Poor Effort is the brainchild of Salford-based Matty Dagger. The project can be coined as “punk poetry” as it contains plenty of spoken word and witty musings derived from real-life experiences. “HMRC” is the new track from Poor Effort, an ode to the state of British economics, job economy, and having an unpleasant employer. The song’s underlying bass line is deep and infectious coupled with contrasting synthesizers and whistles, it grabs the listener to hear the grievances that are voiced through. The accompanying music video also displays a stark visual contrast that aligns with the cover art for the single.
Matty took some time to answer a few questions about the new track “HMRC” and the recording process, along with some of their favorite artists and inspirations. Watch the music video for “HMRC” below and keep scrolling to read the interview with Poor Effort.
Let’s talk about the new track, HMRC. What does that stand for and what were the main inspirations behind the song?
HMRC is the UK’s public service company “His Majesties Revenue & Customs” – very British, I know. They deal with taxes and people’s employment situations etc.
The song came about during lockdown, when the music industry pretty much stopped working. I ended up moving around a few different workplaces while having a lot of contact with the HMRC, so it was just a reflection of the situation I was in at the time really
It reminded me of a play on the YMCA song as well, they don’t have those in Britain, do they?
Yeah I’m glad you spotted that reference haha – I don’t believe they do have them over here, maybe!
I’ll be honest I didn’t make the connection upon first listen but then it just clicked haha. It sounds like the song has been in the making for a couple of years now, any reason for this delay?
To be honest the whole project was a product of lockdown, and has been in the making for a couple of years. I could’ve put the song out back then but there was nothing else really in place around it, so I wanted to take the time to put together a bit of a plan for poor effort as a whole.
I respect putting a plan together! So it sounds like you have plans for an album/EP in the future?
Yeah there’s plenty of material written – currently putting plans together for an EP which will be ready to go soon.
Awesome, I’m looking forward to hearing what you have cooking! Do you feel like you want to keep writing about social issues or was this more of a one-off because of the situation you were in?
Topically I’m not sure what direction my writing will go, I suppose it depends on future situations haha. I certainly don’t want to force anything, and want to reflect what’s relevant to my experiences and observations.
What was the recording/production process like? Do you self-produce or do you have any collaborators?
Yeah at the minute I record everything myself. I can get the track about 50/60% of the way there, and then I’ll take it to my producer to finish off. It’s a process that is working well at the minute and feels really efficient, but I think it’d be interesting to get into a studio and record from scratch with a producer at some point.
How did you get into making music, and have you been involved in any other projects?
I’ve been making and playing music since 2015 in different bands and projects. It probably came from seeing bands in local venues and just fancying a go at it myself, and then going from there. More recently I’ve played as a session bassist for a few artists before starting poor effort. Helping out on other projects has been a great influence to see how different artists operate.
Any artists you feel you pull inspiration from?
I pull lyrical inspiration from a lot of hip hop artists and poets mainly, discovering Gil Scott-Heron was a big learning curve. I can’t relate too much to him from a social standpoint, with him being an artist in New York in the 70’s/80’s, but the way in which he delivers his point of view was a big inspiration.
Are those your favorite? Who are some of your favorite artists?
I’m a big fan of Parquet Courts – particularly the album they did with Danger Mouse which blended two worlds together into this garage punk/hip hop hybrid. Also a classic one is Talking Heads – so yeah there’s a strong New York theme for me when it comes to influences.
Radiotrails is all about music discovery and highlighting lesser-known artists. Who are some artists that you think our readers should check out?
A couple great bands here in Manchester are Madame Claude & Aerial Salad who are well worth having a listen to.
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