Hailing from South Wales, Matt Kiano has been singing since his early years. Taking influence from his father’s musical background, along with Green Day, Tom Delonge from Blink-182, and Alkaline Trio, Matt Kiano joined his first band as a rhythm guitarist at the age of 16. Branching out to venture the road of a solo career, his debut single “Life is Fair,” is the result of that decision.
Allowing listeners to kick off the record in the ease of laidback melodies, “Life is Fair” holds an intoxicating embrace on us as we get lost in the sea of captivation. Playing upon the repetition factor as the groove-infused nature of the bassline welcomes itself into your life, there’s a tight-knit feeling that comes from the minimal percussion patterns that sparsely hit with impact.
This is when we get swept off our feet and feel as if we’ve entered a dimension that screams nostalgia. Transitioning into the all-out, electric feel of an amplified chorus, we get to up the ante as we hear glimmers of Matt Kiano’s musical influences speak into his own sonic twist of flooding creativity. Grasping onto the numerous progressions that can be heard with the chugging lead guitar as it tackles the angst in the air, we can’t take our ears off of the velvety vocal performance overflowing from Matt Kiano’s incomparable croons.
He effortlessly depicts lyrical goodness that is filled to the brim with irony and observations from his own life that projects words like, ‘why do I feel better than you whilst dancing in the rain?’ in a relatable manner. Comforting us with our own takeaways from “Life is Fair,” we know that although it may, or may not be, Matt Kiano has us covered.
Listen to "Life is Fair," here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Matt Kiano, and congratulations on the release of “Life is Fair.” We absolutely love the theme that you played upon when bringing life to this song! With words cast out that are so applicable to the times we’re in, what inspired the theme of this song?
Thank you for the kind words. I guess what inspired this song was getting back at a bully. We’ve all met somebody we really don’t like along the way who thinks they’re God’s gift. So when we get to the chorus it’s almost like, you look up to see what that person is doing now and it’s like, “man, I’m glad I’m not them”. I’ve dedicated the song to someone whose name escapes me who pushed me off my bike when I was 8 years old. He’s now in prison. If you ask me, Ryan is getting what he deserves
Could you please share a glimpse of what the creative and recording process entailed?
For "Life is Fair" it was the first time for me to write a song primarily using a bass. Usually, I just pick up a guitar and have everything revolve around that. Once I had that initial bass line in my head, I just went online to get up a basic drum program and did a little drum beat to play along to. Then I essentially built the song around that with the guitar coming last. I recorded a super rough demo in my room, then sent it to my amazing drummer for hire, Ty Walker to play drums for it and let him have some creative freedom over what he wanted his drums to sound. Then I took the rough demo and Ty’s drum track to my guys down in Unit 13. Two guys down there, Aled and Sam produced and recorded the song and we used the rough demo as a reference
From your experience of working in a team setting with a band, how do you compare your experience as a solo artist? Do you find your creative process differing at all?
For sure it was different. For one it was quicker. Usually, I have something written down have the guitar parts done, then show the guys at band practice and see what they can come up with. But you know sometimes we wouldn’t have band practice for a few weeks or we’d be preoccupied with other stuff. Going solo made the process much quicker because it was just all on me. I could get the entire song done in one day if I drank enough coffee. All in all, it took me about a week to get the rough demo finished. And another bonus, the only person I’m arguing against is myself over a song rather than 2-3 other people
What is your mission statement as an artist? How do you hope that your fans can grasp that from your brand?
My mission statement? I guess I want people to take more risks in life. People play it too safe and get stuck in their comfort zone. Go do what you want to do regardless if you’re scared or not. And never take someone’s opinion of you to heart. Be happy in yourself. I hope people can get that idea from me with how I post on social media and the content of my songs. I’m aware it might not be considered to be “normal” posts but it’s fun. Life should be fun. Life is fun… maybe that’s what I should’ve called the song….