Kealan and I recently sat down to chat about horror on the Soundcheck Podcast. Besides the fact that our brains were like your grandmother's porridge after we drank copious amounts of beer the night before, it was a pretty cool conversation. You can find the link below:
EPISODE #06 - Kealan Patrick Burke

LISTEN NOW: https://soundcloud.com/the…/episode-006-kealan-patrick-burke

Or on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/…/pod…/the-soundcheck/id1087035902…

After a Q&A session for his novel KIN, (a very hungover) Bram Stoker Award Winning author Kealan Patrick Burke sits down with (a very hungover) Matt to recap the night, talk his return to Ireland, and explore Irish mythology.

NOTE: We had an issue with a cable that resulted in clicking, popping, and Matt's mic dipping in volume. Regardless, we hope it doesn't affect your enjoyment of the show.

With the contract signed, I can finally announce that my short story collection 'Brain Dead Blues' will be released with Sinister Grin Press in 2017. Sinister Grin have put out works by many of my favourite authors, and I'm very proud to join their roster. I'll have more updates as they come, but here's some words from Kealan Patrick Burke:

"“Not content to conquer the rock music world, Matt Hayward has now turned his attention to dark fiction, and how much richer we all are as a result... Everything you’d expect from a rock star turned horror writer, documenting not only facets of the music world but also the darkness that can result from obsessions both creative and violent. I have long been a fan of both the music and the man behind it. Now I’m a fan of his writing too.” - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY, KIN, and SOUR CANDY

Today I sold a story to Crystal Lake Publishing for their upcoming anthology Tales From The Lake Vol. 3. The story is titled Rodent In The Red Room and contains a character who's been knocking about inside my head for the past few months now. His name's Benjamin, he's a drifter, he's Irish, and he has many more experiences ahead of him, that's all I'll say for now. The story itself is a little bit of a tribute to Edward Lee and the more extreme side of horror in general, something I've never explored before but am happy I did. I hope you'll enjoy it.

My story That's The Price You Pay has just come out in Dark Moon Digest #22 and I'm very humbled by the response so far. Alan M Clark told me that he'd like to "strangle me" for this story because he believes it should be a novel... Maybe it will be, some day. You can find it on Amazon now.
Also released this month is No One Gets Out Of Here Alive, a story in the Crossroads Press anthology: Beachfront Starter Home, Good Bones and Other Stories.

This one is going way back. I was 15 years old. I had a 4-track and big ambitions. Here's a version of the Rolling Stones 'Honky Tonk Woman' I recorded when I'm sure I should have been in school. I haven't listened to it for some time, and I've got to say, it isn't terrible... I have stacks of tapes from that time (cassettes, man, dig it).
Anyway, here it is: 15 year old me transferred from 4-track to DAW 11 years later:

https://soundcloud.com/mattjackdog/honky-tonk-woman-4-track-recording-2005

It's two o' clock in the morning, but I still consider it night.
Nighttime, when bad thoughts creep along the highways of the mind like filthy hitchhikers with no destination. I'm writing as an exercise, putting words on the page (or screen, in this case) for no other reason than to stretch the muscle. I'm feeling a little isolated lately. Well, to say a little would be incorrect. I'm feeling very isolated. My writing doesn't feel like it used to. My Muse is out to lunch. I feel lost, no longer relevant, to myself and to others. What I mean is, I think I'm capable of much more than I'm doing lately in regards to writing. I have ideas. So many ideas. And I can't wait to start the next novel. I think it'll be important, to me, and hopefully to others, too. I have hope. As I said, that bastard Muse is out to lunch, not gone forever. My fingers are crossed it hasn't been hit by a car and dragged off to a ditch by a dishonest driver. Oh well, still waitin'.

Happy New Year, folks.

Matt Hayward
9th January, 2016

Come Hell or High Water, the debut solo EP, released today. Click below:

Tomorrow marks the release of Come Hell or High Water. Featuring artwork from Alan M Clark, the EP will be available via iTunes, Spotify, and all other online outlets.