Meet Matt Brewster | Bass player, percussionist, producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Brewster and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Interesting question. I think risk, in life, is absolutely necessary. We can’t truly grow as people and professionals without taking risks. Like they say, “no risk, no reward” right? As a musician, my entire career is basically a risk haha! There’s not really an outline or a career pathway to follow. There aren’t annual raises, paths to promotion, sick days, vacation days, or any guarantees what so ever. Not having paid time off is a huge one as a musician because I even have to pay extra special attention to other activities that I engage in. If I were to injure my hands, wrists, or arms, I would not be able to play nor earn. So in short, my whole life could go up in smoke at any moment, and I’d say that makes me a pretty big risk taker.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well, I’m a professional musician! I play bass (sometimes percussion) for many bands and artists in the PNW. A short list of projects include: Hiroki, Laryssa Birdseye, RainEzra, Alana Rich, The AM, Jacob Westfall, Dune Laila, to name a few… Currently, what I’m most excited about is a new song from my original project, Hiroki. The song is called “Try” and features my close friend and band mate, RainEzra. We released the studio version on 3/1/2024 and you can certainly find it anywhere you stream music. It’s an R&B joint about giving love a fair chance. But what’s more exciting is that we took the song, gathered a group of 11 musicians, and made a single take live recording of it and shot a video at the same time. It’s honestly a dream come true. It was recorded at an absolutely gorgeous studio space, Page St. Sound Labs in Portland, OR and filmed in one shot by Djenesis Media. The regular song is fantastic, but the live version really elevated it so much… it’s juicy, and the video is so warm with so much movement, it really captures the live feel. We’re using it as our first submission ever to NPR’s Tiny Desk competition. I couldn’t be more proud of how it came out. The live version officially released on 3/15/2024 and you can watch the video on YouTube or listen wherever you stream music.
As far as where I’m at professionally, it was a long road with many challenges unique to me. I was born with amniotic band syndrome. Basically, I was tired up with the umbilical cord in the womb, so now I’m missing 4 fingers on my right hand, 2 misshaped fingers on my left hand, and I’m missing my right leg from my knee down. If you can picture my hands, you can probably see why playing bass is a challenge. But of course I have worked very hard and have had a “no quit” attitude, and because of that, I can now play at what I think is a pretty high capacity. Between overcoming that and overcoming a 5 year heroin addiction in my 20’s, I’ve learned that life and what’s achievable is all a matter of perspective, attitude, and power of will. Sometimes you have to ask yourself how bad you want something. If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way. One thing I’d love to be is an example of that. One of my life’s missions is to inspire people to do the things they want to do even if they have things about themselves that they see as shortcomings. Because here’s the thing, sometimes you might surprise yourself. Sometimes, those “shortcomings” and turn into incredible assets. There’s not a person I’ve met that plays the bass the way I do, and I owe a lot of that to my unique hands!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Great question! One of the greatest joys in my life is good food, so a lot of that week would be focused on building the itinerary around my favorite restaurants. We’d mix it up too! Pho, pizza, KBBQ, Indian, Mediterranean, Pit BBQ, Mexican. You name it! It’s hard to shout out specific places because I have a love affair with many establishments, but you can bet that we’ll be eating good! That’s one thing about Portland… it doesn’t seem to specialize in anything particular, but it has fantastic options no nature what type of cuisine you’re after. Aside from food, we’d have to see some nature. Portland is so lucky to be within 2 hours of some seriously gorgeous hikes, waterfalls, beaches, mountains… even the city parks like Mt. Tabor are fantastic. Washington park would also be on the list. There’s a bunch of beautiful gardens to check out and a really nice zoo where they take good care of animals that wouldn’t otherwise make it in the wild. Music would certainly be on that list as a large portion of my friends are musicians and I like to show them off!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are honestly so many people I should shout out. Everyone I meet plays a role in shaping who I am personally and professionally. But two people come to mind who are a huge support in what I do. First would be my long time friend and band mate, Laryssa Birdseye. She’s tough as nails, hilarious, and a crazy talented singer. She does a lot for me in terms of morale. When I’m feeling low, she knows how to pick my spirits up. She’s also gone to great lengths to get me out of my shell when I feel closed off. I can’t forget to mention that she bullied me (playfully?) Into having a better sense of style, so I suppose I’m grateful for that too. She is certainly my chosen family. Another person that I’d like to shout out is one of my best friends and band mates, Salvatore Manalo. He’s a shining example of a truly good person. This man is a father and a husband, works full time on top of making music full time, and somehow has time for it all. And he’s always the proud owner of the most positive attitude out of anyone I know. Though his life is jam packed full of life things, he’s never not been there for me to pick up the slack when I’m overwhelmed. He’s a great friend. I couldn’t do life without Laryssa and Sal.

Website: Solo.to/phunkybrewster

Instagram: @phunky.brewster

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/PtRowjyyXPGXWhep/?mibextid=qi2Omg

Other: Tiktok @phunky.brewster

Image Credits
DJ Biersack – Djenesis Media