Finn Matthews is a 17 year old rising pop artist, who is about to take the music world by storm.
Mentored by Elijah Blake (Usher, Rihanna), Finn has been able to hone his craft and has since released two incredible tracks which are firmly on our ‘play on repeat’ playlist. ‘Half Hearted’ and ‘I Wrote A Love Song’ showcase two different sides to Finn, and capture the early infatuation of young love. His vocals are soulful and he demonstrates a maturity way beyond his young age.
Finn is set to be the name on everyone’s lips, so we recently caught up with him to discuss his new singles, working with Elijah Blake, live performances and more.
Hi Finn! Thank you for answering our questions today. Congratulations on the release of your latest tracks! Can you tell us a bit about both tracks?
‘Half Hearted’ is about someone not giving all of themselves to something. In the song, it’s talking about love, but the idea can be related to lots of things, like why would you do anything if you’re not going to give your best?
‘I Wrote A Love Song’ is just about reflecting on a relationship and thinking about the ups and the downs, and trying to work it out, because most of the time, things end for seemingly no reason just because people don’t want to talk about it honestly.
What was the creative process like?
Creating both songs was great. I always enjoy making music and these were no exception. On both of the songs, I was vocal produced by Mischke, who works with Britney Spears, so that was really cool. For ‘Half Hearted’, I went in with the producers, Sam Barsh and Charlie Bethel and worked on the track a bit and then cut the record a different day with Mischke.
You recorded an official video for ‘Half Hearted’ – what was that experience like?
It was the first real video I had shot, so I was nervous at first, but it ended up being much easier than I thought. My favorite part was performing the song to the camera. The cool thing about performing to the camera is how you are really performing to the viewers of the video. Overall, it was a great experience, and I can’t wait to do more.
You also recorded a video for ‘I Wrote A Love Song’, which was recently released exclusively for Amazon Music. How did the collaboration come about?
My management has a connection with Amazon, and when they sent them some of my music, they liked it and asked for me to be a part of their “Love Me Not” playlist for Valentine’s Day.
You play the piano in the video – can you play any other instruments, or would you like to learn any?
I play piano and guitar. I would really love to learn how to play the violin or cello, those are my favorite instruments to listen to for sure.
You’re mentored by Elijah Blake, who has written for Usher and Rihanna. What’s he like as a mentor?
As a mentor should be, he’s definitely hard on me, but in a good way. He’s helped me more than anyone else over the past nearly 8 years since I met him. Besides being a mentor, he’s also a brother to me. If I ever need anything, music-related or not, he will be the first to help me.
Is music something you’ve always wanted a career in?
Ever since I can remember, I loved music, but I didn’t know that I wanted to commit everything to music until I was about 9. That was about the time when other people started to notice my interest in music.
If you could pick anybody to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
I would love to collaborate with Ed Sheeran. I’ve always really connected with his music and he is undeniably an amazing songwriter.
1500 or Nothin’ is your backing band, and they’ve worked with Jay Z, Bruno Mars etc. What are they like to work with?
They are super chill to work with. They’re all amazing musicians, and they definitely helped me get more comfortable playing with a live band behind me. They gave me some good advice like how to stay on timing, or how to work with the microphone. I can’t wait to show what we’ve been working on!
What can we expect from your future live shows?
You can expect high energy things and lot of soul. I want my shows to be like this because that is what I like to see as a viewer.
What does the rest of the year have in store for Finn Matthews?
I’m working on lots of new records, new videos, and rehearsing for live shows at the moment. I’m really excited about everything. You can stay updated on what happening at my website finnmatthews.com or you can follow me @finnmatthews.
Thank you to Finn for his time! Keep up to date with him on Twitter and Facebook.
‘Half Hearted’ and ‘I Wrote A Love Song’ are available now.