Denver-based bassist, composer, and educator Matt Skellenger joined Phantom Power Collective on KGNU’s Heavyset to discuss his musical journey, influences, and upcoming projects. Skellenger, who began playing bass at 14, draws inspiration from artists like Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, and the late Ron Miles, with whom he collaborated for years. He shared insights into his compositional approach, blending jazz, improvisation, and unconventional time signatures, as heard in his latest album Subspace Transmission. Skellenger also highlighted his Sunday solo bass sets at Breakfast on Broadway, his duo album release with Matt Reed set for August 16th at Dazzle, and the continued impact of Ron Miles on his music. (Interview: 5/6/2025)
Phantom Power Collective: Welcome back to Heavyset on KGNU. Elizabeth and Geo here with Phantom Power Collective. We’re happy to be here with Matt Skellenger, a Denver-based composer and recording artist who has played solo and in various bands, including the Matt Skellenger Group, the Grown Ass Man Band, and the Matt Skellenger Quartet. He has also studied with Victor Wooten.
Matt Skellenger: I’m happy to be here.
Phantom Power Collective: We’ll play some of your music. It seems like a lot of it is written by you. Is that accurate?
Matt Skellenger: Yeah, a lot of the music is written by me, but it’s such an improvisatory style that there are a lot of contributions from the other musicians in the group too. But the ideas generally originate from me.
Phantom Power Collective: Can you tell us how you originally got started as a bass player?
Matt Skellenger: Yeah. I had a friend — we were 14 at the time, just finishing eighth grade. He got a Fender bass and amp combo for his birthday, and he let me try it one day. I was just like, “Wow, this is pretty cool. I think this is what I want to do.” I told my dad on the ride home that I’d love to get a bass and start playing. It just spoke to me, and it continues to today.
Also, the music I was listening to at the time was very bass-heavy — a lot of early ‘90s alternative rock, rap rock fusion. A lot of it had prominent electric bass, so I think that might have been another reason why I gravitated toward it.
Phantom Power Collective: Is it true that one of your early influences was Les Claypool from Primus?
Matt Skellenger: He was a huge influence on me when I was young. I was a Primus fan club member and went to several Primus shows growing up. A lot of the early techniques I was trying to learn came from him, for sure. He was the one who got me into the two-handed tapping stuff. He does a little bit of that in some of the Primus songs, and that was my first introduction to that style of playing.
Phantom Power Collective: Oh, okay.
Matt Skellenger: Yeah. That style is pretty prominent in a lot of my music. I just enjoy how the electric bass sounds with that approach. You can create more than just single-note lines; you can play chords, melodies, and bass parts simultaneously. When you’re sitting around playing bass by yourself a lot, trying to hear those other ideas in the music kind of led to that technique.
Phantom Power Collective: I always think about jazz music — much of it is instrumental, and listeners don’t always have a clear idea of what the song is about. They just have the titles, which might offer a clue about your thought process. You have some really clever titles like “Dog Shorts,” “Itchy Forest,” “Wheezy and Willow,” and “The Owls Are Not What They Seem.” How do you come up with titles for your songs?
Matt Skellenger: Yeah, it’s an interesting thought when you’re playing instrumental music. There are no lyrics, so sometimes the title becomes the only reference point. For example, with “Dog Shorts,” Matt Reed’s dog had surgery, and the only way to protect the area was for him to wear some of Matt’s gym shorts. That was happening while we were working on the tune, so the name stuck.
“Wheezy and Willow” refers to my partner Louise — people call her Wheezy — and our cat Willow. The song reminds me of them playing together, so it has a playful energy. “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” is a reference to Twin Peaks, which was a big influence on me growing up, and that album has some themes inspired by Twin Peaks.
Phantom Power Collective: We’re going to play a song now. Eric, could you introduce “Vitality”?
Matt Skellenger: Yeah. “Vitality” is the title track from our sixth release. This tune features Indian percussion with tabla and ghatam, and it actually started as a solo bass piece. I played it a couple of times solo, then brought it to the group, and we expanded it into a full composition.
Phantom Power Collective: Thank you. We’ll go ahead and play “Vitality” by the Matt Skellenger Group. When we come back, we’ll talk to Matt about his creative process and his work as a music educator.
Plays Vitality
Phantom Power Collective: We both know you as a music educator as well as a composer. Does your teaching help you in your creative process or influence how you write or play music?
Matt Skellenger: I feel like the more you teach, the more you learn. It opens your ears to different styles and approaches that you might not have considered before. Especially in class, when we analyze bass lines and get into other people’s work, it really broadens your perspective.
It’s also not just about the music. One of the things I love about Swallow Hill is its sense of community. It’s a place where people come together to play music, and you meet a lot of folks you might not have met just playing gigs. Sometimes at gigs, you’re surrounded by people with similar influences, but teaching brings you into contact with so many different backgrounds. That diversity really helps expand your creativity.
Phantom Power Collective: I was thinking about jazz and all the unusual time signatures. Jazz is such a complex language in itself. When you’re composing, how do you decide to use unconventional time signatures?
Matt Skellenger: It’s not always a conscious choice. I’ve always been interested in numbers and mathematical patterns, and music is full of those. I enjoyed math in school, and I think that gravitation toward patterns naturally came through in my music.
When I compose, I’m more of a stream-of-consciousness kind of writer. I play ideas and see what sticks. A lot of times, those odd time signatures just emerge organically from what I’m playing and what I like the sound of.
There are times when I consciously set out to write in a specific time signature, like with a tune called “13 Past 11.” That one is a 13-bar blues in 11/8, or an 11-bar blues in 13/16. That one was more of an intentional experiment.
Phantom Power Collective: We’re back on Heavyset with Matt Skellenger. You refer to the late, great Ron Miles, the Denver-based cornet and trumpet player. Can you tell us about your involvement with him?
Matt Skellenger: Definitely. I met Ron when I was a senior in high school. He was doing these “Jazz and Polo in the Park” events with Ginger Baker, where you’d watch Ginger play polo and then a set of jazz with some of Denver’s best musicians. Ron was the musical director. My mom read about it in the newspaper, and we went to check it out.
I was so influenced by him that I decided to attend Metro State and study music under him. After I graduated, we started playing together. He was incredibly encouraging and pushed me to get my own projects started.
Ron ended up recording on our first three albums and was in the group for about eight years. I also played in one of his groups for about three years. He was always forming different bands and collaborating with new musicians, which is very typical of a jazz artist.
Ron was a kind and warm person, and he touched so many people in this community. I feel very fortunate to have spent so much time with him.
Phantom Power Collective: Your last album was Subspace Transmission in 2023.
Matt Skellenger: Yes, that’s correct. It’s our most recent release. We were scheduled to go into the studio just days after Ron passed away. We were already planning to include some of his music, but after he passed, we decided to also incorporate some tracks he had previously recorded with us.
The album features a couple of his compositions and some tracks where we added his previously recorded parts. Colin Bricker, our engineer at Mighty Fine Productions, was incredible in helping us bring those recordings together.
There are two songs that feature Ron. The first is “Minorly Hungry,” where he plays in the intro and the outro, adding some of his signature avant-garde style. The other track is “Subspace Transmission,” where he’s featured more prominently with a long solo in the middle and a substantial intro as well.
Phantom Power Collective: In the jazz world, who do you listen to or recommend?
Matt Skellenger: Honestly, my favorite musician in the jazz world is Ron Miles. Beyond the personal connection, I really love his music.
I’ve been influenced by jazz greats like Ron Carter, Jaco Pastorius, and Charles Mingus. I also love listening to jazz pianists like Horace Silver and Art Tatum.
Victor Wooten, who you mentioned earlier, has been a huge influence as well. I studied with him and have spent a lot of time learning from his approach to bass and music in general.
Brian Blade is another musician I really admire — he’s got such a great feel and touch. Rudy Royston, who also played with Ron, is another fantastic drummer. He was based in Colorado but moved to New Jersey around 2009.
Phantom Power Collective: What projects do you have in the works that we should know about?
Matt Skellenger: My good friend Matt Reed and I are finishing up a duo album that we’ve been talking about for years. It feels like the right time to finally get it done, and we’re really excited about it. The release party is set for August 16th at Dazzle in Denver.
The album will feature several Ron Miles compositions, a couple of Matt’s originals, and a few of my older tunes that had a strong connection to Ron. Matt and I both do live looping, and he uses effects pedals to manipulate sound in real-time. It creates a really unique, creative sound.
Phantom Power Collective: You play a lot in the Denver area. What upcoming appearances do you have?
Matt Skellenger: Every Sunday morning, I do a solo bass set at Breakfast on Broadway. It’s been a tradition for years — three hours of solo bass during brunch.
On June 13th, the Grown Ass Man Band will play at Lot 46 Music Bar. And then, of course, the album release party on August 16th at Dazzle, where we’ll play the new duo music as well as some tunes with the full band.
Phantom Power Collective: Matt Skellenger, thank you so much for joining us on Heavyset. Denver-based bassist, composer, and educator with a long track record in Denver jazz.
Matt Skellenger: Thank you so much. I really appreciate being here and talking about the upcoming music and reflecting on Ron and everything else. Thanks for having me.
Phantom Power Collective: Can you introduce “Minorly Hungry” from Subspace Transmission?
Matt Skellenger: Yes. “Minorly Hungry” is a tune that’s based entirely on the Hungarian minor scale. It’s also in a time signature of 19 beats, which was influenced by Tool. They have a song in 21, and they play with that time signature in different ways, so that was a big influence on me.
Throughout the piece, we play with three different ways of feeling the 19 beats. Ron Miles is also featured on this track — he plays in the intro and again toward the end.
Phantom Power Collective: Thank you again. This is Heavyset on KGNU, and we’re listening to “XIX: Minorly Hungry” from the Matt Skellenger Group.
