We recently connected with Matt Wheatley and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I am one of the very fortunate people that make my full-time living from my creative work. That said, I’ve worn (and still wear) a lot of different hats to make that possible. My journey has not been a short one, but its been worth every step forward and backward that I’ve taken in my career.

I grew in the Cincinnati music scene where I initially learned how to start working hard within the music industry despite not having a clue what I was doing at that time. I’d handle all the bookings, tours, merch, pre-sale tickets, fan engagement, etc. for the bands that I was in. So in my teenage years I didn’t know I was already preparing myself to be multi-dimensional as a not just a musician, but as an entrepreneur of sorts.

Fast forward to my mid 20s and I knew I wanted to do more than just be a musician as I became more interested in the songwriting and production side of music. Decided to go back to school and got my Music Production degree from Full Sail University in 2013. Signed my first record deal the same year after recording my first album entirely on my own without a band in tow. Felt like I was really on my way to finding my career path at that point.

With that success came two things. The realization that I CAN do this on my own if I choose to, and also that I’d have to find a way to make a good enough living to be able to do music full time. That’s really when the idea became real of making music my full-time living.

In 2017 I finally realized I would have to take that “leap of faith” and quit the full time j-o-b that I had been suffering through for years. I also knew if I stayed where I was at home, the odds are that wasn’t going to be possible. So I gave my notice to the company I had been at for 7 years that simply said “I’m moving to LA to pursue my dreams”. Signed it, and left it on my manager’s desk and never looked back. Scared to death I took my wife, newborn son, and every dime I had and moved to Los Angles determined to make music my living. I came to the conclusion I was never going be a person that wondered “what if?”

I hit the ground running in LA as I took on any music gig I could get. I was a DJ, roadie, runner and engineer for some major recording studios, and intern at a music library. All at once at one point. To me I decided plan B no longer existed and it was up to me to make Plan A work no matter what. I think any successful person in this industry will tell you that it takes a little bit of luck and timing. And as luck would have it, I found my current day gig with LA based Methodic Doubt Music library.

I now work remotely for MDM from Nashville as a composer, producer, and mixer amongst a few other hats I wear. Outside of Methodic I’m a songwriter, producer, and engineer for artist projects that I take on. So my journey was not short by any means, but steps were all there and necessary for my growth.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into music as a teenager when a couple of good friends of mine formed a band. I came to a practice one day and was overcome with the energy involved in creating something out of thin air, all together. It seemed impossible to me, yet clearly it wasn’t. So I begged my parents for a crummy guitar to learn on and locked myself in my room for 6 months until I could eke out enough songs to join the band. Been obsessed with music ever since.

For years I played in bands trying to “make it” despite none of us ever really knowing what that meant other than big tours and lots of money. It finally took me quitting the bands I was in and focusing on my strengths to find my path into songwriting, producing, and now composing.

Composing was a foreign world to me until I was introduced to it in 2017 at the music libraries I interned for and with my move to Methodic. It’s a different kind of approach than songwriting that I had known. But thankfully I’ve been able to grow much more into that role over the past 5 years, and now have a great knowledge of the film and TV industry and what it takes to compose a great track and to generate the necessary attention to be successful.

To my clients I offer a wide variety of services that includes: songwriting, arrangement, engineering, mixing and mastering, and production. In short, I can help take an idea from inception to completion, whatever that takes to do.

What I”m most proud of is that I truly care about the projects I work on. There’s not one I don’t love by the end of it. And that’s because you’re going to get the best of my abilities. I don’t really know how to do things halfway, and I hope I never do. I’m lucky enough to get to choose the projects I want to work on., so I tend to pick projects that peak my interest a little more and that in turn makes it even easier to delve into.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I like to consider myself a “blue collar musician”. And by that I mean every ounce of what I”m able to do musically I’ve had to earn through practice or constant learning. I’ve got many friends who are just naturals and can play effortlessly. Not the case for me as I’m the ultimate preparer. That’s just my reality. But that said, people who have seen me play never know that because I take the time to make sure its not something they will notice. Hard work is still a thing, and it applies to music as well if you want it to.

Another story I often share is my struggle with my vision. I was born legally blind. I think that’s probably why I took to music early on. Even before I ever picked up an instrument I knew every word to every song on the radio. When you’re a kid though, no one wants to stick out like a sore thumb so I always did my best not to, even when it was impossible to do so. In 7th grade my school tried to push me into learning to read braille, as my diagnosis is that one day I may become fully blind. Hard headed as I was I refused. Now I don’t know if it’s by the grace of God or pure luck, but my eyesight has actually improved since then. Not normal by any means, but better than it was as I’m no longer legally blind and haven’t been for quite some time now. So when I got my driver’s license when I was 17 I remember my mother crying and I couldn’t understand why. She explained to me when I was younger doctors told her to prepare for many things that I won’t be able to do in life. Driving a car being one of them. And I understood after that. Doing things that defy the odds has kind of been my thing since I was young. Being successful in music is just another thing on that list. But it can be done if you believe enough.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

There’s this conversation I have often with artists and songwriter friends of mine. And that’s how hard it is to explain or rather justify the amount of time we spend on music to those who do not do creative work.

Perfect example, my wife and I are opposites. I can show her a new song I’m working on for her opinion and she’ll usually respond with that’s great or that’s ok. But the truth is I can tell if she likes or dislikes the song before she speaks a word. Her body language says it all. Now if I do the same thing with my artist or songwriter friends, we’ll analyze the song and go in depth about the good parts or what could be better.

The simple answer for such different answers is, if you’re a creator, that’s part of who you are as a human. It’s like an extra internal organ that no one can see but we all feel it. That’s perhaps the best way I can explain it.

We do what we do because honestly (at least for me) I would feel lost doing anything else. And I’ve been there, and know I can never go back. So I would hope non creatives can understand more that yes a music career is a choice. But I know for a lot of us it chose us maybe more than we chose it because the passion we have for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mattwheatleymusic.com/
• Instagram: @wheatleymusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wheatleymusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewawheatley/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wheatleymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC63wX3NocMZ1FXX20kTHyEg
• Other: TikTok: @wheatleymusic