Mateo - Familiar Face, Bright Future

Singer-songwriter, Mateo is using his talents to caress our ears and touch our hearts. The Cincinnati-native is releasing his major label EP, We’ve Met Before, digitally through Interscope Records. He recently opened up for Keyshia Cole on her 18-city Woman to Woman tour, but since Mateo has been focusing on the release of a web series to coincide with the release of the album. The We’ve Met Before web series focuses on the behind the scenes aspects of getting signed and what it takes to create a body of music. Mateo recently chatted with Parlé Magazine about his journey, creating his EP and what he has in store for the music scene.

Parlé Magazine: We’ve talked to you before, and we’ve heard various Mateo mixtapes, but for those that aren’t familiar with your work, tell us a little about yourself.
Mateo: I come from a musical family. I always did music on the side. I attended Morehouse University so I was in Atlanta for a while then I decided to pursue a music career in Los Angeles. I had a regular job and hated every minute of it. My grandfather was a Jazz musician and my grandmother was a touring singer so being around music allowed me to explore my talent.

Parlé: Being from a musical family do you feel any type of pressure?
Mateo: Not really. It wasn’t much pressure. The only thing, I was forced to perform every Thanksgiving for the family.
Parlé: Did you choose music because it was a passion or something you knew you had talent to do?
Mateo: At first music was something to do for me. It took me to go away from music to come back to it because it felt like it was something I was supposed to do.
Parlé: What is your true motivation?
Mateo: Right now my motivation is making music. I feel like music is my vehicle. We’ve been working for a long time and all of the people who have helped me get where I am motivates me to keep going.

Parlé: When you got your major deal were you confident it was going to happen?
Mateo: I was first signed to MySpace Records and I was excited but felt it was unexpected. I was there when the company just started to go through the slump and I didn’t really get to release anything from there. When I met Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, he wanted me to be his first artist and we started putting out music. By the time Interscope got involved, I saw it as a fruit of my labor.
Parlé: “How Good is Your Love?” is your debut single, what made your team choose it?
Mateo: I was on a flight and I heard this instrumental and knew I had to record something to it. When I recorded it, it felt like all the things I wanted to say. We presented it to the label and they loved the song. I feel like it’s the best representation of who I am.

Parlé: Talk to me about the album title, We’ve Met Before. Why’d you decide to go with that?
Mateo: People have heard me before through the internet and other outlets so we kind of played on that. It was like, “yeah we’ve met before, here’s what I’ve been doing.”
Parlé: The webseries you have coinciding with the album. What’s the mission behind that?
Mateo: My manager came up with the idea. I wanted to show what goes into creating a body of music. There are a lot different things you have to do once you sign the contract.
Parlé: Give me some examples of what fans can expect? What do you have on your schedule?
Mateo: We’ve been doing showcases and we’re about to set up a tour to get me and the music out there. We have a lot of dope music to put forth to the fans. I want them to keep rocking with me.