Interview: Matt Gorman
Best Part of Performing for an Audience?
“That's a great question. On a serious note, I just got into performing about 3-4 years ago. Wasn’t like most of my friends, it wasn’t a lifelong thing for me. I think everybody would agree, I’ve experienced many amazing things playing baseball, I’ve pitched in front of 3,000-5,000 people in a summer league, when I played out in North Dakota, it was breathtaking to see all the people watching and cheering. But I played a show last night, and it was my first show since I’ve been in Nashville two weeks ago, at The Listening Room Cafe.
I think the coolest thing for me is when you play a song and pour your heart into it, just giving it your all and seeing people's reactions. Sometimes people cry, sometimes people laugh, sometimes people make jokes, but the coolest thing for me is when I play some of my songs that people know or they haven’t heard before, but catch onto it and sing it back to me. It takes my breath away every time and reminds me how much I love what I do. This is the only thing I want to do, and there is nothing that can take that away from me. The fact that when I’m singing a song that I sat in a room like I am right now, with my buddy and we chalk up a song in three or four hours and we get to play it for people with a guitar or a band and they love it when they sing it back to you, it just really reminds you that this is why you do what you do, it's pretty.”
Was Your Family Supportive of This Dream?
“Absolutely. I consider myself to be the luckiest human being to step foot in Nashville, Tennessee and I’ve had very little if any success here. The family that I have, the support that they give me, every day they’re checking in and seeing how I’m doing, how the studios going, how shows are going... I’m still in college so they pay for everything and they support me every step of the way.
In everything that I do, I have two loving parents, a 30-year-old sister, a 26-year-old brother and they send me money whenever I need it and at the end of the day, it's always an ‘I love you’ text and a thank you text from me. Without them, I’d be nothing.”
What Career Would You Do If You Didn’t Make Music Or Play Baseball?
“Well, I would say, anyone who has played college baseball, has one time in their life aspired to play professional baseball. When I was younger, I was pretty much the same size I am now, so I was always a little bigger than everybody and I was pretty good. My high school years playing were pretty good and so I always wanted to be a professional baseball player. I didn’t even think about a Plan B and then I had three shoulder surgeries while in high school and I’m now a senior in college, so as much as I love going out and playing with the guys and playing on tv and things like that, there’s only so much a human body can withstand. Every time I play something hurts, so I don’t think baseball will be a long-lived career for me, especially now how much I’ve fallen in love with music. I’ve given so much of my life throwing a ball and it's given so much to me in return and I’ll never forget that, but there will be a time when I think there’ll be time to hang up the cleats and I think it’ll be after this year.”
What Led You To Music?
“I’ve always loved music. I grew up in Philadelphia, so as you can imagine country music wasn’t very prevalent, it was more old-school hip hop and that was pretty much all I listened to. As I got older, I listened more to Gavin DeGraw, Kings of Leon, One Republic, which I really loved listening to. In high school I was in a poetry class, and that's where I discovered my love for writing and I hate math, so I spent all my time at school focused on writing.
After that class, I penned down my first song. I’ve played the guitar since second grade, but I was never really good at it to play and sing at the same time. But I loved writing and once I actually figured out how to put it to a tune, there was really no turning back. Then in Junior College, I started playing at open mic nights at a bar called Naughty Dogs and my teammates would come and support me. I was pretty bad; I was still pretty green at the whole music thing and I used to mess up all the songs. I got to play songs I wrote and covers and knew if I kept working at it, I would eventually be able to do some good things at it.
It just comes from love. I could probably be living in a van in the next few years, but as long as I’m doing what I love and working with great people, I’d consider myself to be happy. If you truly love it, you never really look at it as work and what my dad used to always tell me growing up. For me that's all it is, it's all love.”
What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self If You Could?
“Truthfully, everything my dad, my parents taught me growing up, I would reiterate if I’m lucky to have kids one day. My parents are so supportive, they always say go chase your dreams and I would never change a thing about my life. It wasn’t always easy, it's never easy, but the way they brought me up was to always appreciate the little things, and that's where my song little things comes from, all the little things I was raised on.
I’ve turned out to be a very happy individual, and it's from how my parents raised me. If I had a chance to talk to my younger self, I would tell myself to buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy road, but you’re going to be happy in the next few years.”
Are You Releasing Music Anytime Soon?
Matt: “I’m releasing a song on April 27th with my friend here, Sam Shelton, and a singer named Megan Ashley, and it's a song called four years. It's a song about college and what you look back on; how you spend hours working your butt off in the classroom and there are so many things you learn outside of school that probably mean so much more in life, it's a fun, upbeat, party song.”
Sam: “Yeah, it's a fun party song, no doubt, but it also has a really good message to it. It's one of my favorite songs that we’ve written so far. It's a different vibe, but it's cool.”
Matt: “I’m Irish, so it has a kind of that Irish pub theme to it, so we incorporated that with country music, and my producer, Will Garret, crushed it in the studio, so I’m excited for you all to hear it. And on a cool note, that's going to be the name of a tour I’m going to be going on from September to November of all the colleges I’ll be going to (Tuscaloosa, Florida State, Georgia, Penn State). If there's a college, we can come out and play the tour, or whatever you all want to hear, let me know.
Then over the summer, I may be releasing a cover by Gavin DeGraw called Not Over You, or even a little bit in the fall. Right now, that's the only two plans we have set up.”
What is a Song that Speaks To You?
Matt: “I get a text from my mother every morning to be humble and kind. She makes a joke out of it, but one day she's like when I die I want you to sing the song Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw. I think the lyrics in that song mean so much and really speaks to anyone who has an ear for it. It tells you about a lot of things you’ll experience in life and reminds you to be humble and kind to everyone you meet.”
Sam: “I’m going to go with Good Days by SZA, I heard the song the night it came out at 2am and I was blown away and had it on repeat. I love SZA, she’s insanely good. I love the theme, the production, everything about it.”
QUESTION FOR SAM SHELTON (CO-WRITER)
How Do You Use Song Writing in Your Life?
“I think in the country world, it depends on the song you’re writing, like if you’re down and you need to get it out. Other times, it's wanting to hear a song that makes me feel good. But at the end of the day, you have to tap into your emotions to be able to write a good song. I produce a little bit and I’m more on the music realm in the song. I love creating melodies and really strong lyrics that mean something to you, speaking for itself.”
Socials:
Matt:
Instagram: Mattgormanmusic on everything
Sam:
TikTok: Sean.wave.mp3
