He’s already written songs for Ariana Grande and Charli XCX, but now it’s time for Matt Taylor to make his own mark. The 21-year-old Irish singer-songwriter released his brand new EP “Volatile” last week, a 5-track collection of pop songs which draw influences from Julia Michaels, Tove Stryke and Max Martin.
Here at CelebMix, we got the chance to talk to Matt about the new EP. Read on to find out more
Is there a running theme throughout the “Volatile” EP?
Not really to be honest, I just wanted to make a collection of some really catchy tunes, to hopefully get people excited for what we have in the future. I think my sound within pop is also quite broad, I wanted to make sure that was established before anyone tried to coup me up into a specific type of pop music!
What is your favourite song on the EP?
Ahhhh, it would have to be between “Volatile” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me”. I do love “Cut You Off” and “Body” but I just think there’s something really important about being venerable, which is far more present on the former. It’s all well and good singing about how much you’re over someone or how you don’t care anymore, but I don’t think it’s ever the truth, it definitely isn’t for me. My primary reason for writing is to communicate with someone, because I know that they’ll hear it. I find it really difficult to articulate a point to someone if I’m talking to them face to face, especially because if I like them, but it’s (obviously) so much easier to explain something when you have space from it. What I absolutely love about “Volatile” especially is that I get to admit that I f****d up a lot too, something I didn’t realise at the time so I never got to say it.
What was the inspiration behind your latest single “Body”?
To be honest, “Body” was an almost completely fictional situation lol, I met this girl, talked to her for about 2 weeks and she just went off with someone else, no biggie, just thought I’d get back at her by writing a song!
Is there going to be a music video for the song?
Ohhhhhhhh maybe… yes.
Speaking of music videos, what inspired the “Cut You Off” music video?
Honestly, I just think Ireland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, I love the outdoors and have always wanted to shoot a video there. It’s actually really funny because nobody ever believes me when I say THAT’S what Ireland looks like… when it’s sunny!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbMaZFi9pY8
What was the inspiration behind “Volatile”?
“Volatile” is essentially about a really unstable, almost toxic situation. I don’t really like going into too much detail about the songs, because as I mentioned earlier, it’s my way of communicating with someone so nobody else will understand alllll the ‘lil references that I left in there, but also just because I feel like they’re not exactly hard to understand. The one thing I will say is that there’s absolutely nothing but love there now, it was such a s****y situation but that was only because it’s what we made it.
How does it feel to have written songs that have been picked up by major popstars, such as Ariana Grande and Charli XCX?
It’s definitely reassuring, like even if they don’t end up going anywhere, to know that I was good enough to be a part of something like that in any way really encouraged me that people weren’t just gonna laugh at my songs when they came out!
What made you want to move to Brighton?
I grew up in the west of Ireland, where there’s not exactly a music scene so I always knew I’d have to move. I just came to visit Brighton once and fell in love with it, I’ve never see somewhere that is such a perfect blend of city and countryside. You can literally take the bus from the city centre and be out in the hills in about 15 minutes.
Do you miss Ireland?
YES! The Cadburys Dairy Milks aren’t the same over here, they’re weird and circular like.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Anything really (I know that’s the most generic answer ever). If I like the sound of something then I’ll want to incorporate it into my music, I think it’s so important in order to keep it interesting rather that it just being cookie cutter pop.
If you could collaborate with any music artist, who would it be and why?
Oh gosh… Lyrically, somebody like Julia Michaels, she’s just so good at writing conversationally but from a production point of view, I’d love to work with someone like Ian Kirkpatrick (who is just pop perfection at the moment) or EDEN (who is just so creative), I’d just like to watch and see how their brains work creatively.
What are some of your favourite songs at the moment?
Oh there are too many, I don’t really have a favourite song at the moment. I never get tired of listening to anything by Danny or LANY though.
We cannot get enough of the EP, do you have plans to release more music in the future?
YESSSSSS and I can not wait!! I have so much that I want to say and literally can’t stop writing at the moment, hopefully there will be something far sooner than you think…
We want to thank Matt for taking the time out to talk to us!
You can stream the “Volatile” EP below:
If you want to keep up with Matt, make sure to follow his social media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Let us know what your favourite song on the EP is over on Twitter @CelebMix!