November 10, 2023 • 24 mins
Matt Stell is a Country Music Singer/Songwriter signed to the Records label, described as a renaissance man in modern country.
Matt's heroes and influences stretch from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley through Miranda Lambert and Jason Isbell.
His new EP is called One of Us.
Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You know, now that I've been writing songs for a
long time and lucky to get to do it all
the time, I think it's more of a crap new people.
Maybe with fake you know, it's definitely an art form,
But to actually write a song, he's kind of like
build a house. You know, you got to know how
to swing a hammer and how to square corners and
how to you know, follow up plays and things like that.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
You've arrived at the Taking a Walk Podcast, an audio
diary of music storytelling. Today, your host Buzz Night talks
with record Labels Country singer songwriter Matt Stell. Rolling Stone
named his song Prayed for You in twenty nineteen one
of the ten best Country Songs to Hear. Now, he's
releasing new music, and he talks about his songwriting process
(00:39):
and much more on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Well, Matt Stell, Welcome to the Taking a Walk Virtual Podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Man, I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So tell me what's going on these days. I know
you're back in Nashville after doing some road warrior work, right.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, Man, we stall on the road quite a bit.
We'll leave out again tomorrow. But like we were, talking,
just submitted to go. It's I got to get home,
sleep my own bed, start a little laundry. So, uh,
we're we're in good shape.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
The fun stuff, right, That's right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, take me back. When was the first moment in
your life that you knew that you were going to
be connected with music?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
You know, I always had I always loved music.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I just I guess assumed everybody loved music, uh the
way I did.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
But I guess in college I found out that I
just really had a passion for it.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
That's where I kind of picked up a guitar and sat.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
In front of a computer like this, and the learned
how to play and and you know that turned into
you know, buddies coming over and then you know, frat
houses and and uh, you know shows and stuff like that,
and you know, I kind of fell into it that way.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
But I guess I kind of knew, I kind of
knew I was. I knew music was always.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Gonna be a part of what I did, But I
didn't know that I was going to get to, you know,
make my life about it, you know, build my life
around it.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Was anybody in your family associated with music or musicians.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, so I have a pretty musical family, especially on
my mom's side. I actually had a couple of cousins
that had record deals and put out music and and
did that. And I was actually I was always, you know,
the athlete. I was the ballplayer, and I never you know,
I wasn't playing music at the time. And then you know,
I sort of stumbled on it in college. It was this,
(02:26):
you know, different, different thing, and I felt like I
had this big learning curve that I had to, uh
to catch up with everybody. So but but that was
that was probably good, you know, because it showed me
what how good good is and because they were really
really talented people, and and uh, you know, I learned
a lot from them, both both musically and then you know,
kind of on the business side of stuff too.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Who were some of the mentors that really made a
difference for.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You all the mentors that really made a difference for me.
You know, there's a lot going forward. I know that
you know, my cousin Hey, and uh, she was really
gracious and and uh, you know, and including me and
some some rites early on, and uh, Automatic and tire
Song right here in town really went out on a
(03:10):
m for me and and helped me get helped me
get my first pub deal when I finally did. And
and you know, I've had and I've had people along
the way I've had you know. Uh, it's it takes
so many people, in so many different ways, uh to
do this kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Uh asked Bowers early on.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
He he really Uh you know, he gave me an
opportunity early on. So I gotta I gotta thank him
for that.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
And uh, you.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Know a lot of writers too that I just kind
of were would write with me and I'd learned from him,
and uh, you know that there's there's some great folks
there as well. Uh Screwter Caruso. You know, He's one
that I've written with a lot and learned a lot from.
And so so yeah, man, I mean the list is long,
you know, especially from the radio sides. You know, there's
there's a lot of people from the label side and
stuff like that. But it takes a lot of people.
(04:02):
And uh, and I try to keep my eyes and
ears open and and ready to learn something as much
as I can.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
You have a multifaceted sort of background in terms of
your schooling and some of the other aspirations that you
were associated with. So I want to click through a
couple of them. I mean, you played college basketball, didn't you?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
I did? Yeah, Yeah I did. I played.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
That's actually where I started playing guitar. Because you're on
campus all winter break. You know, if you're playing PlayStation
with your teammates, or you're you know, that's a play
at practice, you know, that's about it. Or traveling to
play ball, you know, that's about it. So, uh, that's
where I picked up a guitar. And and but but
basketball was my first was my first love, was my
(04:48):
first dream. And that one kind of turned into this
one that I have now.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
As somebody who studied communications, myself was fascinated that you
also studied communications. What aspirations around uh communications did you have?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, you know, I was really more interested in kind
of rhetorical studies, American studies, kind of social critique, that
kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I just always it was interested.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
In dealing with, uh, you know, kind of big and
new and interesting ideas.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know. My my communication.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
My my communication degree wasn't focused in like organization or
mass communication and broadcasts or anything like that. It was
it was it was much more of a of a
an outcropping of h of like social critique and things
like that. Like I was just always interested in, uh
people's ideas of how things worked, and I had my
(05:47):
own ideas and and so yeah, that that was that's
kind of my my uh communication in a nut show
where I could really just you know, I could really
call it like rhetoric or argumentation, you know that, you know,
that's that's what I was interested in.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And then the medical side of your aspirations. You were
involved with the medical mission uh to Haiti, and you,
uh you studied pre med. Uh tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Well, so I didn't study pre med.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I thought I was gonna maybe. I thought I was
gonna do it. So I went I went on that.
I went on that medical missus Tria origin along saw
some doctors and and it was just really blown away
by how they could just improve people's lives, but as
you know, help it, you know, directly could help people,
you know that really needed it the most. And I
was like, man, that's that's that's pretty special. And uh
(06:40):
so I applied to this pre medical program because I
had a lot of you know, I've been to a
lot of school, but I still needed some hard sciences,
you know. I needed my physics and chemistry and what
have you to be able to apply to some of
these med schools. And I got accepted in a program
for that.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
But I.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Because I was in Nashville trying to get a publishing
deal so I could write songs and that hadn't happened.
So I got it setted into that program. I was
gonna pull up stakes and move to the Northeast and
and just really take a fourking road. And man, I
got the opportunity to write songs about two months before
I was moving.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So uh, luckily I didn't have to fail.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I didn't have to flunk out of pre med before
before not having to do it, because they would.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Have been pretty tough, but I did. I did think
that would be I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I was just very very wowed by by the way that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
That the medicine can can help people, like right now.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
So I'm going to come back to music and medicine
a little bit later on. So what was this band,
the Crashers all about?
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Man? That was my first band, dude.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You know, I was playing acoustics in bars and had
a buddy that he and I started playing together and
we put a band together and uh we uh yeah, that.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Was our it was our first shot at it.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I was really a lot of those guys lived in
Missouri and I did too, it U while I was
in college. And uh then I moved then I moved
back home around a little rock and but we would
still tour too.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Around Plavory show that we could, everywhere that we could.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
And uh, yeah, that was my first experience with it
and learned a lot, learned, learned what to do, what
not to do, and and uh, you know it was uh, it.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Was a special time for sure.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
You still.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Press Uh there's probably some out there somewhere. Yeah, I
actually I have recordings of the songs we were playing.
I guess I probably recorded them with uh with other
other musicians. But you know, we tried to make a
record together one time. It didn't go great. And uh
and then uh so ided up coming to Nashville and
and uh, you know, cutting a record with some studio guys,
(08:55):
and you know, we turned on that and you know,
again it was like because you can make music, because
technology had kind of democratize music where you can make it, anybody.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Can make it. You make a record, a record you know,
you can.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I have a bunch of stuff from what I was
learning how to make music and how to write music,
and some of it's all right, and then some of
it's like, look cringey.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
But but at the end of the day, you know,
that's that learning process.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
You know that you kind of grow up through your
through try to trial and error, and there's plenty of error,
that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I like to talk about your songwriting process, how you
learn that process, and also what you like about it
and what you don't like about the songwriting process.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Well, I mean my process starts with just having my
intentna up and you know, coming up with song titles
anywhere that I that I can. You know, I just
jobbed down on my phone, whether whether one song makes
me think of, you know, a different angle on something
totally different if I read something, if I watch something,
if I hear something that's in a conversation, you know whatever.
(09:57):
I'm always I'm always jobbing that down to my phone,
you know, and that's where it starts. And then generally
sometimes I'll write them by myself. Sometimes I'll get in
a room with Sometimes I get in a room with
a couple of people and and we'll toss ideas around
and come up with.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Something and and go from there.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But I think, you know now that I've done it,
you know now that I've been writing songs for for
a long time and and I'm lucky to get to
do it all the time. You know, it's kind of
like writing salts a little bit, like I think it's
more of a crap than people maybe I would think,
you know, it's definitely an art form, but to actually
(10:36):
write a song, it's kind of like building a house.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
You know, you got to know how to yet to
know how to swing a hammer, and how to square.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Corners and how to you know, follow follow uh plays
and things like that. But the songwriting part is very
much that. It's very much knowing how to build a house.
And then the creative part all that is, you know,
the title or the idea is like the plans of
the house. It's like the blueprint kind of thing. So
that that's that's something that I've learned. That's how I
(11:03):
think about it, and I try to not have any rules,
but that's generally how it comes out for me. It's
usually starts with the lyric and goes from there. Sometimes
melody sometimes not you know, or you know, charge of
starting it. But that's generally in my process.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Well, since this podcast is called taking a walk, I'd
be remissive I didn't ask you. So if you're in
the middle of that songwriting process, whether on your own
or with others, and you get stalled at any point
in time, do you go take a walk?
Speaker 4 (11:33):
I mean sometimes we do. I mean it's uh, I'm
pretty I like to just like literally walk.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Sometimes I just get up and be pacing around the
room and there's something about that that that I don't know,
it kind of shifts gears a little bit then, you know,
kind of sitting. So yeah, definitely, I mean we'll do that,
or sometimes we'll go at lunch or sometimes I just
come back to it, you know later, And a lot
of songs and now I'm not I'm not bashful about it.
(12:02):
Like a lot of times I get a song done
or a demo done, I'll listen to it and that'll
kind of be a little bit of a rough draft
and I'll do some change into it too, So I
definitely live with it.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
And literally taking a walk in the room sometimes helps you.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
And then also it must be fitting at times to
have some recordings from demos and pop it in while
you're in the car driving, right. I mean that must
be also helpful.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Absolutely absolutely, it's kind of it's it's I do it
all the time, you know. That's kind of what the
demos are for. You know, it's kind of to live
with them and h and.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Then something to share it with people, you know, when
they get to when they get to the right spot.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Typically you know, now there's like a work tape will
be what we kind of do in the room, even
if it's you know, pretty pretty produced because of how
people can you know, use it, you know, build make
music inside the box, so to speak.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
So we'll have that work tape.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And then we'll work on then we'll get a demo,
and then the demo we'll send out and then if
we decide to cut it, you know, we'll we'll track
that and get a master out of it. So yeah,
definitely a lot of a lot of hours of the
car passed by listen into two demos for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Do you ever reach a point where you go, man,
that's a stinker. I can't do anything with that, and
you just move on from it.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You know, I'm I'm lucky to get to write with
a bunch of really talented people.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
So you know, we we can.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Typically always build a house, you know, but it's like,
is it you know, is it a house you'd want
to live in?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
You know I'm talking about So.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Yeah, I mean sometimes, you know, I write a lot
of songs that get written and then that's it. And
and you know, sometimes that's uh, sometimes it's the idea
in the first place, wasn't you know, so I guess
say worth writing or didn't didn't produce some of the
court We just didn't do a great job with the
idea that day. So yeah, all the time, man, I
(13:52):
mean it's it's it's a hit up. You win some
you lose something for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
What's your memory of hearing for the first time one
of your songs on the radio?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, I remember, maybe not the first time I heard it,
you know, because you kind of sometimes you hear it
and then small town uh, and in the small town,
you know America, you'll hear you know, the song get
played on the on the radio station in town. But
I really like the first time I ever encountered my
saw sort of in the wild. I was in Vegas
(14:25):
and I was in an uber and uh, and the
lady had the radio on and and uh my song
came on and and I was like, man, that's gonna
sound weird, but that's me right there on the radio.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
And I don't know that she believed me, but uh,
but I do remember that I was in an uber
and Vegas.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
What song was that?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
It was? Pretty for you? It was yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Uh do you still like have goosebumps about that moment?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Man, it's pretty special, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I Uh, it's tough to kind of put everything in
perspective because at the time, you know, it's it, it's
h you know, it kind of happens and it and
he can just sort of wash over you a little bit.
But definitely it is. You know, I think back on
those moments and and how special that is, how special
that was, and uh, you know, the fact that you know,
people want to hear you know music, you know my
(15:14):
music at all, you know, is the reason I want
to start doing it.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
So it does give you that kind of goosebump moment. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
How great is it having someone like Barry Weiss who's
at the Helm of Records. Uh, you know, that's part
of guiding your career.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, man, I mean it's it's it's it's great to
have somebody believe in you and uh incited to a
record deal and then you have some success together. That's uh,
that's that's that's pretty special. That's what you want to
that's what you want to happen when you move to
town and and uh so you know, very grateful for
that opportunity and uh and excited to get some new
(15:52):
music out with them.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Uh here, actually pretty soon here What's today Tonight comes
out tonight? Uh uh breaking a boost?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
My next My next next singles out tonight, so should
be a fun ride again hopefully.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
And what other stuff are you working on after that single?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Man, I'm constantly writing. I've got another another five tracks cut.
I'm gonna go back in the studio here in November
and finish out, finish out a project. And I can't
wait to get that released out into the world because
I think it. I'm really proud of it. I'm proud
of the songs I've written for it. This is the
most personal stuff that I've done. You know, there was
(16:31):
a time when I had people, uh when I was
when I had people that thought they knew what was
best for me that I probably listened to too much.
I tried to steer what I do and tell me
who I am and what I should do. You know,
you make those kind of mistakes, and those are tough
mistakes to make. But I learned the less of that
that I'm gonna let. I'm gonna let what I think
(16:54):
is worth cutting be the be the funnel, and then
everybody else can have their opinions and not the other
way around. You know, I still want opinions from from folks,
but uh it has to uh. You know, at the
end of the day, the reason I love music is
because you know that kid that's sitting on the end
of his dorm room. Uh they bed in his dorm
learning how to play on the computer. Like the feeling
(17:15):
that my favorite songs gave me is what I'm chasing.
And if I don't get that feeling, then that that's
I'm in, that ceiling, that's the kind of business I'm in.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
And anything short of that, I'm not gonna do.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
What's some of the music from other folks that you're
listening to these days?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Oh man? You know, I I listened to that news
Zach Grive record.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I like it probably the best of anything that he's
put out. I've listened to Jason those Bowls of the Weather,
Van's record that's really grown on me. I mean I
liked it in the first place, but I find myself
going back to it. It's anytime whenever. Whenever he puts
out stuff, it's definitely worth worth a listen. I'm trying
to think of some there's there's been some great country
(17:57):
records that have that have dropped in some great songs,
and I'd have to look on my phone right now
of all that stuff. But I listened to quite a
bit of music and and all genres too. You know,
I love I love country music, but uh, you know
I I love I love all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
So I'm constantly looking for what's new and fresh.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
What would surprise your fans that you listen to that
maybe they wouldn't think you would.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Oh man, that's a good question.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I mean, on the way, I was dropping in Colorado
yesterday and we were listening to Guy Clark and we
were listening to JP Sacks and the same and Jerry
Jeff Walker all on the same playlist. And so I
think that James McMurtrie is one of my all time
favorites too. So you know, like those kind of uh,
those writers like that. I don't know if that surprise folks
(18:46):
all that much. I mean I thought this that last
Tennis Swift record, Midnights was was fantastic. I love that, Uh,
I love uh And Noah Khan stuff is this cool? Man,
It's it's uh, it's fun to see that, to see
that kind of organic thing popping his head out, and
so like I could, I could go on and on.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Man, I I'm a fan of all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
That's a that's a good window inside the depth of
your music with some of the stuff that you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, man, I mean I think, you know, especially in
this day and age, you know, we all kind of
grew up with with music at our fingertips and so
because because you you know, you can literally have every
song in the world with a president button, that generally
means that you're that you're genres or you know, people
may have a favorite genre, but they'll venture outside of
(19:36):
that for sure.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
What would you tell someone listening to this that's a
aspiring musician, that would be advice to keep them on
the long road.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Well, I would say that you know, a write songs,
if you love to write songs, write songs, you know,
you never know what's going to happen, but what it
does happened, you know, you have to learn how to
build that house. Like I was talking about before, you
got to learn the craft.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
And even if you are reinventing the craft, you know,
it's like you still you still have to kind of
you still have to know how it's done to make choices,
that know how things are done, to make choices to
do them differently.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So I would say, right as much as you can,
you know, I think, you know, from a pragmatic standpoint,
I think if you have dreams of playing music for
a living, if you have jade of writing music for
a living, that uh uh, you know you're gonna need
to keep your overhead low, you know, not making where
you don't live very expensive so you don't have to
(20:37):
uh you know, have stide hustles that take over and
become your main hustle and turn music into your side hustle.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
That's another like thing I think, Uh yeah, man, you
know there were times in my life.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Where where I didn't you know, no one knows what's
gonna happen, and I got extremely.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
Lucky, you know, you know, getting a record deal and
all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
But uh, you want to be ready for when that
stuff happens, and you want to get around other creating
people as well, like you get to get you around.
That's what the best part about Nashville is, UH is
that it's it's there's no place that that has this
uh concentration of musical talent, you know, per capita, whether
that's players, whether that's writers, especially writers, And so I
(21:23):
would say get around as many of those people as
you can because you're gonna.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Learn from each other.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
And I should have moved to Nashville sooner and I
would have gotten I would have benefited from it because
being around of the credit people, you're constantly propelling each
other to to get better and to and to do
the next the next cool thing.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
So those maybe a couple of things. But what do
I know?
Speaker 3 (21:44):
You know a lot in Nashville. There's some pretty incredible
venues that must be unbelievably energizing to play at. Uh.
What are you some of your favorite experiences from playing
at some of those legendary places?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Well, I mean playing the opery is is you know,
that's probably my best memory of one of my favorite memories.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I should say. You know, I'm from a town of
three hundred people.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Uh, and when I played the Opry, I mean most
of the town, people that had left Conway County, people
that hadn't left Arkansas, and who knows how long made
the trip to Nashville to see me play on the Opry.
And my you know, family from Texas and Florida, Carolina
is all over came and uh that was really special.
(22:33):
And uh now, uh, I don't know, man, it's just
that that that is the one of the memories that
sticks out for me the most. And I had my
had my mama, my grandmama was backstage and and uh
that was so fun and.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
And man it was it was really really cool.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Well, I want to close with this come back to
your medicine aspirations. We produced this other podcast and it's
called Music Save Me, and it's about the power of
music as a healing force and what it means to folks.
Do you think that music has healing therapeutic powers?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Well, I mean, you know, just coming from a from
my perspective, I would definitely say that yes, in a sense,
you know, like music. I think I think music enriches
life as much as it heals anything.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
It's it can definitely get your mind in the right
place in all those in all those different ways. But
uh so, I think it definitely has a role in
that way.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Well, I wish you well on all the future and
congratulations on all your successes. Matt Stell. It's awesome to
have you on Taking a Walk. I so appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Absolutely, buzz man. I appreciate you having me and I
hope we run into each other, so I hope so.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
We hope you enjoyed country music artist Matt Stell on
Taking a Walk. If you like this and other episodes,
leave us a review and share it with everyone. Find
Taking a Walk on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever
you get podcasts.
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You know, now that I've been writing songs for a
long time and lucky to get to do it all
the time, I think it's more of a crap new people.
Maybe with fake you know, it's definitely an art form,
But to actually write a song, he's kind of like
build a house. You know, you got to know how
to swing a hammer and how to square corners and
how to you know, follow up plays and things like that.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
You've arrived at the Taking a Walk Podcast, an audio
diary of music storytelling. Today, your host Buzz Night talks
with record Labels Country singer songwriter Matt Stell. Rolling Stone
named his song Prayed for You in twenty nineteen one
of the ten best Country Songs to Hear. Now, he's
releasing new music, and he talks about his songwriting process
(00:39):
and much more on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Well, Matt Stell, Welcome to the Taking a Walk Virtual Podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Man, I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So tell me what's going on these days. I know
you're back in Nashville after doing some road warrior work, right.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, Man, we stall on the road quite a bit.
We'll leave out again tomorrow. But like we were, talking,
just submitted to go. It's I got to get home,
sleep my own bed, start a little laundry. So, uh,
we're we're in good shape.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
The fun stuff, right, That's right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, take me back. When was the first moment in
your life that you knew that you were going to
be connected with music?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
You know, I always had I always loved music.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I just I guess assumed everybody loved music, uh the
way I did.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
But I guess in college I found out that I
just really had a passion for it.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
That's where I kind of picked up a guitar and sat.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
In front of a computer like this, and the learned
how to play and and you know that turned into
you know, buddies coming over and then you know, frat
houses and and uh, you know shows and stuff like that,
and you know, I kind of fell into it that way.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
But I guess I kind of knew, I kind of
knew I was. I knew music was always.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Gonna be a part of what I did, But I
didn't know that I was going to get to, you know,
make my life about it, you know, build my life
around it.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Was anybody in your family associated with music or musicians.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, so I have a pretty musical family, especially on
my mom's side. I actually had a couple of cousins
that had record deals and put out music and and
did that. And I was actually I was always, you know,
the athlete. I was the ballplayer, and I never you know,
I wasn't playing music at the time. And then you know,
I sort of stumbled on it in college. It was this,
(02:26):
you know, different, different thing, and I felt like I
had this big learning curve that I had to, uh
to catch up with everybody. So but but that was
that was probably good, you know, because it showed me
what how good good is and because they were really
really talented people, and and uh, you know, I learned
a lot from them, both both musically and then you know,
kind of on the business side of stuff too.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Who were some of the mentors that really made a
difference for.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You all the mentors that really made a difference for me.
You know, there's a lot going forward. I know that
you know, my cousin Hey, and uh, she was really
gracious and and uh, you know, and including me and
some some rites early on, and uh, Automatic and tire
Song right here in town really went out on a
(03:10):
m for me and and helped me get helped me
get my first pub deal when I finally did. And
and you know, I've had and I've had people along
the way I've had you know. Uh, it's it takes
so many people, in so many different ways, uh to
do this kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Uh asked Bowers early on.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
He he really Uh you know, he gave me an
opportunity early on. So I gotta I gotta thank him
for that.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
And uh, you.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Know a lot of writers too that I just kind
of were would write with me and I'd learned from him,
and uh, you know that there's there's some great folks
there as well. Uh Screwter Caruso. You know, He's one
that I've written with a lot and learned a lot from.
And so so yeah, man, I mean the list is long,
you know, especially from the radio sides. You know, there's
there's a lot of people from the label side and
stuff like that. But it takes a lot of people.
(04:02):
And uh, and I try to keep my eyes and
ears open and and ready to learn something as much
as I can.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
You have a multifaceted sort of background in terms of
your schooling and some of the other aspirations that you
were associated with. So I want to click through a
couple of them. I mean, you played college basketball, didn't you?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
I did? Yeah, Yeah I did. I played.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
That's actually where I started playing guitar. Because you're on
campus all winter break. You know, if you're playing PlayStation
with your teammates, or you're you know, that's a play
at practice, you know, that's about it. Or traveling to
play ball, you know, that's about it. So, uh, that's
where I picked up a guitar. And and but but
basketball was my first was my first love, was my
(04:48):
first dream. And that one kind of turned into this
one that I have now.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
As somebody who studied communications, myself was fascinated that you
also studied communications. What aspirations around uh communications did you have?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, you know, I was really more interested in kind
of rhetorical studies, American studies, kind of social critique, that
kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I just always it was interested.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
In dealing with, uh, you know, kind of big and
new and interesting ideas.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know. My my communication.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
My my communication degree wasn't focused in like organization or
mass communication and broadcasts or anything like that. It was
it was it was much more of a of a
an outcropping of h of like social critique and things
like that. Like I was just always interested in, uh
people's ideas of how things worked, and I had my
(05:47):
own ideas and and so yeah, that that was that's
kind of my my uh communication in a nut show
where I could really just you know, I could really
call it like rhetoric or argumentation, you know that, you know,
that's that's what I was interested in.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And then the medical side of your aspirations. You were
involved with the medical mission uh to Haiti, and you,
uh you studied pre med. Uh tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Well, so I didn't study pre med.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I thought I was gonna maybe. I thought I was
gonna do it. So I went I went on that.
I went on that medical missus Tria origin along saw
some doctors and and it was just really blown away
by how they could just improve people's lives, but as
you know, help it, you know, directly could help people,
you know that really needed it the most. And I
was like, man, that's that's that's pretty special. And uh
(06:40):
so I applied to this pre medical program because I
had a lot of you know, I've been to a
lot of school, but I still needed some hard sciences,
you know. I needed my physics and chemistry and what
have you to be able to apply to some of
these med schools. And I got accepted in a program
for that.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
But I.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Because I was in Nashville trying to get a publishing
deal so I could write songs and that hadn't happened.
So I got it setted into that program. I was
gonna pull up stakes and move to the Northeast and
and just really take a fourking road. And man, I
got the opportunity to write songs about two months before
I was moving.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So uh, luckily I didn't have to fail.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I didn't have to flunk out of pre med before
before not having to do it, because they would.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Have been pretty tough, but I did. I did think
that would be I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I was just very very wowed by by the way that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
That the medicine can can help people, like right now.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
So I'm going to come back to music and medicine
a little bit later on. So what was this band,
the Crashers all about?
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Man? That was my first band, dude.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You know, I was playing acoustics in bars and had
a buddy that he and I started playing together and
we put a band together and uh we uh yeah, that.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Was our it was our first shot at it.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I was really a lot of those guys lived in
Missouri and I did too, it U while I was
in college. And uh then I moved then I moved
back home around a little rock and but we would
still tour too.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Around Plavory show that we could, everywhere that we could.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
And uh, yeah, that was my first experience with it
and learned a lot, learned, learned what to do, what
not to do, and and uh, you know it was uh, it.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Was a special time for sure.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
You still.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Press Uh there's probably some out there somewhere. Yeah, I
actually I have recordings of the songs we were playing.
I guess I probably recorded them with uh with other
other musicians. But you know, we tried to make a
record together one time. It didn't go great. And uh
and then uh so ided up coming to Nashville and
and uh, you know, cutting a record with some studio guys,
(08:55):
and you know, we turned on that and you know,
again it was like because you can make music, because
technology had kind of democratize music where you can make it, anybody.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Can make it. You make a record, a record you know,
you can.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I have a bunch of stuff from what I was
learning how to make music and how to write music,
and some of it's all right, and then some of
it's like, look cringey.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
But but at the end of the day, you know,
that's that learning process.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
You know that you kind of grow up through your
through try to trial and error, and there's plenty of error,
that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I like to talk about your songwriting process, how you
learn that process, and also what you like about it
and what you don't like about the songwriting process.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Well, I mean my process starts with just having my
intentna up and you know, coming up with song titles
anywhere that I that I can. You know, I just
jobbed down on my phone, whether whether one song makes
me think of, you know, a different angle on something
totally different if I read something, if I watch something,
if I hear something that's in a conversation, you know whatever.
(09:57):
I'm always I'm always jobbing that down to my phone,
you know, and that's where it starts. And then generally
sometimes I'll write them by myself. Sometimes I'll get in
a room with Sometimes I get in a room with
a couple of people and and we'll toss ideas around
and come up with.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Something and and go from there.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But I think, you know now that I've done it,
you know now that I've been writing songs for for
a long time and and I'm lucky to get to
do it all the time. You know, it's kind of
like writing salts a little bit, like I think it's
more of a crap than people maybe I would think,
you know, it's definitely an art form, but to actually
(10:36):
write a song, it's kind of like building a house.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
You know, you got to know how to yet to
know how to swing a hammer, and how to square.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Corners and how to you know, follow follow uh plays
and things like that. But the songwriting part is very
much that. It's very much knowing how to build a house.
And then the creative part all that is, you know,
the title or the idea is like the plans of
the house. It's like the blueprint kind of thing. So
that that's that's something that I've learned. That's how I
(11:03):
think about it, and I try to not have any rules,
but that's generally how it comes out for me. It's
usually starts with the lyric and goes from there. Sometimes
melody sometimes not you know, or you know, charge of
starting it. But that's generally in my process.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Well, since this podcast is called taking a walk, I'd
be remissive I didn't ask you. So if you're in
the middle of that songwriting process, whether on your own
or with others, and you get stalled at any point
in time, do you go take a walk?
Speaker 4 (11:33):
I mean sometimes we do. I mean it's uh, I'm
pretty I like to just like literally walk.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Sometimes I just get up and be pacing around the
room and there's something about that that that I don't know,
it kind of shifts gears a little bit then, you know,
kind of sitting. So yeah, definitely, I mean we'll do that,
or sometimes we'll go at lunch or sometimes I just
come back to it, you know later, And a lot
of songs and now I'm not I'm not bashful about it.
(12:02):
Like a lot of times I get a song done
or a demo done, I'll listen to it and that'll
kind of be a little bit of a rough draft
and I'll do some change into it too, So I
definitely live with it.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
And literally taking a walk in the room sometimes helps you.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
And then also it must be fitting at times to
have some recordings from demos and pop it in while
you're in the car driving, right. I mean that must
be also helpful.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Absolutely absolutely, it's kind of it's it's I do it
all the time, you know. That's kind of what the
demos are for. You know, it's kind of to live
with them and h and.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Then something to share it with people, you know, when
they get to when they get to the right spot.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Typically you know, now there's like a work tape will
be what we kind of do in the room, even
if it's you know, pretty pretty produced because of how
people can you know, use it, you know, build make
music inside the box, so to speak.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
So we'll have that work tape.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And then we'll work on then we'll get a demo,
and then the demo we'll send out and then if
we decide to cut it, you know, we'll we'll track
that and get a master out of it. So yeah,
definitely a lot of a lot of hours of the
car passed by listen into two demos for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Do you ever reach a point where you go, man,
that's a stinker. I can't do anything with that, and
you just move on from it.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You know, I'm I'm lucky to get to write with
a bunch of really talented people.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
So you know, we we can.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Typically always build a house, you know, but it's like,
is it you know, is it a house you'd want
to live in?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
You know I'm talking about So.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Yeah, I mean sometimes, you know, I write a lot
of songs that get written and then that's it. And
and you know, sometimes that's uh, sometimes it's the idea
in the first place, wasn't you know, so I guess
say worth writing or didn't didn't produce some of the
court We just didn't do a great job with the
idea that day. So yeah, all the time, man, I
(13:52):
mean it's it's it's a hit up. You win some
you lose something for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
What's your memory of hearing for the first time one
of your songs on the radio?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, I remember, maybe not the first time I heard it,
you know, because you kind of sometimes you hear it
and then small town uh, and in the small town,
you know America, you'll hear you know, the song get
played on the on the radio station in town. But
I really like the first time I ever encountered my
saw sort of in the wild. I was in Vegas
(14:25):
and I was in an uber and uh, and the
lady had the radio on and and uh my song
came on and and I was like, man, that's gonna
sound weird, but that's me right there on the radio.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
And I don't know that she believed me, but uh,
but I do remember that I was in an uber
and Vegas.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
What song was that?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
It was? Pretty for you? It was yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Uh do you still like have goosebumps about that moment?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Man, it's pretty special, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I Uh, it's tough to kind of put everything in
perspective because at the time, you know, it's it, it's
h you know, it kind of happens and it and
he can just sort of wash over you a little bit.
But definitely it is. You know, I think back on
those moments and and how special that is, how special
that was, and uh, you know, the fact that you know,
people want to hear you know music, you know my
(15:14):
music at all, you know, is the reason I want
to start doing it.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
So it does give you that kind of goosebump moment. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
How great is it having someone like Barry Weiss who's
at the Helm of Records. Uh, you know, that's part
of guiding your career.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, man, I mean it's it's it's it's great to
have somebody believe in you and uh incited to a
record deal and then you have some success together. That's uh,
that's that's that's pretty special. That's what you want to
that's what you want to happen when you move to
town and and uh so you know, very grateful for
that opportunity and uh and excited to get some new
(15:52):
music out with them.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Uh here, actually pretty soon here What's today Tonight comes
out tonight? Uh uh breaking a boost?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
My next My next next singles out tonight, so should
be a fun ride again hopefully.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
And what other stuff are you working on after that single?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Man, I'm constantly writing. I've got another another five tracks cut.
I'm gonna go back in the studio here in November
and finish out, finish out a project. And I can't
wait to get that released out into the world because
I think it. I'm really proud of it. I'm proud
of the songs I've written for it. This is the
most personal stuff that I've done. You know, there was
(16:31):
a time when I had people, uh when I was
when I had people that thought they knew what was
best for me that I probably listened to too much.
I tried to steer what I do and tell me
who I am and what I should do. You know,
you make those kind of mistakes, and those are tough
mistakes to make. But I learned the less of that
that I'm gonna let. I'm gonna let what I think
(16:54):
is worth cutting be the be the funnel, and then
everybody else can have their opinions and not the other
way around. You know, I still want opinions from from folks,
but uh it has to uh. You know, at the
end of the day, the reason I love music is
because you know that kid that's sitting on the end
of his dorm room. Uh they bed in his dorm
learning how to play on the computer. Like the feeling
(17:15):
that my favorite songs gave me is what I'm chasing.
And if I don't get that feeling, then that that's
I'm in, that ceiling, that's the kind of business I'm in.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
And anything short of that, I'm not gonna do.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
What's some of the music from other folks that you're
listening to these days?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Oh man? You know, I I listened to that news
Zach Grive record.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I like it probably the best of anything that he's
put out. I've listened to Jason those Bowls of the Weather,
Van's record that's really grown on me. I mean I
liked it in the first place, but I find myself
going back to it. It's anytime whenever. Whenever he puts
out stuff, it's definitely worth worth a listen. I'm trying
to think of some there's there's been some great country
(17:57):
records that have that have dropped in some great songs,
and I'd have to look on my phone right now
of all that stuff. But I listened to quite a
bit of music and and all genres too. You know,
I love I love country music, but uh, you know
I I love I love all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
So I'm constantly looking for what's new and fresh.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
What would surprise your fans that you listen to that
maybe they wouldn't think you would.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Oh man, that's a good question.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I mean, on the way, I was dropping in Colorado
yesterday and we were listening to Guy Clark and we
were listening to JP Sacks and the same and Jerry
Jeff Walker all on the same playlist. And so I
think that James McMurtrie is one of my all time
favorites too. So you know, like those kind of uh,
those writers like that. I don't know if that surprise folks
(18:46):
all that much. I mean I thought this that last
Tennis Swift record, Midnights was was fantastic. I love that, Uh,
I love uh And Noah Khan stuff is this cool? Man,
It's it's uh, it's fun to see that, to see
that kind of organic thing popping his head out, and
so like I could, I could go on and on.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Man, I I'm a fan of all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
That's a that's a good window inside the depth of
your music with some of the stuff that you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, man, I mean I think, you know, especially in
this day and age, you know, we all kind of
grew up with with music at our fingertips and so
because because you you know, you can literally have every
song in the world with a president button, that generally
means that you're that you're genres or you know, people
may have a favorite genre, but they'll venture outside of
(19:36):
that for sure.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
What would you tell someone listening to this that's a
aspiring musician, that would be advice to keep them on
the long road.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Well, I would say that you know, a write songs,
if you love to write songs, write songs, you know,
you never know what's going to happen, but what it
does happened, you know, you have to learn how to
build that house. Like I was talking about before, you
got to learn the craft.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
And even if you are reinventing the craft, you know,
it's like you still you still have to kind of
you still have to know how it's done to make choices,
that know how things are done, to make choices to
do them differently.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So I would say, right as much as you can,
you know, I think, you know, from a pragmatic standpoint,
I think if you have dreams of playing music for
a living, if you have jade of writing music for
a living, that uh uh, you know you're gonna need
to keep your overhead low, you know, not making where
you don't live very expensive so you don't have to
(20:37):
uh you know, have stide hustles that take over and
become your main hustle and turn music into your side hustle.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
That's another like thing I think, Uh yeah, man, you
know there were times in my life.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Where where I didn't you know, no one knows what's
gonna happen, and I got extremely.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
Lucky, you know, you know, getting a record deal and
all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
But uh, you want to be ready for when that
stuff happens, and you want to get around other creating
people as well, like you get to get you around.
That's what the best part about Nashville is, UH is
that it's it's there's no place that that has this
uh concentration of musical talent, you know, per capita, whether
that's players, whether that's writers, especially writers, And so I
(21:23):
would say get around as many of those people as
you can because you're gonna.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Learn from each other.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
And I should have moved to Nashville sooner and I
would have gotten I would have benefited from it because
being around of the credit people, you're constantly propelling each
other to to get better and to and to do
the next the next cool thing.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
So those maybe a couple of things. But what do
I know?
Speaker 3 (21:44):
You know a lot in Nashville. There's some pretty incredible
venues that must be unbelievably energizing to play at. Uh.
What are you some of your favorite experiences from playing
at some of those legendary places?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Well, I mean playing the opery is is you know,
that's probably my best memory of one of my favorite memories.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I should say. You know, I'm from a town of
three hundred people.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Uh, and when I played the Opry, I mean most
of the town, people that had left Conway County, people
that hadn't left Arkansas, and who knows how long made
the trip to Nashville to see me play on the Opry.
And my you know, family from Texas and Florida, Carolina
is all over came and uh that was really special.
(22:33):
And uh now, uh, I don't know, man, it's just
that that that is the one of the memories that
sticks out for me the most. And I had my
had my mama, my grandmama was backstage and and uh
that was so fun and.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
And man it was it was really really cool.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Well, I want to close with this come back to
your medicine aspirations. We produced this other podcast and it's
called Music Save Me, and it's about the power of
music as a healing force and what it means to folks.
Do you think that music has healing therapeutic powers?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Well, I mean, you know, just coming from a from
my perspective, I would definitely say that yes, in a sense,
you know, like music. I think I think music enriches
life as much as it heals anything.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
It's it can definitely get your mind in the right
place in all those in all those different ways. But
uh so, I think it definitely has a role in
that way.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Well, I wish you well on all the future and
congratulations on all your successes. Matt Stell. It's awesome to
have you on Taking a Walk. I so appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Absolutely, buzz man. I appreciate you having me and I
hope we run into each other, so I hope so.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
We hope you enjoyed country music artist Matt Stell on
Taking a Walk. If you like this and other episodes,
leave us a review and share it with everyone. Find
Taking a Walk on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever
you get podcasts.
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