The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

bitemusicceleb status and greed. I want the people to listen to my story and find peace in one little area of your life.” Mat left Polaroid to start a solo career, sending demos to people in the music industry. He received a reply from Ne- yo’s manager inviting him to Los Angeles to spend a week writing songs; it extended to three years. “They had me write a song a day - sometimes two or three - for those three years,” he recalled. “I had hundreds of songs. It was like a boot camp. It was interesting for me as a musician because I was learning from these people. I was an emo kid learning from the best R&B personnel in the game.” He dropped his first EP, Brightness , in 2008, Contrast in 2009, and Exposure in 2010. For Christmas, he released the sin- gle 'I Hate the Holidays' with Tyler Carter, then-member of metalcore band Woe, Is Me, in late 2010 and his new single ‘Douche Bag’ in early January 2011. The follow-up EP Gone for Good and Year of the Blackbear came out in mid-2011. The latter possibly prepared the artist to change his pseudo- nym to Blackbear, a tribute to the animal native to his Flor- ida home. Singer and producer Mike Posner heard some of Mat’s music and took him under his wing. The first partnership song they released was Mike’s ‘Marauder Music’ in November 2011. The duo also worked on songs for pop artists, such as Justin Bieber's number 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, ‘Boyfriend’ in early 2012; later, Maroon 5, G-Eazy, Nick Jonas and Disney Channel's pop-punk-lite boyband Big Time Rush. Blackbear then released his R&B EP Foreplay and debut mixtape Sex in April and October 2012. Mat has a sincere and admirable approach to his music. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a drumbeat in my head,” he told Kerrang! in an interview last year. “I always knew if I was going to make money off something, it [would] be mu- sic. Music is the only thing I have. If you took it away from me, there would be no point living. It’s the reason I’m put on this earth. I’m a very spiritual person. I need to be of service to be the most accountable to myself.” He also featured on Machine Gun Kelly’s ‘End of the Road’ from the Lace Up album. Soon after, he dropped The Af- terglow EP in April 2014, landing him number four on Billboard’s Unchartered listing of releases from upcoming