Mat Kearney Quotes
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I didn't start writing music until I was a sophomore in college. I would steal my roommate's guitar and sit on the front porch and kind of blend this weird spoken word and these little melodies over simple chords; that really started my whole journey as a musician.
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When I was in college, I wanted to study film. My first passion was to be a cinematographer. So maybe there's something innate in my music where it partners well with images.
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When I first started writing music, it was to express that. I was trying to find God and trying to find meaning in my life. That's what my music was about. It wasn't to entertain.
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Money definitely does not equal success in recording.
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The criticism people could have of my music maybe is that it's somewhat schizophrenic at times. And if you don't like that, it could bother you.
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I love Bruce Springsteen's writing, but I grew up on '90s hip hop, like Tribe Called Quest.
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'Nothing Left to Lose' was an album that I wrote in my bedroom, and you don't know who is listening or who cares.
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I think I have always made really beat-driven pop-rock records.
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More than any other instrument, the relationship between an acoustic guitar and a microphone is super-important. The kind of mics that you use and your placement of the mics to the guitar can radically alter your sound.
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I'm really influenced by '90s hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul were my heroes growing up.
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I'm actually named Matthew William Kearney: my middle name is named after my grandfather.
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Minneapolis has always been a very special place for me.
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I love Michigan.
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You go to a Springsteen show, and half of the people are there to party and forget about their cares, and they're being drawn to this visceral experience. And then the other half, you know, has lived and died with his 'Nebraska' album and considers him one of the greatest poets.
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It's been awesome going indie. I don't need to be on a major label. I love not having to walk into a specific radio person's office to try to convince someone to play my songs. At the end of the day, it's more work, but I've discovered that I like to get my hands dirty.
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There are a lot of great recording artists, like Jack White and Jack Johnson, who stay confined inside a very small box, but I'm more like Bon Iver, who recorded an album with programmed drums, and the next record was totally organic. I get that.
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New Yorkers are historically tough crowds.
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All of my acoustic playing came from my songwriting. All of the chords I've learned and all of the voicings I play them in are a direct result of composing.
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As an artist, you tend to gravitate to the opposite. I know, when I finish a song or an album, I'm interested in doing something completely new. It doesn't always happen, but that's the idea. My poor fans - I don't know if they love that or hate that.
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I've never been one to learn scales and do exercises. Maybe I'm lazy, but I just don't take to that kind of thing. Learning other people's songs is enjoyable, and my fingers tend to go to new places because I'm not playing my music, the stuff that comes naturally to me.