Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Shell. They and their team shared their story with us below:
With Matthew Shell’s mom hailing from South Africa and growing up in Zimbabwe, his chill Afrobeat alternative jazz sound is deeply a part of Matthew’s family’s heritage. Inspired by Masa Takumi’s Best Global Music Album GRAMMY win for the album “Sakura” (which Mathew played guitar on), Matthew has endeavored to feature his guitar (and Sami Turunen’s virtuoso guitar soloing) on all of MTS Music’s collaborative releases of 2023 with Kenny McNeil, Marcus Johnson, Nelly’s Echo, Melina, Michael Peloso, and Arun Shenoy, among others.
Matthew Shell is an acclaimed music producer, audio engineer, guitarist, and pianist from Bethesda, MD. His production styles include alternative jazz, chill afrobeat, pop, rock, R&B, and soothing instrumental music.
In 2022, Shell and GRAMMY® nominee Arun Shenoy released the Dolby ATMOS mixed jazz album “Elemental”. In the same year, Shell played guitar on Masa Takumi’s song “Kaze” from the album “Sakura” which won best Global Music Album at the GRAMMY® Awards.
In 2023, Shell and longtime collaborator Kenny McNeil released the Dolby ATMOS mixed alternative jazz album “We’ll Find a Way II”, a chill Afrobeat style ode to Shell’s mom’s heritage from South Africa and Zimbabwe, where she was born and grew up respectively. This album was followed by the afrobeat single “My Ride or Die” featuring McNeil’s vocal artistry, Shell’s production, and guest artist Douglas Lira’s amazing sax playing, among others.
Also in 2023, Shell produced and engineered albums for Marcus Johnson, GRAMMY winner Joanie Leeds, and Michael Peloso, among others. Johnson’s new album is volume 3 of the “FLO Chill” album series, and after only a month has 60,000+ Spotify streams and growing. The first album in Johnson’s FLO series, titled “FLO (For the Love Of) Chill” reached #2 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Chart in 2009. In the same year, Shell was the Pro-Tools engineer on O.A.R.’s album “Rain or Shine” that reached #5 on the Independent Albums Chart and also #7 on the US Alternative Albums Chart.
Other of his accomplishments include producing for GRAMMY® Nominee Carolyn Malachi and her song “Beautiful Dreamer” being featured on FOX 5 DC Morning News in 2011, Shell being featured as a producer on GRAMMY.com in 2012 for his album “Freedom” with jazz flutist Trey Eley, Shell assisting as an engineer on the song “It’s a Jungle Out Here” for 7-time GRAMMY® winner Philip Lawrence as featured on the “Rio 2” film soundtrack in 2014 and the music video for “Genesis” being featured by Steven Slate on his Slate Digital YouTube channel in 2013.
Shell has produced and engineered remixes for Selena Gomez, DJ Flexx, and WPGC 95.5 and has produced, engineered, and/or collaborated with GRAMMY® winners Masa Takumi, Philip Lawrence, Paul Jackson Jr., Jeff Lorber, Wouter Kellerman, Ricky Kej, Laura Sullivan, Jim Kimo West, Rocio Marron, Steve Pullara, and Kabir Sehgal, among others.
A personal message from Matthew Shell:
My inspiration as a producer comes from my everyday life. The feel of the music always represents what I and my collaborators are going through and feeling in that moment. Also, I am inspired by my African heritage and audio engineering. Specifically, I’ve been adding more African percussion to everything in honor of my heritage, but also I know that it will sound amazing when mixed in Dolby ATMOS Immersive audio. To produce specifically for ATMOS with percussion surrounding the listener this simply brings me joy. The first song where I did this ATMOS production mixing style with lots of percussion was with Arun Shenoy on our last album’s title track, “Elemental”.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
After some early career successes in 2008-2010, it has been a long road of struggle, professional development, skill building and networking. Challenges ranging from financial difficulties to existential pondering (the ensemble of feelings and questions to do with the meaning and purpose of life), to the worldwide pandemic completely altering my plans to focus on being a vocal engineer. With not being able to easily get into the studio with vocalists, I pivoted to working exclusively with world-class musicians who can record at their home studios to keep my team’s song production quality high from 2020 until the present. I also learned the importance of staying behind the scenes as much as possible. As my business partner Kenny McNeil says, move in silence without disturbing the natural order of things all the while developing skill and connections.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am most proud of my recent chill Afrobeat alternative jazz album, “We’ll Find A Way II” in collaboration with Kenny McNeil. It was a breakthrough in arranging because the goal of the album was to make the best possible layering of sound for the Dolby ATMOS listening experience. So compared to all of my previous work, there is way more emphasis on African and Latin percussion layers, with every song having 40+ layers of percussion that surround the listener by the end of each song, along with horns and strings in the ceiling speakers, and electric guitar leading the way. Electric guitar as the lead instrument is in direct contrast to smooth jazz radio standards, which favor saxophone, piano, flute, and Spanish guitar. So, this very organically creates a truly alternative jazz experience. Here are the backstories on a couple of the songs from the album.
“Jazzy Lil Jane II” is a new chill Afrobeat single about being wise, savvy, and street-smart in a dangerous world. It is the first single off the album “We’ll Find A Way II” set to release May 31, 2023.
“I Want To Be Rich II” is a new chill Afrobeat smooth sound that moves so powerfully yet without disturbing the natural order. It’s rich with all the elements of peace and serenity that will leave the listener wanting more. We hope to capture with this vibe that true wealth comes from a commitment to family and quality relationships.
“No More 9 To 5” is a feel-good song about the hope that your passion can become a successful career.
In 2023, music reviewer Jonathan Widran wrote for the JW Vibe the following about this album:
After having the privilege of writing about and of course, praising the stellar, hypnotic, nonstop, and infectiously grooving “Jazzy Lil Jane II” and “I Want to be Rich II,” the lead singles from Matthew Shell and Kenny McNeil’s first dual project We’ll Find A Way II: The Chill Afrobeat Album over the past few months, it’s finally time for the full reveal.
Collectively, these eight tracks, bookended handsomely by an intro and outro, add up to more than just refreshing and danceable escapism just in time for summer. Whatever season it is when you allow these grooves and the island energy they create into your heart, soul, fingers, and feet, you’ll no doubt agree with my assessment that it’s one of the best, most uplifting and inspiring contemporary jazz albums of the year.
For those immersing in the ever-evolving, dynamically colorful, and above all intriguing sonic universe of Matthew Shell for the first time, I included in my write-ups of the singles the sense of adventure, dynamic mood shifts, and rhythmic curiosity populating the last few years of his discography. Along the way, he has worked with great guitarists like Sami Turunen and Arun Shenoy, often playing a supporting role behind their unique artistry.
The new collection is a revelation in that with every joyous crackling riff, every fluid and edgy tone, each intoxicating modulation, his guitar is the star of the show, as if a greater depth of his musical soul is at last being unleashed. From the rockin’ fire and crisp intimacy, he splashes over the spirited island dance grooves of the intro to the buoyant, bouncing electric pluck and melodic coolness he floats over the sexy thumping and horn fire of “No More 9 to 5 II,” he’s finally entering, unrestrained, the top tier of contemporary jazz guitarists.
Click here to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
https://gyro.to/WellFindAWayIITheChillAfrobeatAlbum
The reason for Matthew’s “upping his game” so powerfully seems clear enough. Though he’s long been a master collaborator with other top musicians and artists, there’s something special about the connection he has and the chemistry he shares with his longtime friend and musical soul mate, Maui-based producer, singer, songwriter, and creative consultant Kenny McNeil.
The two first met at Assembly Line Studios in Vienna, VA in 2008 when Matthew engineered a session for Kenny, who was vocal arranging and producing for an artist named Elika. Matthew loved Kenny’s vocal artistry and asked if he would contribute to writing and singing on a song he wrote called “Forever.” Their instant “brother from another mother” friendship evolved into a successful business partnership, and inside of a year, they recorded the album What’s Your Dream? On the current album, they harken back to that initial project with “What’s Your Dream II,” a jamming, brass-tinged jazz fusion track featuring some of Matthew’s most unrestrained, rock-influenced playing. Another important contributor to the project is Matthew’s co-producer, Angie Nicole.
The duo’s desire to venture into the chill Afrobeat sound comes from important elements of Matthew’s life and career. His mother hails from South Africa and grew up in Zimbabwe, so this African-flavored energy and sonic flow is in the DNA of his family’s heritage. He was also inspired by playing guitar on Masu Takumi’s 2022 Grammy-winning global music album Sakura – an experience which opened his creative mind to fresh new possibilities for his own projects.
While We’ll Find a Way II: The Chill Afrobeat Album is best experienced (and surely designed for) a straight-through listen and immersion into its highly intoxicating 33 minutes and 45 seconds, the fact that Matthew and Kenny have created such unique titles, powerful individual melodies and keenly felt rhythmic variations is thematically significant. All titles, even the cleverly named “Jazzy Lil Jane II,” signify positive concepts like uplift, hope, pushing through difficult times, self-fulfillment and personal empowerment, and dream fulfillment.
So, let’s unpack a few “Jazzy Lil Jane” – which rolls along in a flow that’s part organic, grounded, and visceral, part surreal and soaring – is about being wise, savvy, and street-smart in a dangerous world. The swirl of Matthew’s laid-back but purposeful guitar and exotic percussive beats will make you feel like you want to stay in a blissful state “Forever.” Part of asserting our identity is staying true to the dreams and visions in our heart, an emotional swell the duo expresses on the sly, brisk, electrifying romp “Identity II.” The confident, rhythmic strut of “Victorious II” finds them reassuring themselves – and by extension, us – that we can overcome any challenges and become our best selves.
As they explain the idea behind the eminently tasty, sensual soul tune “I Want To Be Rich II,” the “song is rich with all the elements of peace and serenity that will leave the listener wanting more.” Matthew and Kenny later reassure us, with the trippy brass and intensified bass and percussion-driven title track that indeed, “We’ll Find A Way II.” The lighthearted, convertible top-down, summery thumping dance floor energy of “No More 9 to 5” is both autobiographical and inspirational, as the two translate to their music the pride and liberation of transforming one’s passion into a thriving and impactful career.
Fans of Matthew and Kenny and this multiple-shades-of-awesome album may wonder what all the Roman Numeral II’s are all about. By choice, the artists are keeping the specifics a mystery for now – all the more reason to use our imaginations as we listen over and over to the ultimate expression of their dual magic.
Those listening on Apple Music, Tidal, or Amazon Music can enjoy We’ll Find A Way II: The Chill Afrobeat Album in Dolby ATMOS immersive audio, as mixed by Matthew Shell, Ken Mertz, Chris Keeney, and Doug Greer at Immersive MMG in Lancaster, PA.
Source: https://www.jwvibe.com/single-post/matthew-shell-kenny-mcneil-we-ll-find-a-way-ii
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
A focus on positive themes and uplifting sounds has stayed the focus of my 16+ year-long music career. This focus along with always doing business with integrity have been the guiding lights of my career.
Pricing:
- Dobly ATMOS Mixing & Mastering – Starting at $800 per song – Inquire for an estimate
- Stereo Mixing & Mastering – Starting at $750 per song – Inquire for an estimate
- Music video production – Starting at $950 plus $200 for each additional location – Inquire for an estimate
- Staffing musicians – Starting at $200 per musician – Inquire for an estimate
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mtsmusic.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mts_music/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MTSmusicproductions
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-shell
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MTS_Music
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/MatthewShell
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mtsmusic
- Other: https://gyro.to/wellfindawayiithechillafrobeatalbum
Image Credits
Photo of Matthew Shell taken with my (Matthew Shell’s) phone by Tope Iluyomade. Used with permission. Album cover of “We’ll Find A Way II” designed and edited by Alexandra Harris and owned by Matthew Shell and Kenny McNeil.
