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Is Matthew Koma The Busiest Man In Music?

Find out more about the singer-songwriter-DJ-producer-the-list-is-endless here...

New York native Matthew Koma is asongwriter and vocalist to the biggest names in dance (let's just throw Tiësto, Sebastian Ingrosso and Zedd out there), the biggest names in pop (let's throw Kelly Clarkson, Carly Rae Jepsen and Britney Spears out there too),and add the fact that he'sa touring DJ and solo artist in his own right, hejust might be the busiest man in music right now.

We chat to the multi-talented star on becoming the "Voice of EDM",working with Springsteenandencouraging Hilary Duff to always swipe right...

MTV UK: Where did it all begin? When was the moment you started making music and when you thought it could be a career?

Matthew: “I was born into a really musical household. My parents are both musicians, my brother plays drums, so music was kind of the language we always spoke from, My brother, growing up and playing in a lot of hardcore bands and being exposed to that scene early on and my parent’s introducing us to a lot of traditional singer-songwriter records growing up.

“Pretty early on I got a guitar and opted to play with that more than any sort of toys I think normal kids were doing at four, five , six and yeah it just kind of chose me in a cheesy way. It was always the trajectory and I was really fortunate to make that transition from it being something I enjoy doing to it being something that became a career.

I don’t think it was ever conscious decision that “oh, I could do this to make money or I could do this to make it my career path or choice,” it just went that way. I think when you love music you don’t really have that choice, it’s just something you do and if it’s hand-to-mouth, or if you’re able to make a living doing it, either way you’re doing it.”

MTV UK: You’re becoming known as the “Voice of EDM”, what was the one moment that set you off working with the likes of Zedd etc.

M: “It’s always funny to hear that because I still, I never have and I still don’t really consider myself a singer, I’ve always sang to deliver songs I wrote. I’ve always been a songwriter. Lyrics have been important to me, melodies have been important to me, my voice has almost been a tool to deliver those things.

“In working with a lot of those guys I think what was unique about the relationships and the collaborations was, because I come from a very traditional background in listening to Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Bruce Springsteen, The Storytellers and writing those kinds of songs, historically for myself, pairing those with productions that were a bit different sonically than you would typically hear those songs in the context of, made for sort of a unique lane and I think that’s why it became something that worked for guys like Zedd and his record and Alesso and starting off a lot of those guys’ careers, because I think they were just unique combinations and it’s been exciting because there I think from there we’ve been able to push those boundaries more and more.”

MTV UK: So you’re on a tour and hitting Ministry tonight – that’s a DJ set right? How long have you been doing that and tell us about the set up now – do you DJ and sing live?

M: “It’s always different, I’ve been touring since I was 17 years old and it’s always been, sort of similar to the singing thing, like there’s different ways to deliver songs. Sometimes it’s showing up at 1:30 in the morning and doing a DJ set and that’s a way to deliver your songs to an audience, other times it’s grabbing your acoustic guitar and being able to play an intimate room.

“Other times it’s, you know we were in London last September doing the iTunes Festival, and that was more of a hybrid DJ and band set so it’s always determined by the platform and venue I’m playing to. I like to be able to tweak the show to be appropriate to whatever it is were a part of, be it an electronic festival, or…we just did Coachella and that was a DJ set but I still grabbed the mic and sang a couple of songs so it totally depends.”

MTV UK: It must be nice to be so versatile?

M: “It’s fun it just keeps it open, for a performer it keeps it more interesting because you’re always challenged to change the show or to do something different.”

MTV UK: Have you always been into DJing or is it a recent thing?

M: “Yeah, it’s funny it always lived as this separate thing from the songwriter part of it because until the last couple of years these kind of songs didn’t work traditionally work within that space so growing up in New York with obviously a huge dance scene it was just a different and separate scene.

“Both super important just not living in the same bed so it wasn’t until recently they kind of co-existed which is a fun time.”

MTV UK: Your writing/producing list it enviable. What’s your reaction when you hear Britney Spears wants to work with you?

M: “It’s cool I mean especially someone like Britney who, for me is a huge pop star of the generation that I grew up with, it’s amazing to think that, fast forward a couple of years and those artists are recording songs of yours, and again for me I like the idea of being able to jump around a lot and being a part of projects that are not genre specific because it really keeps your perspective fresh on all things.

“You’re not getting sucked into just one zone where it’s like ‘I only work with electronic artists, I only work with pop artists or I only work with rock bands’, so you know, working with someone like Britney or Kelly [Clarkson] and then jumping in with Rivers Como from Weezer and doing songs with him… I’m starting Shania Twain’s album soon and then working with Dillon Francis and Flux Pavilion on songs - it’s such different headsets but in a lot of ways they all influence each other so it’s exciting because it feels like it’s yet another door to say, ‘Ok, cool she wants to work on something, let’s try to do something different than she’s done before and let’s try to let these things influence each other’.”

MTV UK: You’ve also been working with Hilary Duff – have you helped her out with her Tinder choices?

M: “I encourage her to swipe right, you never know what’s going to come on there!”

MTV UK: Have you refused to work with anybody?

M: “For the most part, as long as people are cool, one thing I’ve learnt in music is that the best results come from being around people you feel good being around.
“So if you work with somebody despite what their musical background is, if they’re completely polar opposites from you, if there’s a good vibe and there’s a good kind of friendship or a mutual respect, then usually good things come from it, even if you’re from totally different perspectives, and I think that’s the most valuable thing of collaborative relationships.
“As long as you’re a good person or your good hang if we can have coffee together for an hour and hang that’s probably more significant and I’m down to work.”

MTV UK: Who’s on your ideal hit list?

M: “I feel like I always say this and they probably read it and think I’m a creepy stalker, but I love First Aid Kit, I think that they’re amazing, I’d love to do something with them. I’m a huge Ryan Adams fan. I love his new album. I’d love to do something with him. I just got to do some stuff with Arty and Michael Brun, who are DJs, everyday I have a new stupid idea.”

MTV UK: Describe the working habits of these artists in just one word. Zedd, Tiësto, Britney, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson:

Zedd: “Tacos.”
Tiësto: “Mentos.”
Britney: “Incredibly humbled. I can’t even find just one word with it I think so much comes with a pop star walking in a room that big and she’s such a pleasure and such a class act, yeah class.”
Carly Rae Jepsen: “Annoying!”
Kelly Clarkson: “Helluvavoice.”

MTV UK: What’s the most surreal moment of your career so far?

M: “I’d say the two that come to mind, I got to work with [Bruce] Springsteen on some music and he’s a hero so that was mind blowing.

“Something I always come back to is, I got to perform ‘Clarity’ with Sting who I’m an enormous fan of and to think that the man sat down one day and learned the lyrics to a song I wrote is just crazy.”

MTV UK: What are your guilty pleasures?

M: “Ace of Base, I believe it’s ‘The Sign’, it’s pretty rad, I’ve got some guilty pleasures on here, I’m like don’t know how it got on my iPod…”

'Follow Matthew on Twitter @MatthewKoma.'

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