Lucid Madness is the music of Matt Ver Steeg. Haunting, evocative... traversing numerous genres of music. His music has been called experimental, ignoring many of the 'rules' of today's music. A few people seem disturbed by not being able to place the music into a specific genre, but fans have thanked him for making 'real' music. Listen to the music of Lucid Madness, and discover it for yourself. Matt cares about being artistically honest with his music. He says "The way I make music is simple. I sit down at the keyboard or pick up the guitar and play. Whatever feels right to me, and comes out at the moment gets recorded. I don't 'think' about the song or its construction. I just play. That approach works best for me. I've found that if I think about how a song should be, or if I fiddle with it too much in the studio, I lose the emotion of the piece. I refuse to do that. I believe that music is about emotion, and connecting with another human being. I don't care about writing a 'popular' song... I just want to record what comes from the heart. If it connects with just one person, that makes it all worthwhile for me." When asked about the recording process, Matt explains "What you hear is the raw take. I don't use MIDI in the studio, because I feel that it wrings some of the humanity out of the music, and it can lose the groove or feel of the song. It makes it too robotic or precise for my taste. I made a vow to myself long ago that if I couldn't play a part all of the way through, I wouldn't 'cheat' in the studio by making tons of overdubs or loops. I wanted to keep it real, just like you experience a live performance." Many of you have asked about the origination of 'Gypsy Soul'. During an interview, here's how Matt described it: "To be honest, Gypsy Soul was birthed during one of the roughest spots in my life, when I was dealing with a divorce and health issues. It was a dark time. I started recording the album, and things simply flowed. after it was al said and done, I took a look back, and saw a catharsis.. a progression. Common Thread was the last song recorded for the album, and that pretty much summed it up." The vocals you hear on the Gypsy Soul album come from a marvelous singer, Sarah Jane Jeffries. Thanks Sarah!!! Finally, a word to the fans. THANK YOU! Here are some comments about the music from fans: "Avalon Nights is my favorite. It changes my mood." "I play your music at all of my dinner parties, and all of my friends are totally blown away, and want to know who you are...." "I can't just listen to the music in the background. There's something about it that grabs me and makes me want to listen to the lyrics..." "If I heard this music on the radio, I'd definitely stop and listen to it...." "I really like the flowy, Enya type music...." "I've never heard anything quite so beautiful....." "A unique blend of sonic dissonance...." "It's got this weird, mystical vibe.... and I LIKE it!" "You've blended things that in normal songwriting wouldn't work...but this does..." "You really broke the rules with that song, but it grabs me...." "This sounds a lot like Mazzy Star in some ways......" "This music hits me in the gut! There's truth in those lyrics!"