Matt’s It’s Alright Legacy
Through adversity, heroes are born, and Matt James, the talented musician behind Mashd N Kutcher is not only fighting the battle of his life with his recent diagnosis of Myeloma Cancer but he is doing what he can to not only make people aware of this virtually unknown cancer but he is giving back finically to Myeloma Australia, the organisation supporting him on his journey with the release of Mashd N Kutcher’s new track ‘It’s Alright’. We caught up with Matt to ask him about the new song, how he is doing and how we can help.
Congratulations on the release of your new track ‘It’s Alright,’ for those who haven’t heard the song how would you describe it?
Definitely the words ‘Summer Anthem’ come to mind! Might be saying something about our climate here in the Queensland sun but when you look outside the window this time of year and the sun is beaming and the sky is blue this track definitely fits the scenario there for sure.
What does the song mean to you?
I think it means a few different things, on face value it’s feel good and fun, and I think the lyrics lend themselves towards a good vibe, no matter what situation you’re in. For me personally from a songwriting perspective, this track feels like the closest I’ve been to finding a ‘sound’ that is a representation of what I really want to output musically and for the MNK project. Over the years I’ve dabbled in lots of different genres and styles but the ones that really clicked for me were ‘My Sunshine’ and ‘On My Mind’. This, like them is a combination of all of my loves and skillsets in one idea, dance music with a groove, the sampling component that I developed a love for through hip-hop music, and putting a new twist on a throwback. I’m really happy with it and excited to make more like it!
“I’m so so lucky that my passion (and career) with music is something I can continue to be productive with from home and from a laptop”
So probably the most important question is and the one everyone wants an answer to, how are you feeling?
At the moment I’m taking things week by week and day by day. I’m very fortunate to have an amazing team of specialists at the PA Hospital in Brisbane who work through the various components of the treatment with me each week. It’s very taxing on the body but finding the strength mentally to work through things and taking each challenge one at a time, I’m finding is key. I’m so so lucky that my passion (and career) with music is something I can continue to be productive with from home and from a laptop, it’s really given me something to focus energy on and get stuck into while I’m unable to travel and participate in the usual week in week out activities.
Was the writing of ‘It’s Alright’ a cathartic experience? Did it help to have something to occupy your mind?
Absolutely. I’d actually been tinkering with the demo for well over a year and left it parked for the time being until I felt like I had the right solution/plan for moving forward with the song. Personally, I find the songwriting process comes down to facilitating an idea to happen rather than necessarily putting in tons of hours to figure it out. In this case the construction of the song came about pretty quickly over a few weeks.
Your form of cancer, Myeloma is a relatively unknown form, even though it affects 22,000 people and a further 50 are diagnosed every week. What do you want our readers to understand about Myeloma?
When I was diagnosed neither my family or myself had heard of it either, and especially I’ve come to learn the conversation around cancer in general doesn’t frequently get associated with younger people, but as we’ve come to learn it’s definitely happening and so many people are out there battling it every day. If you haven’t heard of Myeloma before would definitely encourage looking it up and getting across the basics of what it’s about.
Your streaming royalties from ‘It’s Alright’ are going to Myeloma Australia, the only Australian myeloma-focused charity. Is it safe to say that Myeloma Australia has been a big support to you during this battle and this is your way of giving back?
Myeloma Australia are amazing, they’ve built a fantastic team who are out there every day pushing forward with education, rallying for treatment, support and so many other amazing things for Australians and their families who have this Cancer.
“I came to realise that indeed there is an opportunity here to have a bigger conversation and help others through the platform.”
You are a high-profile person so are you hoping your diagnosis will shine a light on this worthy organisation and the work they do?
Absolutely I mean, when I first decided to inform people of my diagnosis online via an Instagram post, I went in with zero expectations and didn’t know what level of interaction or conversation to expect around the post. I was genuinely blown away to see the response and within a few hours, it had reached over half a million people as well as covered by all major mainstream Australian news outlets. After some time processing this I came to realise that indeed there is an opportunity here to have a bigger conversation and help others through the platform.
Is there anyone you would particularly like to thank or deserves a shout-out?
There are many individuals throughout my journey so far who have been beyond incredible, and I’m sure there will be many more as time progresses. I’m just grateful for anyone who’s not only been there for me personally but now is also rallying behind the greater conversation that we’re getting out there.
How can fans help? What can they do to help support you and this worthy cause?
We’ve made it super simple - just stream the new record ‘It’s Alright’. I’ve decided to donate 100% of Mashd N Kutcher’s Streaming Artist Royalties for the record, in perpetuity to this cause. For those who maybe aren’t versed in music industry terms/jargon basically every time a song gets listened to on say Spotify, it generates revenue / income. Spotify takes a piece of the pie, as does the record label, etc etc (all the businesses involved with getting that song into the market) There’s a piece of that pie that the Artist (in our case Mashd N Kutcher) would receive, and that’s the bit that I have the ability to decide where it goes. I decided it was best to channel those funds to Myeloma Australia as they cover a few different angles, directly towards research around cancer itself and progressing there, plus also awareness and education around it, and a support network for people diagnosed and their families also. This means we can see a direct positive impact it’s having on the 22,000 Australians diagnosed with this cancer which is fantastic, and this is set up ‘in perpetuity’ for the song as well, meaning when people are still streaming it in many years to come, this process is still in place and helping even more people down the track.
STREAM ‘IT’S ALRIGHT’ NOW CLICK HERE!!
Interview by Michelle Symes
November 2023