Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Smith.
Matthew, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Forgive me in advance if there are too many half-developed details in this brief summary of my life as a mixing engineer and musician. Growing up my dad worked the 3rd shift, and came home to work in his home studio late at night. I would always try to stay up late to watch the sessions when he would produce, mix, or record. Over the years, I developed a strong passion for music; listening to classic hip hop artists with my friends on the bus and dissecting the beats and lyrics trying to analyze the art of Hip-hop.
Before long I was writing my own songs, filling up notebook after notebook trying to emulate Nas or Jay-Z or any of the other great artists that I had been studying. My first performance was actually on the school bus on the way home from 5th or 6th grade. My bus driver must have noticed me writing on the bus and let me rap over the intercom. Little did he know that was a huge catalyst for my passion for becoming a recording and performing artist.
When I got to high school in Bloomington-Normal, IL, I was already known as “the kid that raps.” Every away game in football, basketball, or track season, I would lead the freestyle ciphers and battles on the bus. One of my football coaches – Coach Thomas – actually encouraged me and my godbrother – Jordan – to try out for the city-wide talent show. This would be my first time on stage. JB and I (with the help of our beatboxing buddy – Graham) ended up winning that talent show and affirming our path into rap and the performing arts. I went on to win two more talent shows during my time in high school, and JB and I were also hired by the school to produce a song and video for the culture club.
College became the training ground that would ultimately lead to my current business – MBG Studios. Since I couldn’t afford to pay for studio time in college, I learned how to mix and master my own music. I had some experience behind the boards from time spent with Sam Moses before we both left Illinois. Recalling the tips and tricks he taught me, I began to build on my skills as a mixing engineer. Not only was I able to engineer my own music, but I was also able to start charging other musicians from the comfort of my dorm room. This is where MixedByGramattyk was born. The highlight of my time in college was touring my junior year from Chicago to Fayetteville, KC, STL, etc. All the way to Miami, Florida. This tour showed me that my dreams were fully within reach. With the help of Teasley (who I once considered my competition, who later became one of my best friends and motivators in music) I was able to finally focus up and put out my first full-length project – “Efficiency.”
While working on my own music was always a passion, engineering music was a means for me to earn a living while exploring my love of music. Through my own musical journey, I met a number of artists who came to trust me with the quality of their art. Artists like Teasley, Rocky’Jay, Fuego Bentley, J.Rich, and Landalin (to name a few) helped me build the foundation of MBG Studios by allowing me to engineer the beginnings of their discographies. But in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown and the amount of civil injustice being spotlighted, I decided that I needed to use my talents, and gifts to pursue equality in my community through legal means.
I interned for Senator Jamilah Nasheed and then enrolled in law school at Mizzou in hopes that I would be able to change the world for the better. Though I still hold a heavy passion for fighting for people who are being oppressed, law school proved to be a bit ambitious of a switch. I could not hold my attention enough to stay in a library for hours a day, and found myself forming a podcast about culture, music, and current events. This drew me away from law school and back into the studio. This is what I consider to be my “Detour”
I moved to Nashville in 2019 to learn from some of the best studios and engineers that I could, but when Covid hit, it hit hardest at home for me and my fiance. Family members getting sick and hospitalized due to covid caused me and my now wife to move back to STL to be closer to family. The support of the artists that I work with and my family has allowed me to make the transition back relatively smooth. Since I have been working in the studio full time, I have decided to start releasing my own projects again at the close of this year.
Off of the success of albums like “Distance” by JayIII and “Underrated” by Rocky’Jay, I will be releasing “Detour” on my birthday (12/30) as a lead-up before “Efficiency II” sometime next year. Though I am excited to be releasing music again, my number one focus is building up MixedByGramattyk and MBG Studios to be one of the premier studios/mixing services in Missouri; providing an artist’s perspective to the otherwise technical job of audio engineering.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest struggles that I have run into have been due to multiple moves in a short period of time. It’s hard to build a business when you don’t lay a foundation. Being in Columbia, then STL, then back to Como, to Nashville, and back to STL again. all in consecutive years.
I don’t consider my career changes and forays into other interests as an obstacle or challenge, I consider it a “Detour.” I know that I’m blessed with a voice for a reason. It just took me some time to figure out exactly what that reason was.
Covid obviously slowed a lot down because for a while there were no live shows and artists weren’t trying to come to the studio. Not to mention that I had an uprooting due to family hospitalization from Covid. But I also know that there are other people who have been significantly less fortunate than me in this situation, so I can’t complain about how it has turned out so far for me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As far as my personal music, I write, produce, arrange, rap, sing, mix, master, do graphic/visual work, and distribute everything. I like to be very hands-on and I know my nature is very particular, so this is the best way for me to get exactly what I’m looking for.
But honestly out of everything I do musically, what I’m most proud of is being able to help other artists unlock their next level. The relationships I grow with the artists I’ve been working with turn into true friendships and they all know that I get as invested in their success as they are.
Being able to deep dive into what an artist can do to improve has been extremely rewarding for me as an engineer/producer 10 fold over anything I’ve done as a solo musician (I.e – Rocky’Jay). I think that this passion for the career of artists that I work with is something that makes me unique as a mixing engineer. MBG Studios is more than a place to cut a track, but a home for a creative to grow.
Any big plans?
The three biggest goals I have for 2022 as I continue to build momentum are to release a well-received project to follow my first mixtape “Efficiency”, build my mixing/studio business big enough to hire my first audio engineering intern/assistant, and (my lofty/dream goal) work with top tier talent from St. Louis and the MidWest like Smino and Tef Poe. That would be a dream come true type of year for me.
Pricing:
- $125/song – mixed and mastered
- $250/beat – exclusive license
- All rates are negotiable based on the volume of songs/beats
Contact Info:
- Email: Info@mixedbygramattyk.com
- Website: MixedbyGramattyk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedbygramattyk/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mixedbygramattyk/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MixdByGramattyk
Image Credits
AVP – Arty Vision Photography
