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I never wanted to be on an exclusively Christian label.
Mat Kearney -
When I started forming my own taste, there was a period in high school when I listened to only rap and hip-hop, like A Tribe Called Quest.
Mat Kearney
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I'm a '90s music kid.
Mat Kearney -
My songs have a layer of melancholy.
Mat Kearney -
I do know great books help shape who I am and how I look at life.
Mat Kearney -
Paul Simon is the king!
Mat Kearney -
I think you can hear all my hip hop influences in 'Just Kids.'
Mat Kearney -
'Young Love' is about falling in love and dealing with your past so you can move forward. I wanted it to be a clear record.
Mat Kearney
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I'm painfully a realist but ruthlessly an optimist. I think maybe it's because of my faith - I've always got the hope that there is something out there to make it all worthwhile.
Mat Kearney -
The first record blew up and sold really well. 'City of Black & White' didn't sell as well, and that's when you wonder, 'Did I peak already?'
Mat Kearney -
I was always into poetry and writing. So the urgency of spoken word is something that really has always appealed to me.
Mat Kearney -
Being from Oregon, it's part of who I am.
Mat Kearney -
I was an English major, and I always wrote poems.
Mat Kearney -
I've never shaped or crafted my music for any specific group of people. Whoever connects with it is fine with me. I don't care where they come from.
Mat Kearney
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Ultimately, when you write from a vantage point of faith, humility, and openness to the world around you, people have to respond because those same truths are instilled in them.
Mat Kearney -
I played soccer. I was really known as an athlete. It was a shock to people that I was doing music. They thought it was really odd.
Mat Kearney -
Choosing an acoustic guitar for a live setting can be different from picking out one for recording. One doesn't always work for the other. The sonic properties can be vastly different.
Mat Kearney -
My dad was a scratch golfer growing up. When I'm on the road, I always bring my clubs with me.
Mat Kearney -
Generally, the songs that are the scariest ones are the ones that people connect to.
Mat Kearney -
I would sit in my dorm room and write songs. I loved it. I was learning to sing and play guitar. I was becoming a musician. I was the beginner who somehow could write a song.
Mat Kearney
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The first album was literally the first 12 songs I've ever written.
Mat Kearney -
Growing up in Eugene, Oregon, there was everything from The Notorious B.I.G. to Weezer playing in my car.
Mat Kearney -
I've always been a writer. I've always done writing or spoken-word, hip-hop stuff with my friends.
Mat Kearney -
There's this song called 'Brad Chester,' which is like the depths of my family. It comes from a very personal place.
Mat Kearney