Matt Steele & The Corvette Sunset are one of Halifax’s biggest up-and-coming bands. One part Elvis Costello, one part Marlon Brando, one part Nova Scotian compatriots The Trews, Matt Steele & Co. combine retro swagger with catchy bar-rock hooks. So when they write a song like “Handshake Deal” about trying to reclaim some self-confidence after going through a manipulative relationship, it still comes off as pretty fun.
“Handshake Deal,” however, was born of tragic circumstances. Steele’s mother was losing a battle against brain cancer and it left Steele in a vulnerable position.
“I let myself get romantically entangled with someone who was really unwell in a lot of ways,” says Steele. “I had no defence mechanisms for their behaviours, and with my mom experiencing a terminal illness, I think I was desperate to think I could control something and heal someone.”
Conceptually, Steele explains that “Handshake Deal” is the aftermath of the song “Dangerous” from his previous album. “Dangerous” dealt with the impending fallout of the break up, leaving Steele feeling torn up over how it was all going to end.
“I was trying to dig myself out of a big bout of depression. I was writing sort of sad stuff, laments, complaints. ‘Handshake Deal’ started as this chill, Matt Mays ‘On The Hood’ kind of tune. Then over time I just really liked saying ,’you think you’ll be the only one to turn my wheels’ with a bit of mischief, and after going through a big Elvis Costello phase I finally learned how to turn my heartbreak into, I dunno, sass? Sarcasm?”
“I liked how Costello had all these songs that put just totally over the top sarcasm on display [like] ‘I don’t want to hold you, I just wanna put you down’ or ‘Sometimes I think that love is just a tumor, you’ve got to cut it out.'”
When it came to for Steele to bring the song to the rest of his band, he’d worked it into a tune that was far more upbeat than you’d expect from the subject matter.
“I wanted that ‘Pump It Up’ vibe – just bouncy, maybe a bit busy, fast, and just way more buoyant and confident than the state of mind I had when I wrote it. I think developing that confidence onstage over the last few years helped sell the song too – I could be taunting in the verses and choruses, and then let you into that old sadness for a quick second on the bridge, ‘I’ll love you tomorrow… please fade away.'”
The song comes with something of a silver lining though. While the story behind the song comes with a trouble and manipulative backstory, rather than being bitter, Steele has found an inspiration. The challenges he’s faced has fuelled his desire to follow in his mother’s footsteps to work in mental health when he’s not working on music,
“I’m a student at Dal in Therapeutic Recreation, I volunteer at inpatient and community mental health programs,” says Steele.
“The situation I found myself in before writing ‘Handshake Deal’ was an untenable one – you have to take care of yourself and your own mental health. Even though this song is an upbeat romp through post-breakup feelings, I hope that this and some of the other songs on this album will help people start more conversations about mental health, about taking care of your friends and lovers and yourself. Mental Health services in the East Coast is underfunded, understaffed, overwhelmed, and our politicians are more worried about balancing the budget (whatever that means at the provincial level) than making sure that current and future generations can get the help they need. I’d really love in 20 years to be writing strictly silly love songs or party jams, but we need to keep the pressure up, get involved, volunteer, donate money or time, etc.”