Meet Mateo Bluemel

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mateo Bluemel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mateo, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I got my work ethic from my dad. Hardest worker I know honestly. He set the example to put your head down and push through all the adversity in order to get the job done. One of the greatest things he’s given me is my work ethic.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

From my perspective, my story with the band began around junior year of high school. Apparently a previous vocalist the guys were working with backed out and they needed a front man for a little school gig they had coming up. I had been friends with these group of guys even before the band, so they decided to hit me up and ask if I’d be interested in singing for them. At the time I wasn’t really into metal at all. The heaviest band I listened to was Queen at the time so that should give a pretty good picture of my experience with metal. However I decided to join, thinking I was only going to be with them for one gig. Little did I know that one gig would turn into several years worth of shows, opening for bands such as Otep, Wednesday 13, and Soulfly, as well as recording an album and a future EP that we are currently working on right now.

I’m very grateful and proud to be a part of this band. Brave New World is a fantastic metal/hard rock band that has given me a creative outlet over the last 6 years. Brad and Christian are some of my closet friends thanks to this band, and we’re so excited to show off our newest member Kenny whenever our next gig rolls around.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The most important quality a person can have in my opinion is the hunger to learn and grow in whatever skill you want to master. For me, I wanted to be a better singer and vocalist coming out of high school. So I ended up going to Jefferson College to surround myself with fellow singers and musicians so I could pick up tips and tricks on how to master the art. My desire to be better and to learn everything I can from my professors and peers is what drove me to be the performer I am today.

For musicians specifically, a fantastic skill to have for any genre is improvisation. Being able to adapt to a situation at a moments notice is sometimes the difference between a great set or a terrible set. You gotta always stay calm and really feel the music in order to get the best results out of improv.

At the end of the day though, all of it comes down to practice! Consistent and dedicated practice really is what separates the guys that are good from the guys that are great. It’s something all of us should strive for. As you continue to practice in any skill or talent that you have, it becomes second nature to you. You get to a point to where you don’t even need to think to execute what needs to be done. For any skill, always make sure to set apart time to practice that skill.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I simply just try to breathe. I begin to close my eyes and slow everything down, especially my breathing. My advice to anyone feeling overwhelmed: slow down and take everything one step at a time. If you try to take everything all at once, you lose focus and you lose confidence that the tasks can be done. But if you take it slow and just focus on one task at a time, next thing you know it’s all done. It’s helped me in the past before shows and gigs.

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