Three albums and a four-times-platinum single under his belt, wordsmith 360 aka Matt Colwell had become an Aussie household name, and a key player in positioning local rap on the international map. In 2015, however, his promising trajectory was seemingly shattered when his secret battle with codeine addiction was thrust into the spotlight, after he collapsed backstage on tour. Through a series of hard-hitting confessional raps posted to Facebook, 360 transformed his recovery process into a nationwide dialogue, encouraging fans to connect and seek help, consequently propelling himself into a brand new chapter both personally and professionally.
Released last October, Cowell’s fourth opus ‘Vintage Modern’ debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts, garnering critical acclaim for its genre-transcending atmospherics, considered merging of organic and electronic elements, and gut-wrenchingly raw lyricism that has come to define the Melbourne artist’s work.
We spoke to 360 during his national tour with longtime friend and collaborator Pez about overcoming demons and pushing limits to write his most powerful record to date.
Best Before: Did you expect ‘Vintage Modern’ would get the incredible response it has?
360: Honestly, over the last few years, I’ve been through some crazy shit. I honestly thought I had ruined any chance of having a lucrative career in music, so the response has been incredibly overwhelming. I’m so happy with how everything is going.
Has your attitude towards songwriting and your craft changed significantly from ‘What You See Is What You Get’? Is there any added pressure, knowing how many more ears are listening?
Most definitely. I think as a human, and an artist, I’ve evolved so much since that album in so many different ways. ‘WYSIWYG’ was an album I literally recorded in the basement of my parents’ old house. I was sourcing beats online, recording it all myself, and really had no idea how the music industry works. I was very young and didn’t really have an identity as an artist. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to score some amazing success, which had me working exclusively with one of the best producers in the country, Styalz Fuego, to make the next album.
You’ve been working with Styalz for a while – what is it about his approach towards production that you’re drawn to most? How did Styalz, Nic Martin (executive producer) and Carl Dimataga (chief instrumentalist) impact this record?
I learnt so much from him – I thought creating a song was simply having 2-3 16 bar verses and a chorus. He taught me about proper song structure and what it took to really write complete songs. He’s also so diverse. His knowledge of music is incredible and, if you listen to the shit he makes, it’s evident that he listens to literally everything. He has this ability to make any type of music you want to make whilst maintaining a world class standard the whole time. I think that’s why I love working with him so much – because I’m inspired by so much different music, I like incorporating other genres as much as possible. I’ve always considered myself incredibly lucky to work with him. The same goes for Nic and Carl. Having those three team up to help me create an album is a real honour. They’re like a dream team to me.
“I went from playing venues with a 4000 capacity to pubs that were barely half full.”
Nic is one of the hardest working producers I’ve met, and everything he delivers is of such a high standard. He put in so much time into making the album sound the best it could and he mixed the whole album as well. Here’s a guy who works with some of the biggest names in the world, and the fact that he’s willing to dedicate all of his time and energy into making an album with me is crazy. Also, Carl is a fucking genius. He defines integrity. His only mission is to make incredible music with soul. For him, it’s not about trying to top charts. He just wants to make good, real and honest music. He and I have this crazy chemistry that I haven’t had with anyone before. It’s crazy – on almost every song we make together, we create the basis of the song in the first five minutes. He’ll play something on the piano or guitar and I’ll sing some shit and then – boom – we’ve created the foundation of a song literally within 5-10 minutes.
You’ve got some old pals on the new LP, as well as a diverse range of newcomers. How did those first-time collaborations come about?
The majority of the new features have come from us writing a song and sending it to friends in the industry, who then suggested artists they thought would be the most suitable for the song, and then going from there. It’s pretty amazing in this day and age how you can correspond with people over email and make a song together without even meeting in real life. Whilst I love to create music with people in person– I actually prefer it – I think it’s amazing being able to create songs with people who could be on the other side of the world at the same time.
The impact of standalone offerings like “I’m Sorry” has been phenomenal and key to the healing process for so many people. What do you personally feel now listening back to it – has its meaning changed for you?
As I mentioned earlier, after all the shit that I’ve been through over the last few years, I thought I had fucked up my entire career. I had a really bad drug problem which led to an overdose mid-tour, causing me to cancel the rest of the tour (as I talk about in the song). It was so fucked up! All the shows had been amazing, everything was looking good and then – boom – it all turned to shit. Literally one month after getting out of rehab, I went back out on the road trying to re-do the tour, hoping things would be all good. They weren’t. Some shows were great, but overall the ticket sales were so poor that I realised that I had really damaged everything that we had worked so hard to achieve. I went from playing venues with a 4000 capacity to pubs that were barely half full. It was a very harsh reality, and it took a toll on me in so many ways. It was like I had everything I’d dreamed of and overnight I had fucked it all up. It’s almost cliché, right? Even though I felt completely defeated, it also made me incredibly hungry. It lit a fire inside me. I wasn’t going to let this shit ruin me.
I started busting my ass writing so much it was crazy. I always thought I needed the drugs to be creative, but I was easily writing better than I ever had before; I just had to show this to the public. So I just started uploading videos constantly on Facebook. I was writing so much that I was able to upload content consistently, and luckily the videos started to gain traction. At first the views were in the low-thousands but, over the course of six months, they grew to anywhere between 50-100k, which is great. People were starting to take notice. Then a year after I had gotten out of rehab, my mother came and said to me, “You’re one year clean now. I’m so proud of you.” My parents are the best. Something clicked inside me that I needed to write about that whole experience and let people know what really happened and why. When I write about something real that I’ve been through like that, I barely have to think. I just put the music on, sit down and it all spills out extremely quickly.
It was really hard recording the song, though. I was fully breaking down and crying hysterically. I guess I hadn’t really spoken about it, so it was like I was re-living the whole thing all over again. It was extremely cathartic though. I remember talking to Pez about the videos I was uploading. I told him that I had this new one (“I’m Sorry”) that I thought was going to get more views than any of the ones I had uploaded so far. I genuinely thought I’d get about 200k views, which would’ve been amazing. It ended up getting over a million in one day, and is currently still ticking over 13 million. It blew my fucking mind away! It still does, to be honest. I never expected that type of reaction. Honestly, that song was literally the turning point to getting back to where I am now. I feel like people were sort of taking an interest in my music again from the videos I had uploaded, but as soon as “I’m Sorry” dropped, to me it felt like I was officially back. It’s a constant reminder that positives always come from even the most negative shit ever. It also reassures me that making music from the heart is what people really connect with.
Do you find it easier writing songs from your own perspective, or from the experiences of others, like with “Tiny Angel”?
It’s much easier to write about something that I’ve gone through. It always comes out very easily and extremely fast if it’s something I’ve experienced. As for “Tiny Angel”, which is based on something a friend of mine went through, that’s another story. It took me so long to write that one. I had to actually study what happens during pregnancy, childbirth and stillbirths. I had extremely long conversations with a few midwives to learn exactly what happens when something as tragic as that happens. It was one of the hardest songs I’ve ever recorded, too. I recorded it so many times, and it just wasn’t working. The story was there, but I couldn’t simply rap it; I had to deliver it with the same emotion someone would feel after going through it. It took me so long to get it right. I guess it was kinda like method acting in a way – I had to become the person the story was about. It was extremely confronting and hard to do. It’s got nothing on what it’d be like to actually go through it though. My heart goes out to anyone who’s had to experience such a tragic thing.
You remade the album in the week – what was your gut telling you at that time?
So, I had all the songs that I thought were going to be my album. It was basically done, but needed a few more songs. I did one week of writing with Carl, and the three songs we made were so different. My gut was telling me, “This is what the whole album should sound like.” Whilst I love the album I had made – I still intend to release a lot of it over time – I’ve always have this notion in my head that every album should be unique and timeless. I loved it, but the production was heavily influenced by a lot of current hip hop. There were a lot of heavy trap beats etc., and although I love that, music my gut was telling me I needed to make something different and original. I still incorporate a lot of the music I’m influenced by in my rapping, but I feel the production is totally unique and I love that about the album
A lot of people would credit you with playing a huge role in pioneering what Aussie hip hop looks like today. How do you think it’s changed over the last decade?
I feel like for a long time the majority of Australian hip hop was heavily influenced by early ’90s hip hop, which isn’t a bad thing at all. When people would say “Aussie hip hop”, there was a specific sound at that time. Unfortunately though, a lot of people who tried to branch out seemed to cop nothing but hate for some reason. Now the whole spectrum of Australian hip hop is different. I think it’s just evolved naturally. If I had something to do with that, that’s great. I hope I did, because I love hearing people push the envelope and not just stick to a specific formula
The album bounces between stunning acoustic organic sounds, and electronic elements. How did you strike that balance, and keep it all cohesive?
That was mostly Styalz, Nic and Carl’s doing. Having all three involved in producing the album was the perfect dynamic to balance it out the way that it is. They did an incredible job.
What were you listening to while writing this album?
So much different shit – ha! I draw inspiration from all sorts of different music. Hans Zimmer is my favourite artist in the world, so naturally him. I think in songs like “Tiny Angel” and “Admission” you can hear that. A lot of the shit on my playlist is Tame impala, Gnarls Barkley, Tory Lanez, Drake, Future, Kanye, Logic, Stormzy, Krept & Konan, Ty Dolla $ign, Gucci Mane, Vic Mensa, Lil Dicky, Bugzy Malone, Post Malone, The Weeknd, NF, Bruno Mars, and the list goes on!
“I’ve always have this notion in my head that every album should be unique and timeless.”
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt while being in the spotlight?
It’s very easy for fame to distort your reality. It’s so important to keep your friends and family close to you – they’ll keep you grounded. It’s easy to get caught up in all the glamour and glitz, and lose yourself in it. Also, in this day and age, you need to choose your words extremely carefully. You could say something in an interview, and if the journalist wanted to stir shit up they could cherry-pick your words to make you sound like you’re saying something you weren’t saying at all, and paint a very ugly picture of you. More importantly, If you don’t explain something clearly enough, people can take what you say out of context.
Social media is so prominent at the moment so, if you do say something that gets misconstrued, it could blow up in your face and cause some serious problems. They say any publicity is good publicity – that’s fucking bullshit. Most of all though, I believe it’s important to keep a lot of things private. Whilst I’m very much an open book when it comes to talking about my mental health and issues with addiction, there’s also a lot I will never say. You need to keep some things to yourself. Whilst it’s good to be open about certain things, you need to keep a healthy balance, or you won’t have a private life at all
What are your plans for the coming year, in the lead-up to your tour? (Will we see a new rapper tag challenge, perhaps?!)
I want to keep delivering more and more content. From videos, to new songs and home videos of me rapping random verses. The tour is so close now that there’s not much I’ll be able to release, but for the rest of the year I’ve got heaps of plans. Pez and I are going to be dropping a ‘Forthwrite’ project, and I’ve also got about 100 songs I’ve never done anything with that I would love the world to hear. I’ve also got side project I’ve been working on that is a concept album. I won’t say what the concept is just yet, but the music is totally different. I don’t rap on it at all– just sing, and there’s all sorts of different genres like blues, country, pop, and soul. I’m super excited about that. To be honest though, I have no idea when that’ll drop. I just want to keep the ball rolling, and release all this music that’s just sitting there!
360 ‘VINTAGE MODERN TOUR’ DATES
With special guest Pez
Fri 2 March – The Metro – Sydney
Sat 3 March – The Triffid (SOLD OUT) – Brisbane
Sun 4 March – The Triffid – Brisbane
Fri 9 March – The Gov – Adelaide
Sat 10 March – The Astor – Perth
Mon 12 March – The Gov – Adelaide
Fri 16 March – The Forum – Melbourne
Watch the brand new video for “Drugs” here: