Music Memoirs: SIR MATTY V

Joe Letizio, Arts and Entertainment Editor

During a recent interview I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Varao (Sir Matty V). For those who do not know Sir Matty V as well as I do, he started his journey when he was only 13 years old. During this time, he began playing in a band with a good friend of his whose father was a pretty well-known singer in Europe. After his friend’s father helping them get on the right track and set up a small tour of 12 shows in Europe, he was hooked!

Inspiration:

For those who inspire to be an artist, similar to Sir Matty V should consider why they want to be an artist in the first place. Although it is a tough question to answer without giving a long explanation for some, for others it really comes down to pure joy. One group Sir Matty V has always enjoyed listening to is Linkin Park since the age of 15 years old, he found that the structure of their songs, certain breakdowns and how they transition energy in a song has always been subconsciously coming out in some of his music. However, there’s melodic aspects and writing which influenced him a lot through other artists such as (John Mayer, Coldplay, Dubvision, Gryffin, & Odesza). For individuals such as Sir Matty V tend to find inspiration in just about everything they listen to in one way or another. While artists are known to influence each of us one way or another, on a more personal note for Matt Varao the people who have influenced him are his parents, as they instilled the proper ethical values in him at a young age, and through reading about Elon Musk and Neil Degrasse Tyson. Although he has brought up that he takes pride in the fact that he is a critical thinker.

For many inspiring artist, what Sir Matty V has urged me to share with you is to get accustomed to the word “no.” Labels, promoters, club owners, blogs, etc. they all turn down aspiring artists every day and it is not always because of lack of talent. Many times, these gate keepers in the industry just do not have the bandwidth or time to make something viable to happen with you at the moment which is ok. Instead of looking at this from a negative outlook, you should focus on creating quality music and not be discouraged that things do not to happen overnight, which is more often the case than not. During the meantime, you should invest your time in production skills as Sir Matty V, states that he wished he had done so when he was younger. While each of us have different opportunities displayed to us, we must decide what our core values are then continuing to build upon them thus ensuring no time is wasted.