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A Dirty Dozen with MAT MADIRO of FROM ASHES TO NEW – November 2020

| 1 December 2020 | Reply

 

According to a recent press release: “From Ashes to New releases a new video for their 2018 song “Broken,” featured on the upcoming Sno Babies film and soundtrack. The song conveys a message of perseverance and believing in yourself when others try to push you down, a message close to the band’s heart and close to the message of the film, available on demand 9/29/2020. The “Broken” video includes footage from the highly anticipated film. From Ashes to New frontman Matt Brandyberry’s own experiences with addiction make the video even more powerful. He expresses, “It was a great opportunity and made perfect sense given my track record with 4 years of sobriety and my personal battles with my own addiction. The band as a whole have always been advocates for people who have faced down their demons and overcome great odds. Recovery is a rough journey and we want our fans to know that we support them.” We get the drummer Mat to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Our latest album Panic we wanted to get a bit more real lyrically. We really wanted the listener to understand what we’re going through, but for us to be able to relate that we understand what they may be going through. We got extremely real with the lyrics. The bands previous records we’re about overcoming your obstacles and always looking for the positive, because that’s who we are as individuals, but we had something inside of us that also needed to be released and honestly, we felt the same for our fans. We interact a lot with our fans and we hear their stories, what the tell us and understand how they feel. As much as this album was a release for us emotionally with the lyrics it was something, we wanted our fans to truly feel as well. To be able to scream out themselves and feel like they were almost there when we wrote the songs. We also took it back to our roots musically. We wanted to mix the original sound that inspired the start of the band with the current that inspires the band. We also just wanted to have more attitude on this record and be a lot more “in your face”. We’re being real with these lyrics, it felt like it needed that heaviness to go with it musically. There aren’t really any hidden things within the songs. We were being super transparent on this one and that really was the point from start to finish. Only things are little inside jokes that may whisper underneath a line that you’ll never hear that we know, or I believe in one song a microwave timer went off during a take and we left it in there haha. But nothing for listeners to source out even though I love when artists do things like that, such as Twenty-One Pilots. They’re amazing with that stuff!

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My dad played drums since he was young, so I was introduced to music, especially live music, before I was born. Apparently, music was one of the only things that kept me calm or still. Watching my dad play drums since I was an infant inspired me a ton! He is absolutely what put me behind the drums and to be inspired to get into music. As for when I “knew” that’s what I wanted to do, I don’t think I ever really had an exact moment, I just feel like it was always there. Like most kids I was thinking the athlete route, being a professional football player, but my reality was always music where football was kind of more a fantasy. I knew which one I was better at haha. I did get a lot more serious about drumming/music in High School and had to quit sports due to injuries, so it honestly worked out perfectly.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I grew up listening to a bit of everything. I’ve always been really into all types of music, from Country to Metal. Growing up in the 90’s the Pop/Hip-Hop scene was definitely a huge home for me. That was definitely something I rocked pretty heavy. My cousin was the one who got me into Slipknot which introduced me into the Metal world a lot further, but my main genre was still the Hip-Hop/Pop world. That’s what felt like “my genre.” It wasn’t until I was introduced to Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory album that it felt like I finally found the sound I was looking for. Linking Park became a HUGE inspiration to me and inspired me to want to dive into music even further. That band and their first two albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora were huge parts of my life and still are. They bring back nostalgia from when I was a kid, but still inspire me today as a musician. The blend of genres that I listen to helped give me a diverse taste, but Linkin Park to me, made it possible to blend genres and push boundaries but brought it all together, so I give it up to them.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

I never really have set favorites or people who are my “mains” because there’s so much that inspires me, but as of lately some of my biggest are Machine Gun Kelly, Travis Barker, Bring Me the Horizon, Linkin Park, Justin Bieber and Post Malone to give some.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

There’s a ton of people I would love to work with, personally. To go off the last question it’s hard to have that “ONE” person, but for our sound and what we do, my pick would-be Machine Gun Kelly. He’s killing it with what he’s doing. He’s an artist and whatever genre he wants to be and rocks all of them and I appreciate the hell out of that! I think a collab with him would be super dope. I know him and his whole team are extremely talented and make some seriously dope tracks. So, having him on a song would be super dope in my opinion!

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

It’s kind of hard to find a label for us that doesn’t “label” us if that makes sense. We don’t really stick to just one sound or influence on any record. We’re classified as a Rock group but also do hip-hop and hip-hop/pop influenced production. We’re a band that dabbles into a bit of it all, but you could consider us an Alternative Rock, rap rock, hip-hop influenced band even though I don’t love the taste “rap rock” gives most listeners when you explain it that way. I think when people label us Nu-Metal it’s a stretch. I’m sure there’s elements within our music that is similar, but I feel that Nu-Metal is more of dated label for something that was happening late 90’s – early 2000’s.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

I’m definitely the one to get the drinks in haha. Danny is actually a pretty good cook, so he’s more of the cook. No one’s really the bust out the guitar guy, but we’re a bit all the throw on some messed up song that was remixed and get everyone laughing. Or for me it’s some stupid things like “Shitty Flute” first thing in the morning to wake everyone up.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

The closest to that would have been doing a festival in Switzerland with my previous band, being side stage watching Bring Me the Horizon standing next to Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park for a few songs. Then that night after they headlined walking back toward the bus being right next to Chester Bennington walking from stage into the vans to take them back to the hotel. The whole situation was surreal. Being in a different country, playing the same stage as Linkin Park, getting to watch Linkin Park live and being able to stand next to them like it was an everyday thing. That was definitely something I look back on a lot. In the moment it was just another day on tour, but I definitely took that one in the most.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Best part is being able to do what I love as my career. There’s nothing that really compares to that for me. Living my passion every day and fulfilling a childhood goal of mine little by little every day is amazing! There’s nothing else I would want to do than music.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I don’t really have a question that I’ve been hoping to answer or have any ask. I also don’t have any questions I’m tired of answering, but maybe give that some time haha. Who knows, that may change with a ton more interviews.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Never. Everything has been a learning lesson and lead to something amazing in some way or another. There’s things I’ve learned that I can do better or be better with and how to make sure I don’t repeat the same mistakes, but life is all about learning and growing and I try not to live in a negative past, but to grow from them and learn how to make it better for my next step.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. Because that album pulled everything together for me musically. It pulled all my favorite genres into one place and to see the band that started such a huge sound make that sound would be insane. Bonus one, gotta throw it back to Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP.  He was a massive influence to my hip-hop side of things and an artist I listened to constantly growing up.

BONUS QUESTION – Due to the current world situation with COVID-19 / quarantine / shelter in place, what have you discovered you miss the most from your life before the pandemic struck?

Being able to live my life. Straight up. I miss so much, from playing shows, to being able to be with fans and friends, touring, being able to make money doing what I love. Things aren’t easy right now and entertainment industry probably has it the worst if not the music industry. We can’t do anything until these bans are lifted and who knows how it will be when they are. I miss life! This doesn’t feel like much of living right now and I can’t wait to connect with everyone in these crowds and bash my drums again for as many people as possible.

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Category: Interviews

About the Author ()

ToddStar - that's me... just a rocking accountant who had dreams of being a rock star. I get to do the next best thing to rocking the globe - I get to take pictures of the lucky ones that do. I love to shoot all genres of music and different types of performers. If it is related to music, I love to photograph it. I get to shoot and hang with not only some of my friends and idols, but some of the coolest people around today.

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