Matt Mateus

Matt Mateus is a musician, educator, and cofounder of Supertape.

Matt has always wanted to play music—much to the dismay of his parents and neighbors.As a kid, he was obsessed with guitars and synths—and even got to meet Howard Jones during his first U.S. tour in 1985.In 1987, when he was 12 and living outside of Portland, Matt made his first recording. He figured out how to multitrack using two tape recorders and put together a song he called “Drifter.” He still has that tape—hit him up.By 14, he was studying guitar and joined a hardcore band. That same year—1991—he had his first real experience in a recording studio. They recorded a 7” with his band Search, released on Salt Lake City’s Flatline Records.He went on to play in several local bands, including Lumberjack with two of his longtime collaborators, Jeremy Chatelain and Andy Patterson. It was a short-lived project, but they released a couple of 7”s and appeared on a few compilations.After that, Matt started a band called Stella Brass during the early emo days. They were part of the same scene as Texas is the Reason and The Promise Ring, and shared stages with bands like Fugazi, Karate, and Lungfish. They toured all over the U.S. and released a handful of 7”s, cassettes, and a CD.Following Stella Brass, he recorded a solo acoustic record called The Year of Sinking Ships in 1999. He used session players for the recording instead of friends, which he’s always regretted—lesson learned.That same year, Matt was enrolled at the University of Utah to study jazz guitar, but he was terrible at it, so he moved to New York City. On the day he arrived, he joined Rival Schools, though he left the band after a few months.Being in New York opened up a lot of musical paths. He played solo acoustic sets at The Living Room (opening for Jesse Harris right before he collaborated with Norah Jones) and full-band rock shows at East Village haunt Brownies, with a variety of friends and bands.Eventually, Matt landed an audio engineering internship (and later assistant role) at the now-defunct Jarvis Studios, where he learned from seasoned vets like Ted Nicely, Carl Glanville, and Joe Blaney. This was around 2000. That experience inspired him to build a small recording setup to work on his own music and produce for friends.In 2001, he moved back to Salt Lake City and started a studio with Andy Patterson—but soon after, he left to teach at the nonprofit youth media organization Spy Hop. For the next 20 years, he taught and mentored young musicians, created educational programs, helped direct the organization, and gave lectures on songwriting, production, and film scoring.In 2002, he also started the band Hello Amsterdam, named after a Mark Eitzel lyric. They released three records and toured across the U.S., sharing stages with The Strokes, Bright Eyes, and even Imagine Dragons—back when they were playing 200-cap clubs.Around that same time, Matt started scoring music for film and media. Over the years, he’s worked on several features and shorts, including the Emmy-winning Quiet Heroes and One Revolution. After that, he partnered up with Jeremy Chatelain under the name Timber Music Supply to create music for a wide range of projects and clients. He even tried his hand at sound design—including all the effects for the George of the Jungle video game in 2007. (That’s him doing the yodel.)The music created through Timber continues to appear across all the major platforms, networks, and in feature films. In addition to custom scoring, they run a stock music library and have released records with Warner Chappell and Amphibious Zoo.Around 2017, Matt helped launch the Salt Lake City Ableton User Group and has presented for Ableton multiple times, including a tour of college facilities throughout Utah.His latest project is Francis Morning, a DAWless ambient solo project using tapes, samplers, and pedals. He has released two records so far, including Subtle Bodies, which was released in November 2024 on the UK-based label Lo Recordings.In 2022, Matt co-founded Supertape—an automated website builder for bands and musicians—with his partners Matt Wigham and Chance Graham. They combined years of experience to create tools that help artists grow their careers.It’s been a dream come true for him—bringing all these scattered musical experiences together to support other musicians every day.

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