We recently had the chance to connect with Genna Matthew and have shared our conversation below.
Genna, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Traveling! This year I decided to really prioritize joy, and traveling was a huge, intentional part of that. It can be easy to push off traveling and get stuck in a routine. Its not exactly convenient and can feel unproductive to some people. But I think joy is productive and essential.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a singer/songwriter from Virginia, now based in Nashville. I’ve been writing and performing since I was 15, and have always leaned into more vulnerable songwriting. I love to take a painful experience and spin it into something new and beautiful. I figure if I’m feeling something deeply, I’m not alone or special in that; someone else is feeling it too, so it should be talked about. The irony of songwriting is the more specific and personal you get, the more other people will connect with your experience and see themselves in it. If someone else can see themselves in my songs, I feel like I’ve done my job.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
To be honest I was a pretty insecure kid. I was different enough to feel self conscious, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why. When I was young, this manifested in trying to be like other people and always looking at things from outside perspectives. I got really tuned into what was different about me and how to change myself in order to conform. It wasn’t until I got older and started getting into music that I really started to hone my sense of self, and started to feel like what made me unique was an asset. Music was such a gift to me in that way. You can’t make impactful art if you’re worried about what someone else will think. To quote my favorite radio station from my hometown – “different is good” (shout out 106.1 The Corner).
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
This feels like a natural segue from the last question. I started writing my own songs when I was about 15, which as you might imagine, was a time defined by a lot of ‘big feelings’. Around this time I was in recovery from an eating disorder, learning about love and heartbreak for the first time, was navigating an unstable home life and lost a friend unexpectedly. I’d always been a kid who felt things deeply, but never really had much of an outlet. I think thats definitely one of the key reasons I internalized everything and turned to an eating disorder; because emotional pain is invisible, and I wanted to show it somehow. When my guitar teacher pushed me to start writing my own music, it was like something cracked open. I learned that pain is kinetic and if you use it instead of letting it consume you, you can turn it into something new and impactful. Its like the ultimate catharsis. Not only are you able to let something or someone go, but you can put that pain into something new that is separate from you. They say grief is just love with no place to go, so a song can really become a vessel for those feelings and give them a new purpose and somewhere new to go.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Definitely. Except lately I wear more sweatpants. I think authenticity is key when it comes to social media or performing, at least for myself and my music. I want to connect with people through my music and in how I show up, and I think the best way for me to do that is to show the funny, real, unpolished side of being human, because that what I’m drawn to in the creatives I admire. Part of me wishes sometimes that I could have a more anonymous presence and I daydream about what I might create or share if I had a moniker of sorts. But then I think of the artists that have shaped me and the connection that comes with authenticity. I want to be like that for someone else. All that being said, some of my close friends don’t even realize that in addition to my work as an artist, I have a full time 9-5 working remotely as an early childhood research specialist for a university. So there’s a bit of a double life happening here. My other love is psychology, which I think goes hand-in-hand with songwriting, so its been a joy getting to pursue both of my interests at once.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop future tripping. I spend so much time and energy obsessing over how every decision will affect my future. I think a lot of creatives have this, and its related to perfectionism. That’s a mental game I’ve had to really face and tackle over the past few years, especially when its come to my music and releases. With only 10 years left, I’d trust my gut and follow my intuition more than my head. And to bring it back to one of my first comments, I’d prioritize joy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gennamatthewmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gennamatthew
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GennaMatthewMusic/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/NZJTW__YnUA?si=HxDB8u1HOYkaEJSR
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/rgoQCfzwfNYaKw0SVK
- Other: https://tr.ee/7_gEXFvrOU
Image Credits
Winter Wilson, Tabitha Turner
