Matty Harris of Manhattan Beach on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Matty Harris. Check out our conversation below.

Matty, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I wake up and talk to a higher power. I ask Him to show me how to help my family, my clients, and anyone else who might need my help.

I do this because my default is to immediately think about everything I have to do that day. When I start the day thinking about others instead of myself, it always goes better.

Then I get up, make coffee, and get my 10-year-old daughter ready for school. If I have time, I write a gratitude list. If I don’t get it done in the morning, I make sure to do it at some point during the day.

Reminding myself of everything I’m grateful for is incredibly important. It keeps me out of that constant state of wanting more.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Matty Harris, and I’m a mixing and mastering engineer and the founder of Mix & Master My Song. I work with artists all over the world, helping them turn home-recorded songs into professional, release-ready records.

What makes my work a little different is that I don’t just focus on making things loud or polished—I focus on helping artists feel confident about releasing their music. Most of the people I work with are talented musicians who are frustrated because their songs don’t sound the way they hear them in their head. My job is to bridge that gap.

Alongside client work, I also run a YouTube channel where I teach mixing and mastering in a practical, real-world way, sharing the same techniques I use on professional releases. Education has become a big part of my brand because I believe artists should understand the process, not feel intimidated by it.

Right now, I’m focused on continuing to grow both sides of the business—working closely with artists one-on-one while also building educational tools and resources that help musicians get better results, whether they hire me or do it themselves.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I used to believe that I needed to drink or party to be a successful musician. Growing up, I looked up to rockstars, and they were always portrayed as drinking, smoking, and living hard. I bought into that idea and followed those footsteps for a while—until I realized I was going a bit too hard.

Getting sober completely changed my life. About a year after I got sober, I had my first #1 record. I was genuinely nervous that giving up drugs and alcohol would make me less creative, but the exact opposite happened. It wasn’t until I got sober that everything really started clicking—for my creativity, my career, and my life.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes—there was a very real moment when I almost gave up.

I moved to Los Angeles after working on a Sammy Adams album that went #1, and I honestly thought I had “made it.” But it quickly felt more like being a minor-league baseball player who got called up to the majors—suddenly in a bigger room with a lot more to prove.

Not long after I moved, the label deal stalled, and a publishing deal I was counting on dragged on indefinitely. I had come to LA with all these big expectations, and instead I ended up flat broke. I had to move in with a friend and sleep on a blow-up mattress because I had a choice: keep my apartment or keep my studio. I chose the studio.

I was close to throwing in the towel. But I kept working, stayed involved in bigger projects, and eventually realized something important—my heart was always with independent artists. That’s where I felt the most fulfilled.

That realization led me to start MixAndMasterMySong.com, with the goal of giving independent artists anywhere in the world access to high-quality mixing and mastering without needing to be in LA. Looking back, that low point ended up shaping the most meaningful part of my career.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I admire people with strong character—especially those who treat everyone with respect, regardless of their status or what they can offer in return. People who are kind, grounded, and consistent in how they show up for others. To me, that says far more about someone than power, titles, or success ever could. That’s the quality I value most in people and try to live by myself.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Playing drums and bass.

I grew up as a drummer, but as I started working in recording studios, I slowly moved away from actually playing. These days I mostly mix and master, so I’m rarely on the songwriting side anymore. Recently, though, I’ve been playing drums again and putting real time into learning bass.

There’s no expectation of a payoff. No career goal, no financial return, no plan to become a famous musician. And that’s the point. When you turn something you love into a business, it’s easy for everything to start feeling like work. Playing my instruments purely for the enjoyment of it keeps me connected to why I fell in love with music in the first place.

If anything, I don’t want this to pay off at all. The value is in doing it simply for the love of music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mixandmastermysong.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedbymatty/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mixandmastermysong
• Other: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/mixandmastermysong.com

Image Credits
credit Matty Harris