Matthew Koma

“I always love playing festivals because you don't often get to see a lot of your friends play shows so it's a good excuse to hop around and see people.”

“I've been really fortunate to work with a lot of really talented people from different corners of the music world... it keeps things inspiring and they all sort of feed each other.”

“I've never consciously tried to 'make hits' nor do I feel like that will ever be apart of my psyche. I just try to speak to a truth and write about things I know and don't know about.”

“Songs sort of come from everywhere - people, places, coffee, the aisles of Target... I tend to write pretty autobiographical so a lot of what I say stems from personal experience.”

“For me to keep sane, I have to be working on stuff that's a little all over the map. It helps my process to be focused on different things so when I come back to whatever was on the last plate I have a little bit more perspective on it.”

“Mental illness and eating disorders can affect anyone - every age, race, and gender - and I'm so proud to be a part of a community that builds strength together out of weakness.”

“I'd be on tour and have to pull over in the midst of a six-hour panic attack where I couldn't breather, my eyes would go blurry and dark, and my limbs would go numb.”

“I've always treated my songwriting as a process that isn't solely driven by a production model or genre, but instead by a feeling, a connection.”

“I wanted to be Dave Pirner and Kurt Cobain when I was seven and that never went away.”

“I've written plenty of songs that are not tailored for me, writing six different songs to fit six different artists' visions.”

“Getting to work on some of Bruce Springsteen's music was a dream come true because he is such a huge influence of mine.”

“The dance world is a different world for me, but it's really just a different angle on the same thing - delivering a feeling.”

“I've always been a songwriter, whether it's singing or playing with a band or doing DJ sets, they're all different ways to deliver my songs to an audience.”

“I've always loved being a craftsman.”

“It helps keep things feeling fresh to always remain a 'student.'”

“I've always been terribly uncomfortable with the idea of music fitting into one box so specifically that it's considered 'this' or 'that.'”

“On the production front, everyone has the same set of tools now that the playing field is so even that it really is up to how creative you can be.”

“I just make stuff that I like and hope other people like it too.”

“If I'm not making music, I am drinking coffee, eating sushi, having a panic attack about anything and everything, reading articles about the likelihood of living forever, or daydreaming about the coffee shop I will one day open and curate the playlist of.”

“If I didn't have coffee, you wouldn't have me.”