SIUE alumnus Scott Spock may not be a household name, but he is one of the masterminds behind a music writing and production team, The Matrix, that has put out some of the nation’s best-known pop hits with artists ranging from the Backstreet Boys to David Bowie.

Spock, whose real name is Scott Alspach, was a presidential scholar at SIUE and graduated magna cum laude in 1988 with a bachelor’s in both statistics and jazz performance.  No one could remember or pronounce his last name, he recalled, so he shortened the front and spelled in phonetically.  “Everybody remembers my name now.”

Members of The Matrix: Alspach (left) and his long-standing partners, Lauren Christy (center) and Graham Edwards (right.)

Formed in 1999, The Matrix was named for its archaic meaning as “the womb,” not the movie.  “I wanted this to signify that we would be a creative entity where artists would be nurtured and developed into which something was born,” Spock said.

He and his partners, Lauren Christy and Graham Edwards, are still collaborating eight years later in an industry in which partnerships rarely last so long.  The team operates out of several studios in Los Angeles, with the primary pre-production studio in Spock’s home.

The group received its first breakthrough from Christina Aguilera, who recorded their song “This Year” for her 2000 Christmas album.  For the following couple of years, The Matrix was known primarily for its Pop/R&B productions.

Then, the team got a call from Arista Records, which couldn’t figure out what to do with then-16-year-old Avril Lavigne.  The record company saw no direction for her as an artist was contemplating dropping her from the label.

“They asked us to write some Faith Hill-type pop songs for her, but after meeting her, we realized that this was not the right musical direction,” Spock said.  Lavigne wasn’t interested in country, and she didn’t like the dominant pop sounds associated with Britney Spears and boy bands.

Overnight, the group wrote “Complicated,” which it felt embodied a new meld of pop and rock.  Lavigne liked the song and participated in customizing its lyrics, along with other elements.  The Matrix went on to produce five songs on Lavigne’s 2002 platinum album, “Let Go.”

When the record came out, the group was shocked to watch three of their songs become No. 1 hits.  “Soon thereafter, Avril clones started following suit, and our phone was ringing off the hook for our ‘Pop/Rock’ sound,” said Spock.

“I guess you could say that we ushered in the era of girl Pop/Rock that in the past four years has oversaturated the market.  That’s why we have moved on to other styles, so that we weren’t pigeon-holed like other producers that faded away with their ‘one’ sound.”

More recently, The Matrix co-wrote and produced Korn’s “See you on the other Side,” which was the biggest selling rock record of 2006 with two top 10 Billboard hits.  The group has just completed a follow up 2007 with Korn and is planning to cross over to R&B/Pop again “just to keep everyone guessing,” Spock said.

Spock’s diverse musical background allows him to blur boundaries and create fresh material, such as his work with Lavigne and Korn.  In particular, he pulls from his jazz arranging experience at SIUE under the guidance of professors Brett Stamps and Rick Haydon.  “When I was playing trumpet in the Concert Jazz Band and dreaming of being the next big jazz trumpeter, I had no idea I would be writing pop songs for 16-year-old girls or rocking out with bands like Korn, but everything I learned in the program benefits me on a daily basis,” said Spock.

Throughout his youth, Spock spent Sunday afternoons learning from his trumpet teacher, renowned St. Louis trumpeter Jim Manley.  At SIUE, Stamps and Haydon introduced Spock to more styles in addition to teaching him the art of arranging and improvisation, which is the foundation of what he does today.

“A great producer knows how every instrument is performed and how that work together,” Spock said.  “They know harmonic structure and engineering.  They know how to obtain a great performance from a musician as well as record it well.  These were all skills that I obtained at SIUE and further developed on my path post college.”

Spock attended SIUE before the music addition to Dunham Hall was built, at a time when computers were just being introduced into the program.  The computer lab had one of the first Kurzweil keyboards that had samples of every instrument one could imagine, along with an on-board sequencer.

“When I first sat in front of it and sequenced a song together for the first time, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Spock said.  “It allowed me the creative freedom to play each instrument as I heard them in my head.  This was the dawn of my production career.”

Haydon allowed Spock to experiment on his cutting edge “sequencing rig” that he designed from his personal computer and various synthesizers and drum machines.  Over time, Haydon became a big brother figure for Spock, because he was not only a professor, but also a band mate.  The two played together in a group called Galaxy that played mostly private parties and corporate events.  In the end, Spock saw Haydon nearly seven days a week for four years.  “I still consider Rick a very close friend and credit him not only for my musical growth, but my betterment as a person,” Spock said.

Spock’s musical inspiration mainly comes from everyday life experiences, including loving, fighting, sadness and joy.  “Music has always poured out of me, and not a day goes by that I don’t want to sit in front of my grand piano and doodle,” he said.  A song may start as a melody idea, a chord progression, a great beat or a strong lyric concept.

Spock said that there are no rules, and he works to continually challenge himself both in and out of the music studio.  He enjoys experiencing nature, cooking, paragliding, racing cars, shark diving and skiing.  “I fill my life with challenges so that I can feed off of that experience creatively in the studio,” Spock said.  “That’s what keeps me feeling 18-years-old.”

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