Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew McMenamy.
Hi Matthew, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The beginning of my story is always a little blurry for me; it starts at different points sometimes. But the most definitive start was my 14th birthday, when I asked for Ableton and a MIDI keyboard as gifts, and my parents, being as awesome as they are, fulfilled that wish. I immediately got hooked on producing my music.
I’m originally from Sherman, TX, and when I finally declared that making music was what I wanted to do, I got a lot of confused and doubtful faces. Coming from a more rural area, that was just something I had to get used to. I got very good at keeping my head down and proving that I could do everything people doubted: learning the guitar, or the piano, or writing a song because, to me, that was the only way anyone could believe that this was something I could do. Even when I graduated and told people I was moving to LA to get my Degree in Songwriting, there were still doubtful faces. So I moved out here with the mentality that I left all the doubt behind, and now it was time to prove myself.
I did my 4 years of college (technically 3 and a half), which was the most arduous thing I had done in my creative life. Putting the context of academia to your passion is a challenging task, and I saw many highly talented people drop out or move back home because they realized the effort required to do this professionally was just more than they were willing to give, which is no problem at all. I spent more than half of my time in college wanting to leave because music especially songwriting- can’t taught after a point. I knew my entire time in college that I wouldn’t be able to go to Capitol Records and show them my Bachelor in Songwriting, and they’d add me to their roster. That’s different from how that works. But college boosted my growth by 1000%. I’m in the free world, working daily to get my songwriter, artist, and producer career off the ground.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not. For one, in high school, I went through a tremendous amount of mental health issues. I hurt a lot of people and myself and eventually turned myself into a hospital to go to. I’m okay now, but that was an insane time. Ultimately, I learned a lot from it and gained an incredible amount of perspective while I was in-patient, hearing other kids’ stories. At this point in my life, I’m grateful for that experience. I got out on the other side of that. I wish I could go back and tell my 15-16-year-old self that everything will work itself out, and you will work towards the life you dream of. Other than that, the only other major challenge has been the doubt from other people. It’s also something I’m strangely grateful for now. I’ve developed a filtration system in my brain for that stuff. And if no one ever doubted me, it would make the reward of coming out here and really “doing the thing” a little more dull. I’m proving to them and myself that I can do this.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to be more familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
First and foremost, I’m a songwriter. After that, production and artistry fall into place. My number one objective always is to make great music. The marketing, production, and aesthetics all come into place. But the song is always the most important. Currently, I’m doing a ton of behind-the-scenes work for other people. I recently finished production for my friend Heather Kathryn’s debut EP, which has been a blast and a learning process. I’m currently doing many sessions with artists, just writing and producing for them, which has also been a great experience. Getting to do that kind of work in service of artists is one of the most fulfilling feelings. And it’s a plus because it keeps me sharp and growing in my artistry. I am most proud of the thing that sets me apart from others: collaboration. I only know a few artists (apart from my idols), songwriters and producers for other people, and multi-instrumentalists on their productions. I have a lot of pride in the fact that I can offer a lot to the table and even more pride that people put their faith and trust in me for their art. That’s cool.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
I don’t have any advice for someone starting because it still feels like I’m just getting my feet on the ground. But, if I had to go back in time and tell myself one thing, it would be that consistency > intensity. Don’t get me wrong; there was something fiery about the fact that when I was first starting to learn different instruments and production, I had this Olympic athlete mindset to train like crazy. But college taught me that I get a lot better just by being consistent daily, rather than doing an intense practice regimen till 2 in the morning.
Pricing:
- Production – $300 a song
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.matthewmcmenamy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewmcmenamy/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxDPs8utumNMbS5qvYNgRrA
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1XWqrDJmsWENx2pZvDOW9G?si=thgIUG5QTAKpnVa1vXO5og
Image Credits
Photos by Christopher Brown
