Delivering delight

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This article was published 08/07/2021 (1536 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rusty Robot is pure joy.

It’s a feeling that eluded Winnipeg multi-instrumentalist Rusty Matyas for years while he struggled with alcoholism, one that has become a permanent part of his life in sobriety.

“Three years ago I almost died,” Matyas says.

His liver failed and he was hospitalized for six months, detoxing and receiving life-saving blood transfusions.

“It felt like I was reborn, and I know that’s kind of cliché to say, but I really do feel like a new person,” he says. “I’ve got a new grateful perspective on life and I’m just appreciative of everything.”

Rusty Robot is a new solo project from the local music producer and former member of Imaginary Cities, the Waking Eyes, the Weakerthans and the Sheepdogs. The colourful, zany character isn’t really a character at all, but rather an outward expression of Matyas’ inner world.

“It feels right; it feels like me, actually,” he says with a raspy laugh.

Last Friday, Matyas introduced Rusty Robot to the world with a debut single called Ice Cream Truck, an upbeat ditty about the positive power of the frozen treat.

The song, and the robotic moniker, came from a virtual Winnipeg Fringe Festival show earlier this year, called So You Have an Idea by Cory Wojcik. The premise saw Matyas and artists from different disciplines come up with a work of art based on an idea from the audience.

“I was given the idea ‘ice cream vaccination truck,’” he says. “I leaned more heavily on the ice cream stuff and I had to write this awfully quickly… it turned out to be a fun, happy song that I really sincerely enjoy.”

In need of a stage name, Matyas turned to his lifelong love of sci-fi, video games and robots (Bender from Futurama is his favourite animated robot and Chappie, from the 2015 movie of the same name, is his favourite “real” robot).

Matyas is his own worst critic, but he kept coming back to Ice Cream Truck. The process of creating a song in less than a week forced him to simplify and go with his gut, “I didn’t allow myself to spend too much time questioning whether it was good enough,” he says.

He decided to turn the song into a high-vis music video featuring local artists Mise en Scene, Al Simmons, DJ Hunnicutt and dancers Dutchess Cayetano and Victoria Exconde. Pushing the the concept a step further, he partnered with Winnipeg’s Chaeban Ice Cream to create an original flavour called Kiki Lime, described as “key lime pie in a jar” — a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Bear Clan Patrol.

“The community helped me make this release happen,” Matyas says of the fringe fest audience input. “And (the community) gave me the opportunity to give right back to it — this is such a beautiful project wrapped up in a community bow.”

After years of playing with and producing for other musicians, stepping out as a solo artist has been a mix of anxiety and education. The internet is a bigger factor now than it was during his previous ventures and the pandemic has changed how people can engage with music. The learning curve has been another way to practise gratitude.

“It’s a privilege to be an artist and so I’m gonna work for it and appreciate every moment I get to share my art with people,” Matyas says. “I’ve put myself out there in the darkest of ways and to be able to put something out there that’s light and happy, I hope can be inspiring.”

Ice Cream Truck is available on YouTube and most major streaming services. Rusty Robot has two more songs to release this summer and is planning a live multimedia show when it’s safe to do so.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney