LEGACY had the opportunity to catch up with The Widowers after their Aug. 23 show at Chelsea’s Cafe. High on post-show adrenaline, we spoke with Matt Sigur who started the band in 2007, as well as Widowers drummer Zach Bourque. What began as Sigur’s “caffeinated” foray into writing and recording eventually became known as the Widowers, with Sigur on vocals and guitar, Bourque on drums, Lee Bar- bier on guitar and Jonathan Loubiere on bass. Here’s what they had to say!
So how and when did you guys form the widowers? Where, also?
Matt: So it started out as a recording project. And I would just, you know get really caffeinated. I didn’t even tune my guitar. I would just record con- stantly, because I had a Macbook and it had a mic input…Then I met this guy, Will Burdette, who’s in The Tomatoes, and I gave him a CD just because, it’s like, I wanted to start something. And that was around 2007, 2008. Will and I would just hang out all the time, evenings, and he was just like, “Dude, you gotta get a tuner.” So I got a tuner and it changed my life. I started recording and I met Zach through a friend and Zach heard and song and was like…
Zach: I dug it a lot. I said I’d check it out, play some gigs.
Matt: We played our first show at Loubie’s [Loubiere’s] place. It was a house show. Loubie and Lee were al- ways to me like the people to know in the Baton Rouge music scene…I’d always get intimidated. But then I met Loubie and I was all formal with him about the house show and he was like, “Dude you don’t have to be formal, it’s really no big deal.” He eased a lot of the nerves. And when it came time to get a new bass player he was like, “Dude, I’ll do it.” He said he liked the songs…And Lee, I’m in so many bands with Lee…and I was like, “Lee do you want to come on?” and he was like, “Fuck it, we’ll do it.” He’s a pro. Loubie’s a pro. Zach’s been playing drums for like…what?
Zach: Oh, 11 or 12 years. MAtt: But live we’ve been playing for
how long? Three years?
Zach: Has it been that long?
MAtt: It’s been three years. We’ve had some fun. We’ve definitely had our times.
Any albums, EPs thus far?
Matt: So um…I put out Friendly in 2010, May, right after I graduated, and I’ve steadily just released EP after EP and singles. They’re all on Bandcamp.
MAtt: I write and record a lot of it… We’re all multi-instrumental…writing is kind of like, it’ll just pop in, and I’ve got to catch it. And even if I have to stop what I’m doing and put a shitty beat on it, and you know, build on it. 
So do you guys play mostly in Baton Rouge or do you play elsewhere? 
Matt: We’ve played in Lafayette, we’ve played in Houma, which was a fun time. We played in New Orleans. We played at Circle Bar, and that was a good time. We packed into our friend’s van, and we all just went over there and got really shit housed and played. We played Lake Charles too…we would play a song, and these three people started a mosh pit and then they were like, “Play a cover! Play a cover!”
So, You’re not a coVer banD?
MAtt: No, no. We did play happy birthday tonight, though, we normally don’t. I need to learn covers. When Adam Young died, we did “Sabotage” in honor of him because we were all big Beastie Boys fans. But normally we just like original music.
Zach: I think we’re too loud to play at weddings. 
So I’ve thrown out Dinosaur Jr. and My Bloody Valentine in the last hour. What other bands would you say are your inspiration? Or what inspires you to make music?
Matt: Inspiration really can come from anywhere. I mean, something you see on the road. You know, “Cornersong,” that last song we played, that was a dark period. I got in this habit, every night I’d go to this corner store and get a candy bar, but it was also at the same time, like, you want to be with some- body, you want to call up that person that you love. Everyday things are inspiration but also, there isn’t a moment of my day when I don’t have head- phones on. I gobble up music, and if I really like it, it’ll seep in.