Meet Matteson Gregory

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matteson Gregory . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matteson below.

Matteson , sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Since I was a teen, I’ve struggled with depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia. I was always consumed with counting my calories and questioning my existence. For years, however, I felt I was alone in my struggles. No one talked to me about mental health or that it was okay to talk about it. When I was 18 I hit my lowest point. My mom would sleep outside my room to make sure I was okay. But I think the most important thing she did was listen to how I was feeling and showed me how she has felt the same way. That was when it seemed a light started to shine that showed me that there was hope. Hope that what I was feeling would be over. I started to go to therapy and taking Zoloft which helped me continue pushing through. Around this time was when I started to dive into my music. I started to use my music as an outlet for my thoughts and it soon became my passion. But what became my even bigger passion was using my music to help others find hope. To help them feel less alone. Long story short, hearing people’s story’s helped me continue moving forward, and now I do the same with my music.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Hi, I’m Matteson Gregory, but you can call me Mattie 🙂 I am a indie pop singer-songwriter whose goal is to make music that helps people feel less alone in this world. I’ve always felt music has a way of connecting us like no other. The best way I can explain this is when you’re at a concert. You are standing next to strangers who you couldn’t disagree on politics or religion, but you are both there for the same reason: the music. You are both screaming the songs at the top of your lung and crying because you both have felt what the song is about. I really want to create a community where people can know that they are not alone in their struggles. I think I’ve always loved helping people so I feel why not do it through music.
Some current things I’ve been working on is recording new music which will be released next year. I am also planning on touring next year and making more connections with other artists. I want to write and travel 10x more than this year.

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?
I think three things that have been the most impactful have been to trust your gut, always try new things, and enjoy the process. In this business, I’ve found that you have to have people you trust in your corner or else the relationship will not be for your benefit. There are so many times where I had a feeling this wasn’t the right relationship and sure enough, I was right. I also think you should always be willing to try new things. That can be from writing with other writers to the type of content you create. Don’t be afraid to fail because eventually you will get it right. Most importantly what I would tell every artist starting is to enjoy the process. It takes a while to figure out who you are as an artist and it can be frustration when you first start out. I know I have had moments where it feels like everything I’m doing isn’t working and I should give up. However, I urge you to enjoy the failures and to remember this is what you love to do. That you’ll eventually get over all the road blocks and find your way.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
As an indie artist, it is very easy to get overwhelmed. There are so many things to keep track of and it can seem like you can’t do it all. The best way I have found to help myself from getting overwhelmed is to make lists. I always will make a list of most urgent to less urgent and then figure out the deadlines for each of the items. It’s so easy to look at everything you have to do at once and instantly become overwhelmed. I’ve definitely found myself feeling less stressed by staying organized and understanding that not everything that has to be done, has to be done at once.

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Image Credits
Photographer: Drake Huckstep

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