Meet Matthew Brue

We were lucky to catch up with Matthew Brue recently and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew, 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’ll be honest, I don’t feel like I had a great work ethic until I was 17/18 years old. I hated school. & could never give my full attention to anything other than what I was passionate about, primarily music/art. I struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol since the age of 13 & found myself in several rehabs growing up, one of which was what they labeled a “mens character building program.” It primarily consisted of all day manual labor. I was in this program for over a year learning how to do anything from landscaping 23 acres of ranch land to offloading 40k lbs of hay off of 18 wheelers. I took care of horses & put up fence posts etc. As tough as the work was, I learned valuable lessons here including character and integrity.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Matthew Brue and I am the frontman for the Alternative/Electronic duo MISSIO, based in Austin, TX. I am a producer, songwriter, & instrumentalist in the band & started the duo in early 2015. I eventually would invite my now bandmate, David Butler, into the process alongside another producer, Dwight Baker. I would eventually sign my first record deal with RCA Records at the age of 24 in 2017. We now have acquired over 1 billion global streams & have a certified gold record with another on the way this year.

Right now, we are currently working on releasing our 5th album called ‘I Am Cinco’ releasing on May 3, 2024 & it’s a deluxe album featuring 26 songs.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Your previous question mentioning work ethic is incredibly important. I’ve noticed that with a lot of artists in the music industry, work ethic can most times get someone further along than being reliant on talent alone.

2. Passion. I speak to so many artists in writing sessions who seem so nonchalant about what it is they get to be a part of every day. Authentic passion for your art and the creative process can lead to so many opportunities when people believe you. I don’t believe that a lot of artists themselves believe in what they do.

3. Self and social awareness. It is incredibly important to be aware of how I’m feeling and how the people around me are feeling at all times. This is personally how I’ve become a good leader for people on our team as well as having the ability to take care of myself and my own mental well being when necessary.

My advice to people early in their careers would be to create art for themselves. It’s easy to look at things that are trending & popular in society and feel like you have to keep up with them. The reality is, you have to make what YOU want to make otherwise, what’s the point? Tune people & their opinions out and allow yourself to express your art in the way YOU want and need to express it.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Early on I was pretty pissed at my parents for this, but I’ve come to be appreciative as I grow older.

I have 4 other siblings and my parents told us all that when we reached 7th grade we could choose what hobby or sport we wanted to do if we weren’t enjoying playing piano which we all started at age 6. My parents let everyone else do something different when they reached that age…..except me. I was so mad and never understood why they were forcing me to continue on musically until I grew up. My parents saw a natural gift and ability in me that had them push me to carry on and become the best I could be in those areas. Now that I’m a full time artist/musician I owe them for that decision because who knows what else I’d be doing if it weren’t for that decision.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
All photos are taken by: Ima Leupp (Seamless Loop Productions)

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