Matt Clark

Look, Matt Clark knows peo­ple aren’t ringing up $53.20 on their credit cards – $45 a ticket, $8.20 in fees – to see him perform at the Bamboozle Festival on Fri­day. But Clark, a 21-year-old hip­hop artist from Mahwah, is going to use his set as a platform.

For the biggest show of his life, why not grab the concert by its lapels and see what happens?

“I haven’t really branched out too much other than North Jer­sey and New York City,” Clark said during a phone interview earlier this week. “I really want to come out and grab their atten­tion right off the bat. Hopefully from there they’ll listen to my en­tire set.”

Clark and Jamface, a local rock band, will lend North Jer­sey’s voice to the Bamboozle Festival when the three-day mu­sic show visits East Rutherford this weekend. Clark has played Webster Hall and a host of oth­er venues, but never anything like this. He earned his spot through the Break Contest, which invites local musicians to audition for Bamboozle.

“As far as feeling out of my el­ement, that’s not going to hap­pen,” Clark said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be the next Eminem, but it’s definitely a dope accom­plishment [playing Bamboozle].”

One of his best songs so far is “Take Off.” Using a beat he picked up from two Jersey friends, Clark lays out a map of his dreams.

Oh you wait and see I’m only getting started

Oh you wait and see I’m only getting started

“It’s closer to me than some of the other ones,” Clark said.

Jamface, a band that calls Bergen County home, is – what else? – a jam band with a sense of humor. A week after playing Bamboozle, the group returns for a set at School of Rock in South Hackensack. - Bergen Record