Mat Kearney Quotes
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I think, in a lot of ways, hip-hop is interesting to me because it's like the modern-day folk music.
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I don't know how much I'm connected to the hip-hop scene, but I definitely lend from that urgency.
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I'm actually named Matthew William Kearney: my middle name is named after my grandfather.
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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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You write these songs which are really dear to you about your family or friends, loved ones, and then you get this call, and they say, 'It's perfect for two vampires making out in the back of a car.' It's some random TV show, and so I say, 'Oh, yeah, perfect - that's what I meant it for.'
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I love Michigan.
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I didn't know music would end up being my job, but I loved it so much I wanted to do it every day.
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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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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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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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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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I think I have always made really beat-driven pop-rock records.
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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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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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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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New Yorkers are historically tough crowds.
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Minneapolis has always been a very special place for me.
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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 love what I do. I love playing music.