Featured Artist Interview: Mat "Songsbury" Teofilo
Mat “Songsbury” Teofilo is a Gold Certified and Billboard charting artist, songwriter, producer, engineer and film composer. He has been playing music for over 30 years and has been active in the music industry for 20+ years. He is a classically trained pianist who holds is Performer’s ARCT as awarded by the Royal Conservatory of Music and has won numerous awards for his musical accomplishments. He has worked with artists such as Madonna, Miley Cyrus, and Diplo to name a few.
We were turned onto Mat by our friend and music industry consultant, Eric Larsen of Get It In Writing. With such a vast array of songwriting and production experience over a broad spectrum of music, we were fascinated by the quality and portfolio of his music both as an artist and a producer. We reached out to Mat to get his perspective on being a recording and performing artist, working in the music industry as a producer, and how he is currently integrating Cherry Audio instruments into his creative process. Please enjoy our interview with Mat "Songsbury" Teofilo:
Q: Please share with our readers what it was like to work on Diplo's - Revolution (feat. Faustix & Imanos and Kai). What were your responsibilities?
I was one of the writers on Revolution. We had started writing the song in my basement studio just with keyboard and vocal. Once Diplo, Faustix and Imanos joined in, the song evolved into what you hear on the master recording today. It was an amazing experience to go from an idea in a basement studio to receiving a gold record for my work on the song.
Q: Arranging the mash-up of Don’t Tell Me / We Can’t Stop for Miley Cyrus and Madonna on MTV Unplugged? Cool! How did you land that gig?
At the time, I was doing a lot of work with a good friend and colleague of mine, Mike Turco, who had worked on two of Madonna’s latest albums. Mike gave me a call one night to help out putting together a mashup for Miley and Madonna to perform on Miley’s MTV Unplugged show. I just remember it being a really late night going back and forth with Madonna and her music director over email getting everything right. I think we got it done around 4am. Considering we didn’t start till about midnight, I think we did alright!
While the world is well-aware of Madonna, Miley Cyrus and Diplo, we are most intrigued by your music and collaborations with some super-talented artists (Elisa Malatesta, Vita Chambers, Ill Phil, Lorenzo and Alexandria to name a few).
Q: Talk about the making of "The Trilogy" video, featuring three tracks from the Songsbury EP.
The Trilogy is still one of my favorite projects I’ve worked on to date. I had written and recorded my self-titled EP and was looking to put together a music video or two for the singles. I reached out to a director friend of mine in Los Angeles, Daniel Brea, and we started working through some ideas. We ended up coming up with the idea to make more of a short film/musical using a few songs from the EP. We wanted to do something a little different and thought it would be cool to create this story about being in the music industry and how so many artists feel torn between their art and the business. The film ends up exploring those two sides and how ultimately you can’t have one without the other. The whole thing took about 6 months of just planning and then we shot it all in four very long work days. It was a lot of fun and the cast and crew were all amazing to work with and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Before Cherry Audio became the hottest virtual synth company on the planet, you and a small group of renowned artists started using and talking up the quality and sound design of our instruments. You were gracious enough to help us promote the Eight Voice Synthesizer, which we released earlier this year.
Q: What most attracted you to the Eight Voice? How have you been integrating the Eight Voice into your music at Songsbury Studios? Have you had a chance to check out any other Cherry Audio instruments?
The Oberheim® 8 Voice has a legendary sound and I had heard from a couple good friends of mine to check out Cherry Audio’s version of it. I downloaded it and started playing through just the presets and fell in love. The sound is so full and lush and the capabilities of the synth are endless. It has quickly become one of my go-to synths in my studio. I particularly love using it for the pad sounds it can produce, but it has really killer lead possibilities as well. “Versatility” is the word that comes to mind when I think of the Eight Voice.
I have checked out all of the Cherry Audio line-up and the DCO-106 is another favorite of mine and finds it’s way onto any project that calls for that flavor of synth. The CA2600 sounds amazing as well and I love the capability to use it as an effect, in particular on a vocal. I’m just getting into Voltage Modular and that’s a rabbit hole I’m enjoying diving head first into. I know this wasn’t asked, but I just want to say that every synth Cherry Audio comes out with sounds amazing and you have me as a fan and user for life!
Q: What's next for Mat "Songsbury" Teofilo?
Currently I’m in the middle of building a brand new recording studio in Vaughan, Canada. As much as I love being able to wake up and just go into my basement studio, I’m ready to create my dream workshop and also be able to offer even more services to my artists and clients I work with. The new facility will provide a one-stop shop for artists. It will have a photo and video studio along with a podcast studio and we will also be able to do Dolby Atmos mixing for film.
On the artist side, I’m currently working on a few new singles that will be released over the coming months both solo and also as collaborations. I recently released a new single titled “Forgiven” that has received some airplay up here in Canada. Once performance opportunities open back up, I look forward to being back on stage as well.
Q: Where can our readers find your music?
You can find my music on any of these major digital retailers and streaming platforms:
Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon / Songsbury Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter
Editor's note: We want to thank Mat for getting behind Cherry Audio instruments and for taking the time to share with our readers his music and the creative process behind it. To quote Mat himself, here is some great advice for all of us:
"Leave my history in the past where it belongs, and instead, be a part of my future” - Mat Teofilo
Oberheim® is a registered trademark of Tom Oberheim. There is no association, affiliation or endorsement of Cherry Audio or its products by Tom Oberheim.