By day he’s Matt Macfarlane, a finance major at CU and the head of Leeds’ Music Industry Club. By night, he prefers to go by Matty Mac, his stage name as one of Colorado’s freshest new music acts. A day before he will perform at the Fox with Radical Something, Matty Mac took the time to sit down with the CUI‘s Kelly Baines to talk about his music industry mentors, his plans for a summer 2014 tour and a new mix tape on the horizon.
(Courtesy of Matty Mac)
CUI: How did you get started as a rapper?
Macfarlane: I kind of recognized that I loved music, and I loved business, so I wanted to be part of the music business. I figured I would just produce or something. So I started making some real basic beats on a program called Mixcraft, and my buddies started to rap over it. And then I figured I could do it, too, so I started rapping over beats and finding some more professional ones. From there, it took off.
You’ve opened for major artists like Logic, Tayyib Ali, Aer, Yonas, Action Bronson, Candyland, New Boyz, and Radical Something. How was that experience for you?
It’s a lot of fun. My first big show was with Logic, the summer after my freshman year. That was really a turning point for me, because it was their best show on that tour. I also got to open for Radical Something at the Troubadour in L.A., and that’s a really classic Hollywood venue. It’s fun that I can sell tickets easily and get on shows because of that.
Have any of those people continued to be an inspiration or mentor for you as you continue to grow as an artist?
I think Logic is my favorite, and the biggest out of those that I’ve played for. Other than that, Radical Something — we’re kind of friends now because of playing with them last year in the spring, in L.A., and now here at the Fox this week. So I would say Radical Something are the best friends, while Logic is the one I most revere.
How is it getting to perform at the Fox Theatre, as it’s so close to home?
The last show I did at the Fox wasn’t done right, so I’m hoping this show will be done better. I sold about 50 tickets, and other than that it was about 30 people in the crowd, so it wasn’t really a show. But it’s awesome. It was one of my goals coming up to CU among other reasons. I think it’s perfect; it’s the right size; everyone knows it and loves to go there. It’s the best place to perform. It’s right outside our front door.
What is your biggest goal as you continue your music career?
I kind of look at it as I have two more years of free time to do whatever I want, so I maybe want to hop on tour with someone this summer. That might be ambitious, but my goals have been broken before. Other than that, I want to use the next few years to my advantage. Maybe after this fall, I’ll take six months off and work on putting something out and making it big. I guess I just want to have things take off by the end of my two years left (in college).
After your show on Thursday, what other big things are in your future?
I’ll be releasing a mix tape probably a couple weeks after the show. It’s been ready since last spring, but we’ve just been fine tuning it and stuff. We’ll push the mix tape out to blogs and stuff for a month or so and also keep our eye out for shows.
Matty Mac plays at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3 at the Fox Theatre. Tickets are $12 in advance and are available here.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kelly Baines at Kelly.baines@colorado.edu.
