Matt FX Feldman, known professionally as Matt FX, wears many hats. After getting his big break as music supervisor for the wildly popular television show “Broad City,” he is now the man behind the soundtracks of a number of hit shows, including the wryly outlandish comedy “Man Seeking Woman” and the Amy Poehler-produced “Difficult People.”
Between shows, Matt FX produces music for several up-and-coming musicians, fronts collaborative artist project Scooter Island and is a popular DJ in Los Angeles, Calif.
Arts & Entertainment spoke with Matt FX about his coveted career path, the joy of collaboration and the importance of lending a favor.
Arts & Entertainment: Did you always want to be a music supervisor?
Matt FX: I never wanted to be a music supervisor, actually. Not that I specifically chose not to want to, I just didn’t realize it was a position that existed. It never really struck me as a viable career path. To tell you the truth, when I was first hired I didn’t even know that was the title of the job... I ordered 500 business cards that said “Music Curator.”
A&E: Did you come from a musical family?
Matt FX: I did, yeah. My father was a conductor and taught music for many, many years in school. As a kid I was somewhat of a professional boy soprano. I went to boarding school from fourth grade to eighth grade where we would sing in church on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and three times on Sundays pretty much every week for five years of my life. From there I went to a school called LaGuardia High School — which is actually the school that the movie “Fame” is based off of — it was a public high school that had all these arts concentrations. I continued to study music there so it was kind of like music in general has been my path my whole life.
A&E: It’s a little hard to imagine the transition from choir boy to “Broad City” supervisor.
Matt FX: I definitely credit going to LaGuardia as what actually got my world opened up for me. I mean, up until that point, I was in school with 33 kids from around the country who, if not from the Bible Belt, were kind of weird and on medication of some sort and obviously, it was a very, very sheltered experience — no television, no social interaction, very little free time. Getting to LaGuardia was like, kids from all walks of life — kids who are so rich their parents would just buy them an apartment across the street from the school and then kids coming from the outer boroughs and from the lowest income brackets, who, you know, are getting up at 5 a.m. to walk to their first class. So that was when I really started to immerse myself in hip hop and DIY rock and eventually electronic music.
A&E: Do you credit having eclectic music tastes for your success in the field?
Matt FX: Definitely, not only do I credit taste but I credit [branching out] so late. I think so many people develop allegiances in middle school and carve out a taste that essentially has to do with their social circle — just to generalize. Having discounted a lot of that, I was getting introduced to some of the better bands of my high school days and at the same time getting introduced to A Tribe Called Quest and Nelly for the first time. And so when you kind of come into it with an open ear — come into all of that at the same time — I think is what’s allowed me to sort of stay diversified.
A&E: Switching gears into what you do now, what does a typical day look like for you?
Matt FX: I could be in the office anywhere from two to three hours to six to eight hours, and that has more to do with how much work there is in terms of episodes. Generally on the show there are two to three editors, each juggling three to four episodes for a season. So we’re working on them at different paces, and each episode goes through three or four different cuts that get sent out to producers, directors, show writers, the network and all these different people who kind of sound off — I’m sort of at the mercy of the point at which an episode is in its cut. ...It also depends on how quickly I can find a song and how difficult the scene is to match. But other than that I’m producing a few different artists right now, in terms of actually making music.”
A&E: Did you start producing music before you started as a supervisor, or was it connections from that which allowed you to move into producing?
Matt FX: It’s interesting because I’ve been songwriting and producing since high school, but it’s never really been confidently until after I was a supervisor. So, it was definitely the type of thing that I always wanted to do and was always tempted to do, but it wasn’t until after season one of “Broad City” that I felt comfortable actually starting to put music out into the world.
A&E: Does your level of creative control vary between projects?
Matt FX: As a supervisor, I’ve pretty much always been the sole supervisor creatively on a project, but I love hearing what’s in the show writers’ heads. I love hearing the editor’s recommendations. I think that is when it gets to the point where I’m practically working with another supervisor. Assuming you get along with people, I can’t wait to work on something like that. Then as an artist, as a DJ, collaboration is key.
A&E: So it sounds like in your television work you don’t just get the final version of a show and add music to it, it’s more of an iterative process — is that correct?
Matt FX: Oh yeah, a lot of the scenes wind up being quite rhythmic in nature, and it’s easier for an editor to get it tightened up into its final form having a song to build around it. Especially on a show like “Broad City” where the beat will run throughout the entire scene — where once they have it, it almost becomes magnetic, and the picture comes into place; whereas before, it’ll have a looser form.
A&E: Do you have any new or upcoming projects you can talk about?
Matt FX: Very recently I was in L.A. working on a film that’s going to be coming straight to iTunes this summer. It’s called “Dirty Thirty.” It stars three incredible ladies named Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart and Hannah Hart, as well as a bunch of pretty well-known people from the Vine and YouTube world. It’s kind of a raucous sort of house party movie. It almost reminds me of what Disney Channel Original Movies used to be but for teenagers rather than for kids. It definitely has the feel that you could watch it with a younger sibling and it will totally translate for both of you. Musically, it was fun to work on a house party movie that’s sort of wall-to-wall music. I’m working on “Difficult People” season two right now and that’ll be out a little later this year as well. On the music side, there’s an artist who I was originally introduced to last year on a project called Scooter Island, her name is Synead and she’ll be putting out her first solo single in a couple months, as well.
A&E: So, is there any advice you’d give to someone who wants to go into your field?
Matt FX: You know, it’s weird, because so many people have asked me over the years how to become supervisor and most of the time I give them some version of the answer “When I find out, I’ll tell you.” If I’ve seen anything to be true of my life and the opportunities I’ve been given, it’s that idea of accepting all side-quests. You never know when something is going to lead to something that’s going to lead to the biggest opportunity you’ve ever had. You never know who just being nice to once or twice, being generous to — you never know how that’s going to come back to you. In general, if I don’t have to ask for something in return, I’d rather not. Because I feel like the intangible return that will come eventually is so much greater than some sort of nitpicky deal that you might make. I think as long as you can meet your luck halfway and keep an open mind, keep an open ear, keep an open heart, it’ll come.
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