Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Travers.
Matt, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was younger, my brother, Mawejje Kevin, introduced me to much of the music he was discovering at the time. My cousin and uncle also shared their libraries with me. This helped as far as exposure is concerned and music started clicking for me. Slowly, my interest grew to the point I wanted to make my own songs. I was fascinated by hip-hop mostly because of the feel, skills and message in the songs that was really relatable. These guys looked really cool too! Haha. I started writing short pieces which became more structured and eventually morphed into actual songs. In high school, I met other people with whom I shared love for the craft and even started a collective called ‘003’. Around 2016, I penned a few songs with intention of putting out an E.P but didn’t have access to a studio so I got a recorder lying at home, headed to a friend’s (Timothy’s) house with my brother and recorded the songs in the garage. I only shared them with my WhatsApp contacts. This gave me a bit of confidence though and I even got to perform for the first time ever at a show months later.
After this, I met a producer (The Silent Treatment) through Kevin and did a studio-quality recording of one of the songs I had written for the E.P. This again, I shared on WhatsApp only but later put it on streaming platforms. The title, ‘Corona’. 2017 was a really good year for me because the song got my name out there and I also featured on C.kayo’s ‘Paper Planes’. In 2020, I participated in the ‘A Ka Dope’ music contest in which I finished as a semifinalist, released a song and got to be mentored by Mun*G. He’s one of the more experienced artists from Uganda who’s seen success over the years. Together with other creatives (producers, artists, filmmakers, etc.), we began a movement called the ‘New Wave UG’ which provides platforms, such as the currently running RnB show ‘Livescape’, for the scene to evolve and accommodate unique talents worthy of the world’s attention. Earlier in 2022, I took part in the MTN Pulse Cypher challenge and finished in the top 5 and as the winners, we had the opportunity to make a song produced by Benon Mugumbya, who’s worked with many great acts from Azawi to Kanye West.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s honestly not been entirely struggle-free doing music. For an independent artist like myself, it’s usually difficult or expensive to get a hold of resources that could be important to my process. Overcoming stereotypes is another challenge I’ve faced especially coming from my area because some people already have a negative bias against me doing music and worse still, the genre I focus on. Monetization in the home industry is a bit tricky too and yet I’d love to be able to invest back finances into the music to grow the brand in certain ways. Balancing school with the music has been a challenge at times because they can both be demanding at any moment.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m primarily an artist but I do music production and a bit of mix engineering as well. I think if you’ve heard the phrase “Who got the juice?” my name wasn’t far off from the discussion, haha! My strengths are hip hop, RnB and soul music though I’ve experimented into other genres too. My lyrics are filled with double entendres, personal but relatable experiences and truth. From the feedback I’ve received, I can say my delivery is quite unique in comparison to others’. The way I fuse different characters into my work also sets me apart. I recently started production and engineering but I pride in knowing that I put quality above everything.
What does success mean to you?
To me, success is touching someone out there, fan or not, and inspiring them positively. I hear people always saying that music saved their lives so if I can do that for someone and make money off doing that, I’m good.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/matttravers
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lordthiko?igshid=dylq8fekx89c
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matttravers256/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattTravers256?s=08
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC26DsMYYg3a5csk4BnIjIUw
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/matttravers256
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Q0xAoh0K9gSozTQu6sDBY
