Profile by annaka olson

estless R Heart Matt Hires

by Annaka Olson

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t’s Januar y in Florida. The thermometer hovers around the upper seventies despite the lateness of the season. A mugg y warm breeze follows singer-song writer Matt Hires and labradoodle Luke Sky walker on their nightly rounds. This is ground zero, this is the aftermath of a life changing event.

A few weeks before, Atlantic Records label imprint, F-Stop Music, made a

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mutual decision with Matt that it was time to part ways after six years of collaboration and business.

This was the label that had turned a furniture store worker into a rockstar.

And now that rockstar was in desperate need of a hit for his first independent record. Until he could get something, any solid lyric ideas, Matt and Luke would walk through the humid suburbs, pacing in time with a song not yet written. With thoughts of looming economic uncertainty, the lyric “I’m a heartache machine” started haunting his step.

It wouldn’t be until the week before his studio booking that the muse would strike. On a long drive after a late night movie, pop song after party song blared from

the radio, completely at odds with his aftermovie sedative state. In particular, Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” hit a deep and resonating chord in Matt’s upheaved world. In that moment, it seemed to take on poetic meaning and to him, “It wasn’t a party song at all, it was about all the things we do to cover up”. Armed with the idea of having total honesty about his feelings toward the situation, Matt went home to write his album title hit, “Heartache Machine”.

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att Hires has released over seven albums and EPs over the past seven years.

He has continued to be a successful musician, and still able to provide financially for his family, despite being dropped from

a recording contract with a major label.

With over 23,000 followers on Facebook, “four different songs in four different episodes of Grey’s Anatomy” (Hires), and a recent tour with Matchbox Twenty, Matt is no newcomer to the music industr y. He is however, a new creative force in the indie music scene, and more recently in fans living rooms.

It’s thirty minutes before showtime, but Matt Hires is not backstage. There is no backstage when you are giving a concert in a living room.

Instead Hires interacts with his fans long before the show begins. For a good thirty minutes before and after each show Matt makes time to chat, take photos, and sell merchandise to fans. Middle aged women and teens scramble for the chance to interact with their favorite star. For individuals

like Emma Jacobson, a Matt Hires superfan, the experience is life changing.

She explains that before the concert “I’d never met anyone who was popular in the music world”, and

tire duration of the concert, with Matt asking audience members for song requests and telling the stories behind his music. By keeping his concerts interactive and in a casual venue, Matt is able to form

“you can connect with people on a more personal level without the stage and lights" that Matt “made me feel special”. At the end of the concert, Matt would go as far as dedicating his latest single, “Restless Heart” to Emma, sealing the moment in her memor y forever. This friendly, casual atmosphere continues for the en-

strong bonds with his fans. As Matt put it,“you can connect with people on a more personal level without the stage and lights”.

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att has loved music since a young age.

He grew up

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with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, as a result of his father’s love of music. At his parents urging he started learning bass at age 12, and from that began to learn guitar. Matt became a prolific song writer, and began playing in various bands. At the same time, he also began putting up solo work on Myspace.

A few weeks after putting the songs online, he was contacted by a manager for the newly formed F-Stop Music. For the next six years he would stay with F-Stop, until they parted ways in Februar y of 2014.

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hen most people think of the typical “successful musician” they usually think of a f lashy rockstar with the ever coveted recording contract.

However, with new online resources and easier access to their

himself as an independant musician, and he is willing to put up with hardship in order to do so.

For his living room tour Matt traded in tour bus for compact rental car, couch surfed, and spent night after night performing in his fans homes. Matt’s highly connected fanbase has been instrumental to his success this tour, from providing lodging, meals, and performance venues.

Independent music insider Jimmy Shaw has stated that “if fans, independent musicians today a band is going to do not need to fit sur vive without financial backing from into the stereotypical rockstar mold. an established record label, it has to As Matt’s touring partner R andal Kent cultivate a deep relationship with its explains, recording followers as well” contracts are: “not (Ballingall). Matt the holy grail. You don’t need it to be a clearly understands that principle, and musician”. With online resources such uses his “deep relationship(s)” in order as Bandcamp, Tumblr, and TicketLeap, to succeed as an inMatt has been able to dependent musician. successfully market

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bsently plucking guitar strings, Matt sits in contemplative rest, fingers falling into familiar patterns and rhythms. The tension in his guitar’s steel strings allow him to be able to create music, similarly to the tension in his life allowing him to be creative. When Matt lost his booking agent after leaving F-Stop, he realised that playing large concert halls and stadiums would probably not be an option for a little while. In a matter of months he went from playing alongside Bruno Mars at a private concert for the Prince of Dubai to playing a living room tour along the West C oast. B oth were amazing experiences, however, Matt has stated that he feels comfortable right now playing music “in a way that feels natural” and not forced show y perfor-

mances. Living room spaces allow Matt to interact on a more personal level with fans, and have allowed him to quickly and easily find venues for shows. This creative approach to problem solving is characteristic of the modern indie musician, who does what is right for them and their artistic vision (Ballingall).

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ith his

recent S eptember 2014 release of his Red Eye EP, Matt has stated that more music will be released soon.

This release, and a recent contract with

a publishing company heralds a new beginning for Matt. He has stated that he

thinks even his music style is starting to change, “just having the freedom to make what I want”.