Growing up Matt’s parents had a band that he played in as a kid, not your average American band, they were traveling the country playing in prisons.  From a construction job to a prison stint himself, Matt kept writing songs and eventually got himself back into performing.  It’s fully paid off as Matt has a busy summer ahead, hitting the road with Bishop Briggs along with a spot in the Bonnaroo lineup.  In his newest video “Put It On Me”, Matt gets ‘hung high and dry’ set to a blusey rock ballad.  We caught up with Matt to find out a little bit about the guy behind the lyrics.

5 songs you were spinning on set:
“Ededneddy” by j.i.d
“Gap In The Clouds” by Yellow Days
“Block Game” by Rozwell Fitzroy
“Torture” by Spooky Mansion
And my good buddy Bailey Goldberg has an unreleased instrumental called “MIYAGI” that I had on repeat the whole time.

Must have snacks while recording:
I’m not much of a snacker but me and James Flannigan ate at least double our body weight in poke while recording this EP.

Studio coffee order:
Double espresso and another double espresso.

Favorite venue you played:
I loved the Hawthorne in Portland and Rock n Roll hotel in D.C.

What city has your favorite food:
I mean LA just has fire food anywhere you go. Howlin Ray’s, Jon and Vinny’s and Animal are my favorites. Chicago is also great and they’re one of the few places in the U.S. that has Nandos which I will eat every time I am there, without fail.

Best show you’ve ever played:
I played a Chick-fil-A open mic night when I was 16 and I won free Chick-fil-a for a year so that would be my favorite for obvious reasons.

What’s in your rider:
Jameson and Newports

If you could have a day off in any city, which city would you choose:
Chicago hands down. I love that city.

First concert you saw:
Well my parents were in bands through my whole childhood so I was going to concerts since I was a baby but my first truly memorable one was when my dad took me to a U2 and Muse concert when I was 14. It blew my mind. I looked at the arena with 55,000 people in it and thought to myself, I’m going to play for this many people one day and I haven’t stopped trying since.

If you had to put on a guilty pleasure album right now what would it be:
Mmhmm by Relient K

What would be your dream collaboration, alive or not:
I’d love to work with Andy Hull. He’s a brilliant songwriter who’s been inspiring me for years.

Weirdest place you’ve ever written a song:
I wrote “Me And My Friends Are Lonely” on top of an abandoned Wendy’s where I slept that night.