Maurice Mattei & the Tempers
The Tempers came together by chance sometime around 2007. I had decided to record a full-band record and I recruited friends who also happened to be real fine musicians to add accompaniment. When that record wrapped up, a couple of the players wanted to join me for upcoming live shows.
Since that time, the line-up has changed. No reflection on past players but I think the current band - Debbie Immesoete on drums, Bryan (Bassbanger) Berwanger on upright bass - is the best yet. My songs shift from genre to genre and Debbie and Bryan hold to a roots rock sound while adding hints of jazz, country and pop. We're only a three-piece but our sound is full and the live shows are high-energy and powerful….depending on the sound engineer, of course.
"Mattei knows how to write a good song…Roots Rock combined with thoughtful, poetic lyrics…Mattei's songs are works of art…intense."
- Rootstime Belgium
"With the full-band approach, the songs become more animated and distinct. And the arrangements are superb. There's a sort of Garage-meets-Roots vibe (perhaps Mattei's original intent for the songs all along) that is quite powerful…Mattei's vocals are especially intense and, with the group's circular grind behind him, he seems to have really taken to the idea of digging into these songs."
- Mike Breen, CityBeat Magazine
"There are skiffle tunes and ballads, bluesy Rolling Stones-like songs and '60s Rock. The only criticism is Mattei should have arranged his wonderful songs with that rock beat years ago. The sound is so good one might wonder what took him so long."
- Rick Bird, The Cincinnati Post