian crooner Matt Dusk is set to honor the legendary Tony Bennett, bringing his exceptional vocal talent to life with classics like “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “The Good Life.” With the Matt Dusk Sings Tony Bennett Tour coming to Mississauga’s The Living Arts Centre on October 26th, we had the privilege of sitting down with Dusk to discuss his cherished memories of Bennett, his enduring popularity in Europe, and his thoughts on the role of AI in music.
Jeromme Graham: Your Matt Dusk Sings Tony Bennett Tour is coming to Ontario. That must be pretty exciting for you.
Matt Dusk: Yes. Matt Dusk Sings the Music of Dead Legends. It’s crazy that Tony was the last of that era. You think about it, he had the same job for almost what, 70 years? That’s crazy.
Jeromme Graham: You got to really know him. Can you share a memorable story about your time with Tony Bennett?
Matt Dusk: I lived in Las Vegas for a few years from 2004 and we used to share a showroom. Whenever he came to town, if I was playing in the showroom, I would get kicked out, which was great. I always got front-row seats to watch him perform as a young kid getting to see a legend. That was a pretty big deal.
A few times, I’d get to go backstage and hang out and chat with him. And I remember there was one question that someone always still asks me, do you get nervous when you go on stage? And of course, I do. And, you know, here’s this cool gentleman who’s traveled the world his whole life. And I asked him, I said, hey Tony, do you still get nervous? And he said, funny enough you’re asking me that because I asked Frank Sinatra the exact same question. And I was like, really? And he gave me the advice Frank told him.
He said, absolutely, I get nervous. And he said, you know what? Just tell the audience that because if you’re feeling nervous on stage and you tell the audience, they’ll know that you care and they’ll root for you. The audience sentiment can really come on your side because they want to be there for you, right? Otherwise, why would they be coming to the show? Anyway, he gave me little nuggets like that. I can’t go into the inappropriate stuff.
Jeromme Graham: That’s cool. How has Tony Bennett inspired you and what you do?
Matt Dusk: Well, I think you and I are similar in that we do things that we enjoy. Trying to be a musician now or an artist or somebody who creates stuff nowadays almost seems like an impossible feat. You put out a product or you take your time creating something and you release it to the world and sometimes nobody even notices. And this isn’t something new. I don’t know if you listen to Spotify or Apple Music, but do you know how many tracks are uploaded a day? Like, 100,000 or 200,000 new songs a day?
And how can they be discovered? And some artists just never get the opportunity to have a career at it. But look at Tony Bennett. He had seven decades of ups and downs. He was on top of the world in the ’60s. And then he could barely get hired. He had a big drug problem. He was almost going to lose all his money to the IRS because he owed back taxes and then his career turned around. So it kind of shows you that in our industry, if you stick around and you keep trying to do stuff, you can make your path. I don’t know if that makes sense.
Jeromme Graham: No, that does. Speaking of sticking around, what do you think it is about Tony and those songs that have endured? Especially with people like you or Lady Gaga keeping his music at the forefront.
Matt Dusk: I remember when I was at Tony’s 90th birthday party and Lady Gaga was there and she thanked Tony and told him that by him performing with her, he validated what she loves to do. And whatever you think of her, she’s Lady Gaga. She does do the music well, and she does love that era.
With standards, you would have a song where somebody would release it and then there’d be like 40 covers. Kind of like at Christmas time on the radio. Outside of that, we don’t really have that. If Dua Lipa comes out with a song or if Drake comes out with a song, it’s theirs and that’s usually just it. Sure, there might be cover versions, but they’re not going to be the same. I think with Tony, because he came from that era of great songwriting, it’s why that music is still around today.
Jeromme Graham: That makes sense. That music has really stood the test of time. You recently wrapped a Western Canadian tour. What was that like? Are you excited to be coming back to Ontario?
Matt Dusk: It was a nice time to tour. Most of the time, people tour Canada in January or February which is a bad idea. But we were out in April and May which was great. I live in Etobicoke, so this is closer to home. A lot of my work is done in Europe and the States, so it’s nice to be home. I mean I haven’t played the Mississauga Living Arts Centre in over 15 years. It’s been a while. It’s a beautiful theatre. I’m very happy to be coming back. Have you ever been there?
Jeromme Graham: I have. It’s a beautiful venue. Plus, it’s not a long commute for you.
Matt Dusk: Exactly. Then after, I’m going to Switzerland, Poland, and Germany and that’s five weeks where I won’t be home. I’ll get home two days before Christmas. That’s a little more challenging because you’re always on the go and you’re always worried you’re gonna forget your wall charger at the hotel and not be able to charge your phone.
Jeromme Graham: As a Canadian artist with international appeal, what is it that has made you so popular in Europe?
Matt Dusk: I go where Michael Buble doesn’t go. The music I sing is all these standards, right? A lot of jazz standards. It’s amazing you can go to almost any country that doesn’t have English as the primary language and has a different culture and yet, you’ll find people within that country that like this kind of music. In Europe, you can go 300 kilometres and they’ll speak a completely different language so I think they’re used to being open to many more types of art and I think just the fact that it’s been around for that long allows me the opportunity to go there and tour. For example, if you want to tour in Canada, you gotta drive 800 kilometers to the next city. In Europe, you gotta travel 45 minutes to be in another city of 2 million people. I think the success comes from the fact that I’ve been doing it for a while and I’ve been going back to those places but I think there’s an appetite for this type of music which is great. For how long? I don’t know but I’ll keep going. I’ll try to beat Tony and do this for 70 years. Probably not.
Jeromme Graham: You’re well on your way. You’ve been one of Canada’s top crooners for quite some time now.
Matt Dusk: That’s funny because how many other crooners are there in the world right now? There’s not many now, right? There are others but they don’t tour constantly. It’s weird, but I’m definitely appreciative of that.
Jeromme Graham: Looking ahead, any aspirations for after you’ve finished your Matt Dusk Sings Tony Bennett Tour?
Matt Dusk: I’m going to become a writer and take your job. I’m touring this album until April but you know I’m always creating new music. You’re probably always creating ideas as well. I think the problem we have is that artists don’t retire, we kinda just die. So I’ll be touring until April and then I’ll probably need some time to recharge but I’m working on new stuff all the time. I’ve got a new hip-hop record coming out. I’m joking. I’m joking.
Jeromme Graham: I mean, that would be pretty cool.
Matt Dusk: I’ll go into Suno which is a music AI program and I’ll say make a hip-hop track with my voice on it. Do you know how they do all those Kanye West singing Nine Inch Nails clips? Have you ever seen that stuff online? Oh yeah, AI is gonna destroy us all.
Jeromme Graham: If I ever hear a Matt Dusk and Drake collaboration, I’ll know it’s AI.
Matt Dusk: Definitely not real. Definitely fake. They had that track last summer that came out with The Weeknd and Drake and everyone thought it was real.
Jeromme Graham: The guy who created it tried to submit it for a Grammy. Wild.
Matt Dusk: I didn’t know. I knew it was on Spotify because people were asking if I’d heard it. I’m a fan of The Weeknd, so I knew it wasn’t real but they were telling me it was. It’s funny enough that’s where our life is headed. How do I know you’re real?
Jeromme Graham: You’ll never know. What is real is your upcoming Matt Dusk Sings Tony Bennett show at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre on October 26th.
Matt Dusk Sings Tony Bennett comes to Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre this Saturday, October 26th. Get tickets here.
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