Samantha Margret
I LOVE Samantha Margret’s new single “Matthew McConaughey”. It’s fun, catchy and pop. I think my favorite part of this song is the production as well as the hook melody. “Matthew McConaughey” is an instant smash.
Congrats Samantha on this new banger and thank you for this great conversation :)
“Matthew McConaughey” is out now !!
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
My second name, Margret, is after my great grandmother. I never met her, but from what I’ve heard, she was a powerful woman even to the point of harshness. I’ve healed some generational trauma around the harshness, but I like to think I kept a piece of her power. I write music for the girl who wants to own her body and her story. That’s me too, so I’m always hoping the music that moves and delights me will connect with others. And, on my days off from healing generational trauma and reclaiming power, I like big sweaters and my black cat.
When did you start making music and writing songs?
I started writing songs when I was really little. My parents got me a tape recorder that I would carry around school singing. I don’t know if I ever really listened back to those snippets, but I would get in the backseat at the end of the day and just ache for someone to listen to the little melody I had written and ask “what song is that?” I wanted them to think it was a “real song.” In some ways, I think I’m still trying to fulfill that childhood ache.
When did you know you could sing?
My dad used to sing me to sleep at night. He had a list of classic country songs that he would loop through. On nights when I got in bed on time I was allowed to make requests. Singing has always felt like comfort for me. It’s what I do when I can’t sleep, when I’m lonely, when I feel free. In elementary school, I had a friend who took voice lessons, which is how I got into a more formal education in music. I feel really lucky that my first voice teacher, Judith May, was encouraging of my songwriting as a vehicle for practice. She knew that if I learned songs that were fun for me and had space to make music that excited me I would keep growing technically as well.
At what point did you know you were good at what you were doing?
Haha some days I still don’t know! I have a line in a song I’m working on production for now that says “some days I feel like a f*cking genius. Some days I feel like shit.” I think that’s the human condition though. When we pursue something we care about, sometimes it’s a high and other times it’s heartbreaking. When I started making what I wanted to make rather than trying to copy what I liked, that was a turning point for me. There’s a real power and confidence in making something that you know some people won’t like. Those songs always make me feel like a real artist.
What gave you the confidence to be an artist and release your original music?
For me, releasing music is all about bravery, and bravery requires fear. It’s hard to put yourself out there. I talk a lot about being a woman in my music, and I also talk about power. There are people who do not like those two things when combined, and the internet creates a great place for them to let me know anonymously. Facing that kind of judgement and hate is hard. Harder still is facing the judgement and shame that I’ve inherited from my culture and life experience. When I release music, I prove to myself over and over again that I can weather that judgement and keep doing what I love. That gives me a sense of my own strength.
What biggest lessons have you learned since the beginning of your career?
I have made so many mistakes and learned so many lessons that it’s tough to narrow down. Choosing collaborators and communities based on trust is a big one. In the music industry, and in a lot of other industries for that matter, it can be tempting to choose the people we align ourselves with based on their resume or their level of notoriety. But, I’ve found that the most fruitful relationships are also the ones where I feel safe. If I trust someone and they trust me, we can make great work together regardless of our fame or resources. I also think having hard, honest conversations about money is a more recent skill for me. When I was first starting out, I didn’t know how much things should cost. I didn’t know the value of my own time, and I was afraid that I would offend people if I spoke too openly about money. Now, it’s a lot easier for me to be up front. Everyone should get paid, or have a reasonable expectation that the work they are doing will eventually result in fair compensation. It’s hard to uphold that standard in an industry where the artists and writers are not paid fairly by streaming services. It sometimes feels like “but I don’t get paid what my time is worth so I can’t pay other people what their time is worth,” but that just leads to all of us clawing for pennies. I’ve learned to have an abundance mindset around resources, which allows me to speak honestly about what I have to give and what I feel I should receive.
"Matthew McConaughey" is your new single - what's the inspiration behind this song? When did you start working on it?
Yes! At the beginning of the pandemic, a friend of mine had a dream that we were going to Hillary Duff’s birthday party, and, on the way, we stopped at Kim Kardashian’s house for a pre-party interview. My friend texted me about it and said, “so I guess you’re famous in my dreams.” Sometimes when friends send me funny text messages I’ll write them a song and send back a voice memo. That’s how this song was born. The voice memo just seemed to stick around. My family loved it, so I made a demo and shared it with some songwriter friends. At the time, I was doing Friday night live streams (along with every other cooped up musician in the country). I could tell this song was a keeper because people would dance—like get up and wiggle in front of their computer screens alone in their houses. From there, the song became a passion project. It’s brought a lot of laughter in a stressful time. The “alright, alright, alright” post-chorus actually came before the title. I was listening back one day and just realized, “oh, it has to be called Matthew McConaughey.” His free spirited energy totally fit the vibe of the song.
Could you describe the songwriting/production for this single?
The songwriting happened pretty quickly after that text. As far as production goes, I like to demo things out and work on production on my own for a while before bringing anyone else in on the project. This song had a bass line and a lot of the vocal percussion and ad libs in it for a long time before it got to Matty Marz, who produced it out fully. Matty and I talked about it being quirky and fun, and I think they nailed that. I try to choose the producer that I think would be the best fit for the spirit of the song, and then I let their creativity loose. That’s definitely what we achieved here. Then, my mix engineer, Yang Tan, and my mastering engineer, Piper Payne, just make it sparkle. They’re the seasoning that really makes the flavor pop.
What's your favorite thing about this song?
My favorite thing about this song is singing the line, “and they all did fingerpaints.” I’ve written a lot of silly lines in a lot of oddball songs, but that one just makes me giggle every time. Finger painting has to be one of the most free kinds of art, and that line captures that messy, joyful feeling for me.
What made you want to release "Matthew McConaughey" as a single?
2021 was a year of singles for me. I wanted a single to close out the year that felt like a party. The past two years had their fare share of turmoil, and I felt like we all deserved to dance.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
Artwork is always a struggle for me. I love sound. I’m an auditory person. Visuals don’t come as naturally. As an independent artist, there’s no graphics team. Of course, my team weighs in, and my family has a lot of opinions, but, ultimately, I choose the artwork. With this single, I went back and forth between a bunch of ideas to try to capture the attitude of the song. Ultimately, I landed on this idea that I would glue printouts of Matthew McConaighey’s face from Dazed and Confused (which is the movie where is says his iconic, “alright, alright, alright”) onto some press on nails and figure something out from there. My mom was the one who suggested sunglasses as a way to get my face into the shot.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The hardest part is growing in public. There’s so much to learn, and I know that I’m learning it by making mistakes in front of people.
The best part is the feeling when I make something that surprises me. There’s a magic when I write a song or produce a beat that I didn’t know I had in me. Those are the moments I live for.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I could talk for way longer than you’d enjoy about the music industry. I think giant companies don’t value the people who make the products they sell. The gatekeepers are often people who are good at social media or networking rather than music. On the other hand, independent artists can accomplish so much that used to be controlled exclusively by labels thanks to those same giant companies, and social media and networking help us all to reach our audience. I see some of those injustices as the flip side of great ingenuity and progress, so I’m not sure I would know how to change them without breaking a lot of good stuff too.
I think the thing I would change has less to do with the music industry specifically and more to do with our cultural bias. The music industry is notorious for its exclusion of women and people of color, but, of course, that bias lives in way more places than just our industry. I still walk into venues and have men try to explain my own gear to me. I’ve been on co-writes where my male co-writer thinks it’s a date and is super unprofessional. I have a team built primarily of women and non binary folks and I see how they are overlooked and underpaid in comparison to less talented men. So, if I could snap my fingers and change one thing, I would make the music industry equally accessible to all talented and hard working people.
What advice would you give to artists?
Find people who believe in you and invite them to tell you what you’re doing wrong. The people who truly want to see you succeed are not going to shower you with praise all the time for every project. They will have real opinions that help you grow. Their applause will be heartfelt but so will their critique. We need to grow way more than we need to be good already. Once you have those people, you can ignore everyone else.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
I’m repeating myself now, but, if I could snap my fingers and change one thing, I would make opportunities equally accessible to all talented and hard working people. Those people would do the rest.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
I think the main message I want to deliver is that all of our feelings and ways of being deserve space. Just like our music library can have heartbreak songs, dance songs, love songs, peaceful songs, etc., our lives have room for a whole experience. Whoever you are, whatever you’re feeling, there’s enough space.
Connect with Samantha: