ortoPilot: Youtube Music Wizard

So, back in 2010 I started doing a couple gigs with a friend of mine, Antonis Rousounelos, on guitar. And I was really into Jason Mraz at the time, particularly his song "The Remedy", so I went through a bunch of youtube covers to get some ideas. And that's how I came across and old video by the fantastic ortoPilot. I think his actual name is Matt Hutchison. He's a bit of a guitar wizard and I'm sure he'll blow you away. Check out this video I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOVHbSdd6ik

Good stuff, right? And that was uploaded back in 2007, so obviously he's gotten better. I think he might be a youtube partner. If he isn't, he should be really. So, I subscribed to his channel back then and checked out for regular updates. What I like about ortoPilot, I mean, what I really like about him is that he updates his channel regularly and gives a good deal of covers/originals/jams and more to his fans, unlike some youtubers who leave their fans thirsty. Of course, I've seen a couple comments on ortoPilot's videos about how he's "sold out" because he only covers hits now, but honestly, the man can do whatever he wants and its our choice if we want to listen or not. Sometimes, he covers new songs and I find them better than the original (e.g. Titanium). But, in February 2011, ortoPilot really got me addicted to his covers with a cover of "Black Horse And The Cherry Tree" (KT Tunstall). He got the looping just right, the sound quality was out of this world and the song built up perfectly. Perfection is really a great word to describe most of his videos, in the sense that he really cares about sound/video quality and as a guitar player, his strings always sound polished and clean. Check out "Black Horse And The Cherry Tree" now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-zE2OxCT3U

After that video, I went through almost everything he had uploaded, and it took me a while, but I enjoyed it. He also has a cover of "Save Tonight" (Eagle Eye Cherry) that blew my socks off at the time. What's so respectable about his covers is that he does the songs justice unlike a lot of covers that just butcher the songs we love. 

You can find ortoPilot on Facebook, obviously and generally google him and find a bunch of cool results. You can buy his music online and I've come across a good deal of his stuff on Spotify, which is great. He's got a ton of originals, and you can see that his style has evolved over the years. But, I personally love a song of his that he uploaded in 2009. It's called "Stay One More Day". It's a lot more stripped down that a lot of his more recent originals/covers and I like that. He may be a guitar wizard with a whole lot of tricks up his musical sleeve but I like him best stripped down musically, because that's when you can see what he's all about. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyRhUV8Th5U

So, do I really have to convince you to subscribe to his youtube and check him out online? Try to catch him live if you're ever around one of his gigs too. I haven't seen him live yet, unfortunately, but it's something I'd like to do sometime. He's one of those artists I'd like to interview, because you can truly see how much time he puts into his art, which is so respectable. Thanks for the music ortoPilot!

Alex Hamel