Kat Harlton
Toronto singer, songwriter and producer, Matthew Zeitler recently released his catchy anti-Valentine’s Day anthem “Love’s Dead” on February 12.
With over 6 million career streams to date, Matthew draws on inspiration from Owl City, Machine Gun Kelly and The Chainsmokers. Love’s Dead is the ultimate breakup song about finally hitting the brakes on a toxic relationship and finally seeing someone for who they really are.
For the past 6 years, Matthew has worked tirelessly as a producer, songwriter and vocalist. Teaching himself everything, he released his first two singles Coming Over and Runaway Love in 2019 and 2020, both have surpassed over a million streams each. Now, Matthew has built an incredible team around him including producer AJ Healey (Olivia Lunny).
As a new generation artist, he is excited to continue to bring his artistic vision to life. Matthew is now carving his own lane with a distinct mix of Pop, Punk, and Hip Hop music. With the creation of his upcoming album, an undying love for music, and a willingness to work, Matthew Zeitler is bound to achieve success as an independent Canadian artist.
We had a chat with Matthew about his latest single, his creative process, and what’s next.
Kat: Can you talk about the inspiration behind your latest single “Love’s Dead”?
Matthew: I usually start writing songs as soon as I get a feel of the instrumental. In the case of Love’s Dead, I found out pretty quickly what I wanted the song to be about. I was playing around with guitar and drum loops in my home studio and immediately sang lyrics. I wanted to take a different side of the typical love / breakup song and express a more frustrated standpoint. I focused on making the song as relatable as possible so more people can connect to it. I wrote the whole song in one 12 hour session and put together the lyrics using my imagination. Luckily I’m not angry at anybody enough to write this song about them, and overall I’m really not the type of person to hold grudges. I like making up stories to write about because it keeps it relatable and not specific to my experiences.
Kat: What do you hope fans take from the track?
Matthew: I hope anybody that listens to this song can get some inspiration to speak their mind in a relationship. I feel like a lot of people start accepting the flaws of their significant other and allow it to become the norm instead of speaking up. I’m not expecting anybody to be perfect, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try our best. Relationships are about growth and connection with each other, and most of us are willing to maintain that. Although Love’s Dead expresses anger, I hope people find motivation to be open and not hold their feelings back.
Kat: What do you find is the most challenging part of your creative process?
Matthew: The most challenging part of creating music for me is finding a good topic to write about. I always want it to be something interesting and worthwhile to the listener. Once I have a topic, I find it easy. I’ve always loved writing so naturally transferring over to songs wasn’t too difficult. I immediately became dedicated to improving lyrically from every song I finished and continue to today.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far? What have you learned along the way?
Matthew: Last year I released two songs that surpassed 1 million streams each (‘Runaway Love’ and ‘Coming Over’). This was a huge milestone for me. I was going to continue making music no matter what but it definitely gave me more confidence and motivation to work harder. I’ve learnt how important it is to push for what you want and to understand the value of your time. When I was younger, like most people, I wanted overnight fame. Now the idea of working incredibly hard for it is more satisfying to me. It gives me time to work on myself and put my ego aside rather than be put up on a pedestal while not having a proper sense of who I really am. I’m still learning every day but I know for sure I just love making music and that won’t ever change, no matter how well any song I release does.
Kat: What’s next for you?
Matthew: Love’s Dead is only the start of the new catalogue of music we’re releasing. Anybody that has listened to my current discography will hear a noticeable difference in my new sound. I can’t wait to share this project with everyone. For now my plan is to just keep creating music and releasing more songs no matter what happens. I started out 6 years ago just making beats for fun in my basement and that part of me will never go away. I love music and I’m extremely grateful I can share this with the world.