Meet Matt Kelly
I always wanted to be a drummer, for whatever reason I never did and started playing guitar when I was 9 years old. It was a passive hobby at first. I took guitar lessons basically just to learn songs and nothing else. The lessons didn’t last long. As I got more into music, I would jam in friends garages and be a bit more free with it.
I stopped playing guitar when guitar hero came out – I think I was in grade 7 at the time. After about a year of that is when I started looking at music as more of a craft than a hobby. I got into Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Mayer. By the time highschool hit, I was hooked. I spent my evenings, weekends, and honestly some school days just playing guitar. The tipping point for me was John Mayer’s “Live in LA” – I was hooked. I just needed to know how to play every note.
I basically forgot school at this point. When it came time to apply to college, I could play “Live in LA” front to back, but didn’t have good enough grades to move onto Post-Secondary education. I ended up having to do an extra semester, but I still think it’s worth it.
While I was in university, I decided I wanted to write songs and sing. I had no idea how to do either so I just went for it. I would hit record on my phone and see what I had when I was done. As time went on, I decided I wanted to take this more seriously. I found a manager, started taking vocal classes and amercing myself into the scene.
From there it began to get more serious – I saw that there was a lot more to creating the art than just hitting record on my cell phone.
I don’t think that things worth doing will be a smooth road. There are always growing pains and lessons you learn in growing within an industry or craft.
The music business is different than anything I have been a part of. I think I came across the bad a bit early, but am starting to see that it’s just the people you surround yourself with that can fuel success in the industry.
Im a guitar player, singer, and songwriter. I am currently working on new music and the creative outlets that come with it – videos, photos, music etc.
Im most proud of the opportunities I’ve been lucky enough to have. Working with so many different people is the coolest part of it all. What sets me apart is a really difficult questions to answer – and honestly, I’m still figuring that out. I think what gets me into the door most times is my ability to play blues, and my persistence.
I think defining success is when you fall in love with the process of your craft. If you strictly focus on the end goal, and getting there is painful – it’s not for you. But when you can just work and not even realize the time passing, or the labour you put in is when you can define that term “success”
Criteria I like to focus on is constantly pushing yourself to do better than you previously did. Be ruthless about your time, and about pushing the limits of what you and the team around you wants to accomplish. To add, making sure you surround yourself with people just as hungry as you is possibly the most important.
