If you haven’t read our Top 50 songs of 2023 piece yet, we included a track from none other than KILLMATTER. This artist emerged from the shadows and already has made a strong mark within the underground. His highly skilled and colorful techniques have blown away listeners all over. His works have truly been a breath of fresh air and continue to honor electronic music as a whole in the best ways. There’s so much going on in his music but he manages to make it all come together in a suave and sophisticated fashion. His take on the breakbeat genre while taking inspiration from others will fill you with inspiration and glee. From stellar eye-opening singles, and ecstatic flips to his brand new debut EP, DON’T EAT THE FRUIT, believe us when we say this artist is next up!
He’s taking no prisoners and we guarantee he’s going to have a successful and wonderful year. And it’s with our great honor and pleasure to welcome him with his very own guest mix and interview! We’ll dive down to the origins of his story while his hypnotic mix will leave you nothing but satisfied. So don’t sleep because this mix is going to blow your mind. The future is looking quite bright for him and this style of music.
First off thank you so much for taking the time for this interview! How’re you doing?
Good! Appreciate you all reaching out! It’s an honor to do a mix for the FUXWITHIT fam. And just finally getting a chance to finish some other projects now that the EP is done, keeping healthy, working hard.
What can listeners expect when diving into this wild journey?
For anyone familiar with my work this mix will feel like a follow-up to my showcase mix I put out last year, with the addition of some unreleased music from me, my friends, and peers. Naturally, I also had to add some of the classic KILLMATTER tropes like the vhs tape cuts and dialogue throughout. Listeners can also expect to hear about 9 unreleased tracks/demos from me as well. If you are unfamiliar with my tunes, this will be a good introduction as to what style represents me best.
The KILLMATTER project has shown such incredible growth and evolution, what’re the origins of the name and the project overall?
The name was something I toyed with when I had first started making music years ago. Was always inspired by names like Ghostface Killah/Rage Against the Machine. My first name is Matthew so it was sort of a play off that. Originally KILLMATTER was a side project where I wanted to try to combine my music with the feeling of flipping through an endless amount of tv channels. My first 2 singles under KILLMATTER (‘VHS1/X-BEATRADIO’) are actually a weird mess of exactly that, using a lot of random footage I found to try to create some sort of narrative. As the project progressed I started to make it all feel cohesive and made the intention to use footage and dialogue that coincided with my music and the messaging.
I think most of my affinity for music comes from my mom though, she was adamant about introducing me to all kinds of music as a kid.
Are you the creative person in the family or do you have other members on the artistic side?
My mom was actually a dancer when she was a kid and my dad sang/played guitar. My uncle is also a painter and my grandfather on my dad’s side played French horn in a jazz band for a long time. I think most of my affinity for music comes from my mom though, she was adamant about introducing me to all kinds of music as a kid.
Your style has been nothing but consistent and eye-opening. Each one of your pieces contains so much crisp detail and switch-ups. Where do you get your inspiration?
As a kid my mom worked a lot, so I spent a lot of time on my own which sort of led me to television, video games, and early internet days of skate videos and CKY/Wildboyz insanity. I think a lot of inspiration comes from growing up and hearing all types of music in the media I ingested. In terms of my writing, I think a lot of it comes from my own fascination with TV/movies and more specifically storytelling. Production wise the big names like Skrillex, Noisia, Joyryde were eye-opening to me on what is possible with EDM and music in general for me. But I think it was guys like X&G and Nitepunk who opened my eyes to the potential of drum-oriented bass music and how I could fit into that. Most of my introduction to drum-heavy music within the electronic scene was Monkey Boy Breaks, Dreamcast era music, and The Prodigy. Hearing the way Nitepunk and X&G intertwined bass music with the music I loved as a kid blew my mind. As a lyricist, it also had me wildly excited for the potential of those types of productions with lyrics.
Congratulations on your debut EP! How long has it been in the works? What was the major goal behind it all?
Thank you so much and much love to the FUXWITHIT fam for showing the continued support on it, it’s been beyond cool. Incidentally, that EP had not been in the works that long. The oldest track on there was ‘Soaked In Wolfblood’ which was made about a year ago but most of those tracks I made months, some even weeks before the release. I think the biggest goal of this EP was to get a collection of works out that represented the current me and where I’m at mentally right now. I didn’t shop it to any labels, so I had more ability to dictate what I wanted on the EP, the track listing, lyrical content, etc. I had never actually done an EP like this before, even under other aliases, so it was honestly a great learning experience.
I just kept writing every day last year, notes and notes of random stuff until I felt ready to put it fully into my music.
We noticed you write and perform all your own vocals! So stellar. Tell us about that. How does that add to your overall process and writing formula?
Appreciate that a ton! I’m glad people dig it all to be honest. I have always written lyrics and for a long time did production for other people, while recommending lyrics to them on the side. On other projects, I occasionally added my vocals in as samples but for KILLMATTER I sort of knew out the gates that I wanted to do lyrically heavy music. ‘X-BEAT radio’ was the first time I tried it, and that was a great learning experience on how I could improve my lyrics within the context of EDM. Eventually I wrote ‘NITRO BURNOUT’ and the reaction to it made me feel like “yeah, this is some shit I can actually do” so I just kept writing every day last year, notes and notes of random stuff until I felt ready to put it fully into my music. In terms of my formula, I now write my instrumentals based on an idea as opposed to just throwing stuff at the wall like I used to, or making just a drop. Now, I tend to find a topic of interest and just dive into it. A lot of the time I end the track ends up being something I didn’t originally intend.
What are your top 5 production tools you always find yourself coming back to? Any favorite vst’s?
I don’t think many people would be surprised to know that a ton of my music is sample based. I endlessly dig through forums and dj tools for drums or vocal samples. I have had no proper training and learned entirely from YouTube/trial and error so grain of salt to any of my advice. In terms of VST’s I obviously am a nerd for Antares just because I add a lot of effects to my vocals. Detuned vocal stacks are my jam. Serum is great for creating basslines, but the majority of the grit comes from the post effects like heavy distortion, detuning, and very specific eq placements. I’m on ableton and I am 100% a stock plugin advocate. I use heavy amps on everything, heavy distortion on everything, and glue compress like a mad man. I’ve been asked a few times (I think there might be a few reddits on it now lol) how I make my bass lines sound how they do. The trick to most of my basslines is that I stack and detune. I typically will take one bassline and stack it, sometimes even several times, and detune it like crazy with complex mode. I go a little insane with this, playing with formants, and a lot of the time it sounds horrible until it eventually doesn’t. I do it entirely by ear until it starts to sound like one singular sound. A little width, sidechain to the drum, you are good to go.
What kind of music were you listening to growing up?
Growing up my mom used to take me to the Barnes and Noble up the street from our house where she could work/read in the cafe area and I could go to the CD section and get totally lost in that world. The first 3 CDs I remember my mom getting me were 36 Chambers by Wu Tang Clan, Demon Days by Gorillaz, and Re: Animation by Linkin Park. Admittedly, my kid brain picked out those albums based solely on the covers at that time, but those albums ended up being what I pull from the most now. My earliest memory of being actually inspired to make music was playing JSRF on my friend’s Xbox when I was a kid. The music from that game blew my mind, I had no understanding as to how that could possibly be made, I was just used to seeing guitars and hearing people sing. That game soundtrack made a huge impact on me.
There is so much potential still within electronic music and I think we are just barely scratching the surface. I’m excited to keep exploring it all.
Where can you see the KILLMATTER project in a few years?
In a few years, I see the project reaching enough commercial success to enable me to have the luxury of creating 24/7. That means a steady release schedule, constantly trying new creative things, making affordable shows, and making affordable merchandise. All the while still making the art new, fun, meaningful, and accessible to everyone. I’d like to work with a multitude of incredibly talented people, and keep discovering new underground talent that can help progress the scene forward and not just rehash it to death. There is so much potential still within electronic music and I think we are just barely scratching the surface. I’m excited to keep exploring it all.
Do you have any interests or hobbies you like to immerse yourself in outside the music spectrum?
I find so much joy in doing creative stuff that usually when I’m not making music I’m trying to write or create something else. That could be a script or visualizer or short story or something random like that. I have to force myself to stop, get some exercise, and smell actual fresh air. I grew up surfing/skating, playing basketball, and tennis so I like to include some of that stuff into my day-to-day life as well. It is wildly important to be in nature as well, I’ve learned that as I got older, especially as the digital world becomes increasingly pushed. So I at least try to get outside multiple times a day to reconnect with the real world and ground myself a bit. Most of the time I find myself doing some sort of writing to some degree wherever I am and whatever I am doing.
If you could travel back in time, what year or environment would you go to and why?
That’s a tough question but honestly I would hit up the 90s just because all my favorite artists were coming up at that time. I always viewed the 90s as a time where creative spaces became less closed and different cultures were being introduced on a commercial scale. If I did go back I would have made sure I went to the Source Awards 95 and saw that piece of music history in real time. Also would have immediately gone to a Wu-Tang show with ODB before his passing, that seems like a must for me. Also Hulk Hogan WCW are you kidding me, brother? For sure 90s.
Stay sober, remain motivated, love yourself, don’t compare yourself, your friends are not all your friends, trust your voice, know your value.
If you could bestow some advice to your younger self, what would you tell him?
Stay sober, remain motivated, love yourself, don’t compare yourself, your friends are not all your friends, trust your voice, know your value.
Your artistic vision is truly strong and alive. What fuels your perseverance and overall dedication to put so much into it?
I think it’s almost a form of therapy for me. I think it reminds me of pieces of me that I’ve lost over time, which I think a lot of artists can relate to. I focus heavily on vision and dedicate so much time to that vision because the artists I respect and look up to do the same. For a long time I got caught up in numbers, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that the mentality of just challenging yourself to always improve, learn, and strive to do something new and innovative is more important than the numbers or result. At the end of the day music is supposed to be fun and keeping that in mind helps me stay dedicated and motivated.
Thank you again for joining us! Any final words for our readers and listeners out there?
Thank you so much for having me, it’s been a blessing having the support. Only thing I gotta say is shout out to everyone who has stuck with me through all my projects including this one. I’ve been through so many times in the past years where I wasn’t sure if music was meant for me at all but every time I started to genuinely give up someone would reach out with encouragement. That means everything to me, thank you. No plans to slow down now, tons more music this year, and some special announcements later in the year be on the lookout! Much love to the FUXWITHIT fam, thank you again for having me.
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