We were lucky to catch up with Matthew Heaton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My real name is Matt, but I perform under the name “matthias.” and I am in the process of releasing my second album. My newest album, “idk, idc.”, will be out in late November. This particular project is meaningful to me because I proved to myself that I can continue to be creative. When I released my first full-length album last year, I was excited, but almost instantly I wondered, “what’s next?”

Now, I find myself writing tons of material even if I am not sure what I am going to do with it. My most useful tool must be my phone because I use the voice memo app multiple times a day. It doesn’t matter if I am at work, or trying to fall asleep, or anything. If a random few notes or phrases travel through my head, I make note of them.

With that being said, I think this project is meaningful to me because I approached this batch of songs with a bit of autonomy. I put pieces together instrumentally and lyrically, and sort of watched myself build a record. “idk, idc.” contains themes of mental health, figuring out what’s best for oneself, reflecting on personal struggles and letting go of them, and fast food. This is not a concept album, although I will be excited to share it because I feel at it’s core that this record will be relatable to most listeners. Perhaps it will be more enjoyable as well, compared to my last album, “Farewell Conspiracies.”

“Farewell Conspiracies” is so important to me, whether or not it was well-received by the world. “Farewell Conspiracies” also dealt with mental health and other aspects of figuring out where one belongs in the universe, but it is a total breakup record. I set out to record that album and keep it as a timestamp, so down the road I could look back and see how far I’ve come. It is strange to believe so much time has passed since I have released that record. I was unsure if I would make future records, but here I am.

Matthew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a musician and visual artist. I studied sculpture and visual art at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, but music is my true passion. Cue the cliché phrasing, but ever since I can remember, I have had a deep connection with music. I suppose it was the sounds and how they made me feel. Something about music just enlightened me. I could not think of anything more stimulating.

Naturally, I picked up an instrument and began inspecting it. I would imitate my favorite musicians and attempt to play along to their songs. I started taking lessons and self-teaching myself and voilà – I became a musician.

Over time, I started creating my own songs. I was in high school and had posted these songs to my SoundCloud account. Those first few originals were terrible, but hey, they were still my own creations. I’ve spent too long being self-critical, so I will always appreciate my first songs because I try to maintain the attitude that I am always improving or evolving.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think confidence and communication are two of the most important parts of artists and creatives supporting each other. This kind of goes hand in hand with the next question, but it is up to us to be outgoing with our creativity and knowledge. There are definitely elements that one must possess to achieve their goals, but I also feel like who you know is important. It is not necessarily all about who you know, but knowing a lot of people can be very useful. Put yourselves out there. You never know who you might meet or what opportunities could arise.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Whether or not my music makes it big, it is still going to be out there in the universe forever and I love that. I think it is rewarding to know that I created something and I shared those creations. I know it can be scary to think about, but I’ve always believed it is better to share your gifts than to have always wondered what might have been. It is even more rewarding when we discover each other’s creations and support them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/matthewheaton
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt_heat/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083162600619
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cricketpitrecords5092

Image Credits
Matthew Heaton Herb Heaton