ShowHub Artist Spotlight: Matty Miller & The Barge Boys

As we close out our first year, we carved out some time to chat with the leader of one of the hottest bands in town. Through our work on ShowHub, we’ve discovered some great local artists we might not have crossed paths with otherwise – and this band was easily one of our standout discoveries of 2025. They’re young, enthusiastic, positive, and cool in an effortlessly down-to-earth way. Backed by a loyal fanbase, they’re writing songs that have a habit of getting stuck on repeat in the car – or in one’s brain.

Meet the Artist: Matty Miller

Cliff’s been wondering about the stories behind “Stiletto” and “She Was Gone” — who wrote them, and are those fond memories or otherwise?

Oh man, Stiletto was actually one of the first songs we started working on. I pitched it to the band one day at a rehearsal and it just took off. The idea came to me when I was in Victoria (which was the original working title) and the city reminded me of the brickwork we have in Gastown, hence the opening line of the song.

The story actually came from a really weird night out in Gastown when I was in my twenties…

I was listening to a lot of classic rock around the time of writing “She Was Gone”, (Bob Seger in particular) and I was really inspired to write about my own adolescent experiences. Hamo came over one day and we started spitballing and thought we’d pay homage to the greats who came before us, which is reflected in the chorus’. There are some fond memories there for sure and all of the locations I talk about are real places in Vancouver, you just have to know where to look. 

A lot of your lyrics are obviously Vancouver-centric. Are those mostly true stories, or does your imagination take over?

I’d say they’re mostly true 😉. A lot of times when I’m writing lyrics I try to think of a place I’ve been in B.C. I feel like we live in such a great place, all you have to do is get outside and draw inspiration from the sights around you. Red Mountain Sound was actually inspired by a few places in B.C. The title was inspired by Rossland and the storytelling was inspired by Kits beach and my buddy’s cabin up the coast on Thormanby Island.

How many songwriters are in the band, and how does that work?

That’s a tricky question! Everyone in the band has so much to offer and we really fill in the gaps with our individual strengths and experience.

I’m much more of a lyricist and songwriter than I am a drummer or guitarist and that’s what I’ve got Hamish and Conner for!

We really try to hold a safe space for collaboration and creativity. Everyone contributes in some aspect to the songwriting process which I believe attributes to such a unique sound. If you’re wondering about lyrics, a lot of that is myself and Hamish but again the other members always have great feedback and ideas to incorporate. 

Who were the first artists that really pulled you into music and performance?

I’d actually call myself a late bloomer in terms of guitar and singing performances. I really didn’t get going till my mid twenties, after a really good friend of mine convinced me to take my shower singing to the stage (thanks Mo!). I had played music at home and jammed with close friends but never anything professionally. But a couple artists from Victoria come to mind, one called “Current Swell” and another guy “Jesse Roper.” Current Swell was actually one of the first bands I saw live where I said “Whoa, I wanna do THAT!” When I saw Jesse Roper live, he had this insane energy and the guitar chops to back it, the guy just blew the roof of the place. I still love their stuff to this day and I think I draw a lot of our energy from both their early albums. 

Were you all friends before the band formed? We remember the barge — but how did that turn into the Barge Boys?

Haha! Great question! I knew Conner (our drummer) from playing in the Meraloma Touch Rugby League during my offseasons from club rugby (Go Lomas!). I was playing solo gigs at bars and pubs at the time and I think he invited me to see the previous iteration of The Barge Boys which was called “No Strings Attached.” They invited me to jam and the rest is history! 

Following the original 4 piece, We added Luc, Ciara, Cormac and SJ. That’s right, at one point we were OCTO Barge. Sj was a good friend of Conners and unfortunately moved to Portugal. 

I met Ciara in the pub scene; she had been playing in pubs with her cousin Cormac and I had my eye on them because of their massive vocals. One day I asked them to jam and they joined us!

Cormac has started his own project now under the pseudonym “Macmann” and they’ll be opening the night at our Fox show but Ciara is still belting out bangers and bossing us around!

Luc, I had also met in the pub scene, he is an amazing musician and every time I saw him live his energy and charisma just had me thinking “I need this guy in our band….” I sent him an offer he couldn’t refuse… Minimal pay but good vibes and a crisp high five and he said “fine”.

In terms of our band name, we struggled for a long time to pick a band name, we had an entire spreadsheet of ideas that didn’t quite sit right (including “Blundstonk”). Our guitarist, Ham, was a big advocate for Matty Miller & The “Somethings”. It’s kind of an old school vibe and described how the band (who were sort of already a band) teamed up with myself. Ham got some excellent footage and commentary of the barge crashing outside his house. So I think he got a little obsessed with barges? He might wanna get that looked at… But this name kinda just stuck, it’s a bit silly and dumb, which I think is just like us. 

You’re putting on your first self-produced show – how’s that feeling? We just did the same and were reminded it’s… a lot.

It is a lot! We are playing at The Fox (great space!) on the 31st of January. We are blessed to have Ciara who takes on a lot of the heavy lifting for putting the show (and the band members) together. It wouldn’t be possible without her and she really is the quarterback’s whole thing.

It’s super rewarding to have our own show and we are lucky to have Blue Rivera and Macmann on the bill who are seriously talented acts. 

Love the new song! It was on repeat in the car today. We hear you’ve been writing a lot, so have more music on the way. Do you have a schedule for that? Is there a theme or connection between the new tunes? Will you be making an album or releasing as singles?

Thanks so much, we really appreciate that and we’re stoked to finally release it! 

We’ve been writing steadily to create some new tracks and have another single fully recorded to be released in Spring. 

There both is and isn’t a connection. I think a lot of the songs are stories connected around a theme of nostalgia and spun in no particular order. Presently, the plan is to keep turning out our favourite songs to release as singles. Once we have a bunch, we’d love to craft an album, that would be a lot of fun. I’m thinking of the entire story in an album? Midnight Marauders? Who knows?

What’s next for the Barge Boys? We love your music and vibe – and also appreciate your support of ShowHub. It means a lot.

We have one more single release scheduled this year “What a Loser” – and lots more music to perform! On the writing side, we’d love to get back into the studio in 2026 and get a couple more songs polished off. We’ve been working with the amazing Jeff Zipp out of Lightmachine Records, if anyone’s looking for a producer, he’s OUR guy! Back off! Nah, he’d love it if you gave him a ring!

On the live performance front, we are hoping a few summer festivals will go our way, there’s nothing like playing under the B.C. sun. 

Matty Miller & The Barge Boys are having a release party for their new single on January 31, 2026 at the Fox, with guests, Blue Rivera and MACMANN. Find out all the show details here – it should be a rockin’ good time. Early bird tickets are sold out, but you can still get general admission tickets for under $20.