In this interview spotlight, we chat with Pittsburgh based musician and songwriter Matt Ferree about this new release, his influences, navigating this digitized music age and much more.

Links along with the full Q&A and streams of Matt’s music can be found below.

https://soundcloud.com/matt-ferree/this-one?in=matt-ferree/sets/original-music

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

I’m originally from a small rural area outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To give you an idea of how rural, I had to get in the car if I wanted to go to my closest neighbor’s house. The type of music I create has recently been changing quite a bit. For most of my life I have been writing indie rock/folk rock stuff, primarily with my trusty acoustic guitar. However after being inspired by some great friends of mine, I have recently started producing dance pop, EDM and even some hip-hop. I hung up the ol’ acoustic and dusted off Ableton Live just a few months ago, and have been working hard to catch up to other producers.

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?

The first thing that got me very serious about music was musical theatre. I did my first show in 6th grade, and since then I have been in over 30 shows between 2006 and now. Along with theatre, I’ve been involved in chamber choirs, a cappella groups, rock bands and performing as a solo act. I was never 100% sure I wanted to do music professionally until I visited Berklee College of Music. It was extremely inspiring, and once I got accepted I immediately stopped looking at other schools. I’ve been living in LA for a few weeks now, and it definitely is challenging feeling like such a small fish in the biggest of ponds. However my friends and family have shown me an unquantifiable amount of support, which makes it very easy to remain inspired instead of intimidated.

Who or what are your biggest influences when it comes to your creativity?

The first band I ever became a diehard fan of was Guster, who has gone from an acoustic trio to an indie pop band over the past 20 years. When I started focusing on songwriting, I began listening to a lot of Mumford and Sons, and over the years my style has been greatly influenced by Twenty One Pilots (my all time favorite band), Walk The Moon, and more recently Blackbear, The Chainsmokers, and Quinn XCII.

How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?

This song was co-written by my producer, Anthony Resta (this guy’s a legend), and me, which is very exciting for me as this is the first co-write we’ve released together.

Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?

Technology has definitely been playing a large role in shaping the way the industry works today – not just recording artists, but producers, publishers, lawyers, A&R, and more. Publishing, licensing, record companies and streaming services are all scrambling to try and figure out the best way to keep up with the crazy technological advances we have made in the past 15 years. One of the benefits that I notice as an indie artist is that record deals are becoming less and less relevant. Labels have massive networks and are able to set artists up with state of the art equipment and fantastic musicians and engineers. Before the MP3 was invented and record sales began to plummet, labels were almost the only way to become successful, because the labels had massive distribution infrastructures. Now that its as simple as paying CDBaby 20 bucks to get your music on nearly every streaming service, it is less and less enticing to sign up with a label – especially considering that the label may want as much as 96% of your record sales and streaming revenue. With a bit of creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset, being a successful indie artist is possible – not easy, but being possible is way better than the way it was 30 years ago.

How do you feel about streaming services? Any romantic attachments to the physical formats: vinyl, 8-track, cassettes, CDs?

Streaming is a very new concept when compared to the lifetime of the music industry. We all know that artists aren’t making nearly as much as they should be off of these services, but at the same time it makes being a DIY musician much easier. A large number of artists make their break through services such as SoundCloud or YouTube. Streaming services are great ways to instantly make your music accessible to the world, but definitely don’t count on it to pay the bills.

Where can we follow you online and hear more music?

Checkout more of my original music at SoundCloud.com/matt-ferree, and follow me so you know when I release more music! Lots of new stuff will be coming soon, from hip-hop to future bass to singer/songwriter. Also check out my Instagram (@mattferreemusic) to see what I’m up to in California, or just to chat!

Anything else before we sign off?

Don’t forget to vote!