- 3 months ago
Matt Maeson joins us ahead of the release of his new album, "A Quiet and Harmless Living"
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00:00Do the people around you start asking, man, you didn't tell me that part?
00:05A little bit, yeah, especially with this record, because there's a lot in there that's like, you know, very vulnerable, very honest, and a lot of like, like the song Everlasting that I put out, it's a lot of like really ugly thoughts.
00:18Well, welcome back in. It's an Aussie check-in at the Hard Rock New York Hotel inside the Rockstar Suite with the most likable man in music, Matt Mason. How are you, buddy?
00:29That was the script? The most likable man in music?
00:32No, no, that part I added. Once I get to that part, I'm okay. It's the first part I can never do right.
00:37Nice, but did you mean it?
00:39We'll see.
00:39Okay.
00:40We'll see how this goes.
00:41No, I actually really do believe it, and I think it's because you do stuff, oh, by the way, the stance socks, nice move.
00:48Thanks.
00:49Oh, it's a good sock. I think it's because the authenticity sort of just pours through.
00:55I'll take it.
00:56Yeah. You don't really leave much for the imagination when it comes to what's going on in Matt's mind and his world.
01:04I was talking about that yesterday in another interview thing I was doing where I was like, I don't know, I've always had a sense of just like, this isn't real.
01:12This is just so strange to me to be like the subject of an interview.
01:18Hmm. That's weird, because I love that part.
01:22You got the right job, dude.
01:24No, I just think that the part about you is like you're never trying to be anyone but yourself, and we don't have many people like that, so of course we want to ask you about it.
01:34Well, yeah, that's what I'm here for, dude.
01:35So, I'll start with the socials, because you spend, well, I mean, I think the authenticity comes through on the socials as well.
01:45First off, you're a wild man. Stop tearing through, you know, backstages and ripping people off, you know.
01:52Oh, you've seen my antics.
01:54Your antics, yes.
01:55Yeah, tipping cans over, putting them back.
01:59Are you as vulnerable now than when you started?
02:03Has it changed? Have you become more vulnerable?
02:05I would say, yeah, I've become more.
02:07I think the pressure fell off a bit once I had a kid, because I was like, oh, this isn't the most important thing to me anymore.
02:15And I don't know, as I got older, the more I was like, I just was like, for me, it just feels really inauthentic and kind of corny.
02:25To lean into the, like, I'm the star shtick.
02:30And I just grew further and further from that, that now I, like, I, like, physically cannot do stuff like that, that makes me look like something I'm not.
02:39Yeah.
02:39When it comes to the writing part of the vulnerability, you know, you put a lot out there.
02:45You know, it feels like you wear a lot of your heart on your sleeve.
02:49Do the people around you start asking, man, you didn't tell me that part.
02:55A little bit, yeah, especially with this record, because there's a lot in there that's, like, you know, very vulnerable, very honest.
03:01And a lot of, like, the song Everlasting that I put out, it's a lot of, like, really ugly thoughts.
03:06But thoughts that I'm like, I need to say these out loud to process them.
03:11And music is a great avenue for that.
03:15And it's a lot of things that I think so many people think that just don't talk about it because they're ugly thoughts.
03:21They're thoughts that, like, people, if you just say it to them, they're going to be like, whoa, you're kind of a piece of shit.
03:26But it's, like, thoughts that we all have that we need to, you know, vocalize and process through together.
03:31But you're also, and, you know, not to make this, you know, Professor Scott Galloway, but you're also doing it as a man in the climate that we are in now with a new baby boy.
03:42Yeah.
03:42Who you're, you know, establishing some sort of, you know, masculinity with him.
03:47Yeah.
03:47And a man like you showing the example of not being afraid to, you know, kind of go there.
03:52Yeah.
03:53Pretty good example for him.
03:54Yeah, I think it's super important.
03:55I think also growing up in church and a lot of Christian culture, there's a lot of things that don't, especially men, they just don't talk about because it's wrong.
04:06And I think being as vulnerable and authentic as I can through the music that I make is kind of, it kind of feels like a responsibility now.
04:16When you said that you had these kind of, you know, you describe them as dirty, not dirty, but whatever the ugly, yeah, ugly thoughts, ugly lyrics.
04:27When, say, the wife hears them or a family member, what do they say about them?
04:33Yeah, that's interesting, too, because I'm like, sometimes nothing.
04:38They're just like, oh, this is a beautiful song.
04:40Sometimes it's like, are you okay?
04:42And even fans do that, too, yeah.
04:46Are you okay?
04:47Yeah, because I think the way that I write music is like, I have to, and the reason it takes me so long is because I have to kind of experience these things and then either process or heal these things and then I'm able to write about it for the most part.
05:04And, yeah, by the time I usually put these songs out, a lot of the subjects are things that I've healed from.
05:11But even just acknowledging those issues is a part of that process of like, you know, figuring it out.
05:18That's right.
05:19But when you have to go back through it, play these songs over and over and over, at what point you're like, man, I'm kind of tired of even thinking about the same problem that I've already dealt with years ago.
05:30Oh, that, I mean, that doesn't happen to me too much because I'm like, there's always somebody out there that's dealing with this thing right now and I'm singing that for them.
05:40More so the like repetition of just playing the song gets annoying.
05:43Like, I will say, hallucinogenics, I still love playing, which is surprising because I've played that thousands of times.
05:52Cringe, I would love to never play that song again in my life.
05:56But why?
05:58Thousands of times.
05:59We have to have it.
06:00Ah, it's just, yeah, so many times, dude.
06:04And I'm going to do it again on this tour.
06:06Yeah, plenty.
06:07I'm going to look like I love it.
06:08Speaking of socials, we got to talk about something.
06:11I got to, we got to have a, we have to come to Jesus meeting here.
06:14Oh boy.
06:14All right, so Twitter, X, you're following zero people.
06:18That's true.
06:19Zero people.
06:20Yeah.
06:20Okay.
06:21I'm cool as fuck.
06:23And that's a telltale sign.
06:25It is.
06:26Yeah.
06:27All right, who's going to be one?
06:28Who's the first?
06:29Who's going to be number one?
06:30Well, here's the thing.
06:31Or has there been a one in your unfriend?
06:32There did used to be a one.
06:33The reason I unfollowed everybody, and this was years ago, is because there were,
06:38like, friends of mine and stuff where, like, I would unfollow them, and they'd be like,
06:42why did you do this?
06:42And I'd be like, bro, why do you care about this?
06:45I just don't want to see your fucking photos every day.
06:47And then I was like, people put way too much value into this, so I'm just not going to follow
06:51anybody.
06:51But then for, like, four or five years, the only person I followed was Betty White, because
06:57I just thought it was funny.
06:58Then there was a moment where I was like, it seems like she might be getting kind of close,
07:03and this isn't going to be funny if that happens.
07:06So I unfollowed her.
07:08Wow.
07:08Oh, you unfollowed Betty White.
07:09I did.
07:10I did.
07:11And then she departed about a year later.
07:14You think you had any part of that?
07:16No.
07:16That might have been your fault.
07:17No.
07:17No.
07:18Not taking any responsibility on this whatsoever?
07:19Absolutely not.
07:20She's a great, great woman.
07:22It's a good thing you didn't grow up like I did with MySpace.
07:25Because the job came for the...
07:26Were you?
07:27Yeah.
07:28That's what I had at first.
07:29I had that in...
07:29The job came for the top eight.
07:31That was crazy, actually.
07:33That was such a like...
07:35Yeah, there was a situation where a friend of mine removed me from their top ten, and I
07:40was like...
07:40Oh, no.
07:41Crushed.
07:42Oh, hell no.
07:42I was like, we're not.
07:43Yeah.
07:44Dang.
07:45I forgot about that, dude.
07:46That was brutal.
07:47It's awful.
07:48It's the worst thing you could do to a human being at the time.
07:50I was talking to somebody about MySpace earlier, though, and I was like, I didn't realize we
07:54were like coding.
07:55You were coding.
07:56Yeah, I know.
07:56That's so crazy.
07:57It was the only thing I know about the computer, literally anything about the computer, inside
08:02and out, is because of MySpace.
08:04Thank you, Tom.
08:05My shit looked like straight out of Hot Topic at that time.
08:09Well, you had to have the right song.
08:11It was...
08:12What was your profile song?
08:12My song was Miss Murder by AFI.
08:15My little graphics were like Invader Zim and Family Guy.
08:21It's good.
08:23Yeah, it was rough, dude.
08:24Yeah.
08:25It was a rough time.
08:26It was always Death Cab for Cutie.
08:28It was always a Death Cab for Cutie song.
08:30That's a safe one, though.
08:30Every time.
08:31That's a safe one.
08:32The story of your traveling around the country, for me, is really interesting.
08:38Growing up in Virginia, then to Austin, and now to Nashville.
08:42Because you seem to absorb so much of what's around you, how much do those cities affect
08:51the way that you're writing?
08:53That's a good question.
08:55I mean, I think travel in general just kind of opens my mind to other people's perspectives.
09:01Because it's crazy how you can go from, like, let's say, like, I don't know, Florida to Nebraska
09:11and how different...
09:13It's like two different countries, it feels like.
09:16And so seeing other people's perspectives and feeling what their kind of culture feels
09:21like, I don't know.
09:22It's kind of inspiring.
09:23And I usually have to wait until I get home and, like I said, process everything, because
09:29it's just so much happening and it's so fast.
09:31Like, tours, like, you know, you're in the next city every single night, so you kind of
09:35get whiplashed by it.
09:37And then I get home and I, like, start to, like, kind of ponder on what I felt and what
09:42I thought through those cities and states and people that I meet.
09:45But seeing that you've lived in, you know, three...
09:48How hard is it for you to find your people and your places?
09:51Uh, that's an interesting one, too, because, like, my wife really likes, like, wants local
10:01community, which I do, too.
10:03But now, because of how long I've done this and how many places I've lived, I feel like
10:07my community is just so spread out.
10:10Like, I have friends here and here and here and here.
10:12And then I'm able to see them pretty often because I'm, you know, touring so much.
10:17So it's weird.
10:18I don't really seek that out at home.
10:21And I have those people at home, too, but I feel like for the most part, those people
10:26kind of come to me because I just, I go to them, too.
10:29Yeah.
10:30And it's because you're a cool mother fucker.
10:33Yeah.
10:36Last thing we have for you before you go, we have 3,000 things for you to sign.
10:40Do you have time for that?
10:42Sick.
10:42Yeah.
10:42Always.
10:43Always, dude.
10:44Make it four.
10:45Matt Mason.
10:46Thanks for joining us.
10:47Thanks, man.
10:47Bye, man.
10:47Bye, man.
10:48Bye, man.
10:48Bye, man.
10:50Bye, man.
10:50Bye, man.
10:51Bye, man.
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