Today we’d like to introduce you to Mateus Tinôco.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Everything started when I was 2 years old. My first experience with music (told by my family because I was too young I don’t quite remember it) was when I saw my uncle Germano playing an acoustic guitar at my grandmother’s house. Every time I get to see my mom’s part of the family, my relatives talk to me about how fascinated I used to get whenever the family got together to play music. They tell me that I was so thrilled by the music they were playing that I didn’t let them to actually play the songs properly because I kept touching their instruments while they were playing, and they couldn’t perform at all. At my grandmother’s house, there was a small stage where all family members used to gather to play music on the weekends, and since the day I experienced my uncles and older cousins playing as a band, my parents started taking me there every time. I never took any private lessons on how to play an instrument.
Everything that I learned was by ear, by listening and trying to reproduce on a bunch of different instruments that my family had available back then, such as the acoustic guitar (which by the way was the first instrument that I learned how to play), electric guitar, drums, bass, piano, and others. I can certainly say that my family has a big role on keeping my dream alive of pursuing a career in music for a very long time. As the years were passing by, I came to the conclusion that music had been my biggest passion and at a very young age, I somehow felt like I wanted to be involved in the music industry. When I was 12 years old, my family built a studio for me to rehearse with my friends, and the reason why they did it was because I used to play my electric guitar in my room way too loud, and my sister’s room was right next to mine. That being said, every time I turned my amp on and started playing, my sister got so disturbed by how loud it was that I would get a call from my dad telling to bring the amp’s volume down. By the age of 14, I already knew how to play drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, and I started writing my songs on them.
During this time, I found out about a local producer who introduced me to the audio world. The very first time he came through with his audio gear into the studio, I was like: Oh my God, these equipment look so complex and professional! I can’t wait to see what it’s going to do with my music. I was so curious to know the functionality of every single knob of his gear that he kept coming to my studio to not only record my music but also to teach me about audio. From the moment I started going deeper into the technical side of things, I right way developed a feeling of curiosity that kept me studying more and more about it because my main goal was to become capable to record, mix and master my own music, as well as my friend’s too. And this was the exact moment I realized that I had just found out a new passion in my life, which not only led to what I do nowadays but also to many experiences and opportunities throughout my life.
When I turned 16 years old, a friend of mine from Brazil told me about a college called Berklee College of Music, and many of my favorite artists(back in the day) such as John Mayer, Mike Portnoy, Steve Vai went there to study. When I found out about that, I had a crazy goosebumps of excitement! Then, the first thing I did was to start a preparation plan for myself for the audition day, which happened two years later. After two years of hard work and dedication, right after my senior year in high school, I auditioned in Rio de Janeiro and I was successfully able to get a spot at my dream college. And this was when my main music career journey had started at. While in college, I chose to study Music Production and Engineering(MP&E) major, which was focused on the engineering, physics, consoles, frequencies, mixing, and mastering areas of the audio.
Mateus Tinôco, Brazilian, 26 years old, is now an Audio Engineer and Music Producer graduated in Music Production and Engineering major from the renowned Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, MA. Mateus is a professional multi-instrumentalist who has worked with many artists, from upcoming ones to the big names in Brazil, such as João Gomes, Maria Gadú, and also artists from all around the world. During his period abroad at Berklee, he was able to achieve the opportunity to be an intern at both Abbey Road Studios and Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios through the Berklee Wadhams Scholars Award trip. A group of 10 students were handpicked by a committee of Berklee faculty, and besides of them having the experience of interning at those wonderful facilities, Mateus, as well as the other students, were able to produce music alongside legendary producers and studio professionals, such as Ken Scott (who had worked with the most famous bands and artists of all times, such as The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John), and also the producer Ethan Johns(who is the son of the notable record producer and engineer Glyn Johns, who has also worked with many legendary bands). This first work experience of his right after graduation was very essential and certainly life-changing for his career as a music producer and engineer. He was not only able to work hands-on and collaborate with big names in the recording industry, but this entire exposure to the real world while working with these influential people gave him so much confidence to realize that he was very well prepared by the Berklee faculty to face and handle any recording session, ranging from small to big ones. Mateus also worked and had most of his studio’s experience in Los Angeles while working at a couple of recording studios around the area, such as Woodshed Recording, TempleBase Studios, The Village, and VOXX Studios. Furthermore, Mateus also minored in Commercial Record Production while in College at Berklee College of Music.
Last but not least, working both as an audio engineer and music producer throughout the years made me realize that it takes a very long time to actually be able to master our ears to their full potential. Critical listening and ear training has always been my main tools to improve on how I perceive sound, as well as how I manipulate it whenever a record comes to my hand to either be the producer or the mixer in the project. In my opinion, there is no perfect or imperfect work. It’s always been a matter of perspective on how you listen to an audio source and translate it into real life through the tools that are given to you. As long as the music is sounding good and people are enjoying it, that means you got it!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every new path that somebody decides to pursue in life, you both win and lose at the same time. On one hand, it was not a smooth road because at the very beginning, I found very tough being away from my family and friends, who I’ve shared so many great moments with. And not having them with me on my daily routine kinda made me feel sad. On the other hand, I knew I had to do this in order to thrive in my life. I was very aware that my dream was in the game and that I was supposed to be there, regardless from anything, literally. Learning how to deal with my own feelings and overcome them gave me more confidence to keep moving forward and knowing that I was going in the right direction. At the end, every decision I took was worthwhile my time and commitment to keep grinding and following my dream of becoming an audio engineer and music producer.
As you know, we’re big fans of MTM ViP Recording Studio. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
In Brazil, Mateus has founded his own recording studio called ‘MTM ViP Recording Studio’, which has been providing services for two years in music production, recording, mixing, mastering, audio-editing, Jingle production for advertisements, commercials, voice-over, and others. MTM ViP Recording Studio is a professional recording studio located in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Founded in 2020, the studio’s goal is to provide an exclusive and high-quality VIP experience. While seeking to bring out a complete studio to the north region of Brazil, the facility provides a variety of modern audio equipment, ranging from legendary microphones to compressors, equalizers, pre-amplifiers, plugins and DAWs to meet the artist’s needs at the highest quality possible. In addition to having an international reputation, Mateus’ goal is to always deliver excellence and satisfaction for the clients.
How do you think about luck?
I strongly believe that luck only follows those who work smart and hard and who are always available when ‘luck’ knocks in their door. What I mean is that I never waited for the right time to come by. I’ve always worked for my goals to happen. For me, there is no plan B, it’s always been plan A and I don’t ever give up until it happens.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mtmvipstudio?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mtmvipstudio?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mtmviprecordingstudio
- Yelp: https://vimeo.com/344383487
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yhxy1x2yCQ0qo7BseubxQ?si=k0lQ3KCSSuuubk9WsvFFdg
Image Credits:
Picture 01 -> The one I am wearing an orange T-Shirt and a red shoes, and I am at the Real World Studios by Peter Gabriel, England. Picture 02 -> The one I’m sitting and looking at a TV with a GIANT Neve 88RS console in front of me, the place is at Studio 01 “Shames Family” at Berklee College of Music. Picture 03 -> The one I’m holding two guitars and looking to the left side of the image is at MTM ViP Recording Studio. Picture 04 -> The one with the LED and two people looking at the monitor is at MTM ViP Recording Studio. The person in the back is the big and very well-known Brazilian artist ‘Maria Gadú’, and the person sitting is Mateus. Picture 05 -> This is the audio gear rack from MTM ViP Recording Studio. Picture 06 -> This is Mateus on my graduation day. Picture 07 -> This one, Mateus is right next to the legendary music producer and engineer ‘Ken Scott’, at the entrance of Abbey Road Studios. Picture 08 -> This one, Mateus is right next to ‘João Gomes’, who is one of the most famous artists in Brazil today’s music scene, which is called ‘Piseiro’. They are both at MTM ViP Recording Studio.
