Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with London’s Matthew Little. Together we discussed how songwriting can be a form of therapy, their creative process, emotions, and their upcoming single “Replaceable” that comes out tomorrow!
You can pre-save “Replaceable” here
1. Before we begin, Mustard would like to thank you for joining them! How are you doing?
It’s a pleasure to be joining you! I’ve always been a big fan of the condiment and I’ve been following your progress as the musical condiment for quite a while!
2. Songwriting is a form of therapy for you. Could you share how songwriting helps you? Do you have any tips for those trying to find their own forms of therapy?
Of Course! For me, songwriting just gives me an outlet to vent out my frustration/sadness at situations and events through the creative process, rather than taking it out on the people I care about. Originally being quite a quiet individual, I found music was a great way to communicate how you’re feeling, even if you can’t always get the words out normally. It’s always good to have outlets to take out your mental frustration, whether that’s through hobbies, exercise, creativity etc, I think it’s a good idea to be open to new experiences, they could be the difference maker over time!
3. Could you describe your creative process?
As a singer-songwriter/producer, I’m pretty much the sole person involved in the entire process! The majority of my lyrics are based on my personal experiences and feelings, so I’ll take some time out during days where I’m not feeling mentally my strongest, jump on my notes app and just write down everything I’m feeling in an unfiltered way. Then a couple days or so later, I’ll look over it like a puzzle and start rearranging different parts alongside playing my guitar. As an artist from an acoustic background, a lot of my writing and melody begins with a single voice and instrument, and then over time during the production of the song, I add synth layers and other instruments, as well as a multitude of harmonies. I can get quite obsessive with harmonies and sometimes there can be other 50 tracks of harmonies!!
4. 10:15 is your latest single. What is the significance of this time?
10:15 is based on the feelings of anxiety and worry when beginning to date someone new. In regards to the time ‘10:15’, it ends the lyric ‘coz you said you’d leave at a quarter to 3,but it’s 10:15 and you’re here with me’, and this basically relates to how we as people manually try to push out negative thoughts thinking they will leave, but in reality they never leave when you want them to.
5. Mustard wonders who (or what) inspires you.
I’m inspired by many things and people to be honest, for example, musically I’ve always been inspired by artists like Ed Sheeran and John Mayer, when i first started learning guitar. Then having built up more proficiency on some more instruments, I started to get strongly influenced by artists who take a lead/involvement in the production of their music, such as Charlie Puth, Lauv, Jeremy Zucker and many more! I’m always heavily inspired and calmed by places of nature, such as parks or reserves – I find I do my best writing when my mind is in a calm state, and these are the best places for me to achieve that state of mind!
6. Sadness is a common human emotion. Your music, such as your song, “Fade Away” with Eloise Kate articulates that sadness. For those who may not be comfortable showing these emotions, what advice would you give them?
It can always be tough to convey when as a person we are feeling upset, especially in a time through the many lock-downs worldwide, and the constant need to be seen as being ‘strong’ all the time. It’s important for everyone to realize that feeling sad or down is a reasonable and expected thing and should never be something to be ashamed of, or embarrassed about. As someone who has struggled with this a lot in the past, it was always something I looked to learn about. By being comfortable with who you are as a person, you begin to feel more comfortable with being in your own skin and start embracing the emotions you feel. I can’t sit here and say I’m perfect at this, I still have my tough days but it’s something I’ve really been trying to work on!
6. How has social media helped you as an artist? What advice would you give to artists looking to join platforms such as TikTok?
Social Media (no matter how much we vilify it) is such an important thing for an independent artist, and it can get overwhelming to have to constantly post and market yourself 24/7. For me, I use my TikTok as a more personal approach to ‘marketing’. For me, I use TikTok as a ‘document my life’ style of social media, as I feel sometimes with musicians there’s often a gap from between the initial song idea and the finished product, I try to involve my fans throughout the whole process, as it makes them feel more involved in the songs creation, rather than being subjected to a ‘I have a new song out soon’ when no’one has any idea of the meaning or the effort it took to get to that stage. I’ve found social media (TikTok especially) has really helped me confidence wise, in regards to putting myself out there, and not being afraid to talk about how i feel on particular days, as well as giving me multiple opportunities to connect with my fans. My advice would be to put your authentic self out there, don’t be afraid of being yourself online, you’ll find that more people will relate and connect with you because you’re not pretending to be someone you’re not!
7. Your next single “Replaceable” comes out May 27th. What can readers and listeners expect from this single?
You can expect another sad bop yet again hahaha!!! ‘Replaceable’ was created a day or two after finding out my girlfriend at the time had cheated on me, and it conveys the confusion and surrealness I was feeling at the time of everything happening. It’s always tough to deal with something like this, and I’m very lucky to have learnt that writing music is a good way of dealing with sad times in my life. It’s probably up there as one of my most intimate and raw songs I’ve written, and I feel it correctly reflects how I was feeling during that time. Musically, it’s an acoustic guitar bop, with multiple layers of harmonies, synths and a free atmospheric guitar melodies thrown in as well! The perfect song for watching the sunset, or if you just generally need a good cry! It’s obviously a sad event to have to deal with mentally and physically, but I can take solace knowing that these tough events in life are what motivate me to work even harder and write even more music!
8. Mustard discovered other Matthew Little’s that also make music. Have you met these individuals with your same name?
I was actually incredibly surprised when I saw musicians with identical names, having never met anybody with my name before ever! Sadly, most of these guys live in the USA, whilst I am based in London, UK, but I have been able to connect with some of them on social media! There is a really talented keys player called ‘Matt Little’ and we’ve been keeping up with each other’s progress in music! I guess I’m super lucky to be associated with other musicians who are so talented, never mind with the same name as well!
9. Where can readers (and listeners) find your music?
You can find all my music on all streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Deezer e.t.c, by searching ‘Matthew Little’! I’m looking forward to getting to connect with your readers and listeners, and very excited for what the future has to come with my music!
Music Shelf With Mustard 