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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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 thought my second record was good, but it didn't have that smash hit we did on the first one that somehow found its way onto tons of formats of radio stations.
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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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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 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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'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'm actually named Matthew William Kearney: my middle name is named after my grandfather.
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I think I have always made really beat-driven pop-rock records.
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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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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.
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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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I love Michigan.
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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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Minneapolis has always been a very special place for me.
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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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New Yorkers are historically tough crowds.
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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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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.