Matt Hillyer has been making music for over 25 years. His career not only spans many decades but also different genres of music. Matt’s early influencer, Jim Heath aka The Reverend Horton Heat, took him on the road when he was only 12 years old. Seeing Jim’s work ethic and hearing rockabilly, kick-started Matt’s music endeavor. Matt formed the Lone Star Trio when he was 16 years old and started selling cassettes for $3 each out of the trunk of his car. Matt’s rockabilly roots led him to country music where he now front’s Eleven Hundred Springs and his own personal project.
In this episode Matt discusses the difficulty of maintaining a long career and life on the road. Matt talks how he has marketed himself grass-roots style using staple guns, copy shops, sticky fluids and social media.
Listen in and find out what one of Texas’s hottest country music stars thinks about, family, time, art, attention and condensed milk.
Questions During Episode
- How did you get started?
- How old were you when you started producing music?
- How much did your first tape cost?
- What were you doing to market yourself when you were getting started?
- What other artists influence you?
- Who do you ask for advice?
- How did Jim influence your marketing?
- What exactly do you ask Max Stalling?
- How do you know when something worked?
- How do you differentiate yourself?
- How has everything changed from when you started?
- How do you make quality win?
- How has the experiential marketing aspect changed?
- Have you noticed a better social media channel for you?
- How do you use social media?
- Is there a most frequent person that engages with you on Facebook?
- Is there a certain type of post type that you try to model?
- What do you want to tell your fans?
- What is an A and R guy?
- What are the odds of making it in music?
- What does it cost to produce a record?
Links and Mentions
- 1100 Springs https://elevenhundredsprings.wordpress.com/
- Hagfish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagfish_(band)
- Tripping Daisy http://www.trippingdaisy.com/
- Toadies http://thetoadies.com/
- Tablet https://www.facebook.com/tabletmusic/
- Max Stalling https://www.facebook.com/MaxStalling/
- Jim Heath The Reverend Horton Heat https://www.facebook.com/reverendhortonheat/
- Jordan Hendrix https://www.facebook.com/jordan.hendrix.7
- Willie Nelson https://www.facebook.com/WillieNelson/
- Johnny Cash http://www.johnnycash.com/
- Tim McGraw https://www.facebook.com/TimMcGraw/
- Garth Brooks https://www.facebook.com/GarthBrooks/
Contact Matt
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/matt1100
- Twitter @matthillyer1 – https://twitter.com/MattHillyer1
- Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/mattcat1100/