We caught up with Gaynor alumnus Matthew Wang ’09 for a remote interview from his dormitory in Berlin, where he is currently studying abroad.
Tell us about your life after Gaynor
After graduating from Gaynor in 2009, I went to York Prep and then enrolled in New York University’s Music Technology program. I then transferred to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music within NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. I’ve been having an incredible time learning about what it means to be a music entrepreneur. The program focuses on teaching music business, production, songwriting, music technology, journalism, and more so I can be a well-rounded, well-educated individual in the ever-evolving music industry.
Right now, I work as a guitar teacher, music technician/live sound guy who has worked as a tech for the Foo Fighters at an Irving Plaza show in NY; I am a writer for audio magazine SonicScoop; and I am a YouTuber who started a channel in high school that now has over 1 million views.
How has your involvement in performing arts helped you be successful or given you confidence in other areas?
I used to be a very shy person and music really helped me gain confidence in talking to others. A lot of my social skills have come through my involvement in music and funny enough I learned a lot about meeting people by emailing guitar companies I wanted to be an endorsed artist for. Music has also taught me about how to take on good work habits, stay organized, and have fun doing what I want to do. Even now in college, I write a lot about music for psychology and English classes. In my toughest class during my freshman year, Writing The Essay, I wrote my final essay on Guns N’ Roses and got an A. In the near future I might be interning for a member of the band!
Why did you get involved in performing arts?
My parents had tried giving me piano lessons and violin lessons, but I actually didn’t particularly enjoy either at the time. I remember my first passion was actually in cooking and then later, when I was at Gaynor, photography.
I think my musical path was set one Christmas morning when I was 11 and my brother and I were taking turns playing the newly opened Guitar Hero III video game. I fell in love with the music in that game and started listening to bands like Guns N’ Roses, Foghat, The Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, and Aerosmith. I saw the point when my brother was much better at the game than me so I said to myself “I’ll show him!” and asked my mom to bring her closet guitar out of retirement. My mom taught me my first couple of chords and for that I will be eternally grateful.
How did Stephen Gaynor School support your passion in the arts?
I still remember taking photography classes with Mr. Gaynor. I remember the music teacher at Gaynor at the time teaching us about Jimi Hendrix and Woodstock. I even remember the excitement of building my own video game in one of the after school classes. All of these things contributed to my growth as an artist.
What about involvement in performing arts would you say is particularly important for people with LD?
Music for me is part expression part community. You need to learn how to express yourself in at least one medium whether it’s drawing, playing an instrument, rapping, singing, videography, comedy, or whatever.
When you find someone else who works in a similar artistic medium, you want to work together and encourage each other to grow. Sometimes when you know you have a LD, it can be discouraging to do homework that seems harder for you than others and then sometimes you might question the homework itself and wonder, why do I even need to be in school? Music made me feel like I was part of a larger community.
Who inspires or inspired you?
As I’ve grown older, I appreciate my parents more and more. I owe them everything for their support and love.
Musically my biggest inspirations right now are:
- Vlad Holiday from the band Born Cages
- Mark Foster from Foster The People
- Phil X who now plays guitar in Bon Jovi but I followed him years before when he was a “YouTube Guitarist”
- Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters
- The Chainsmokers
What advice would you give to current Gaynor students about following their passion for music or drama?
If you love it, do it.
I think back at all the hours spent practicing guitar. A light estimate would be that I played guitar at least 2 hours a day from age 12-18 which means from that time I’d played/practiced 5,000+ hours. 5,000 hours is also equivalent to 208 days in a row. If you don’t love what you’re doing, that would be torturous amount of time “wasted.” I’m actually really grateful for all those hours of work now. The point is, you can make a career out of what you like doing.
My other bit of advice is to always be curious and always ask questions. Mr. Beich would tell you that I didn’t like asking questions when I was at Gaynor because I felt like it would show that I was stupid because I didn’t know something. One big piece of advice I can give you is that I’ve found that knowledge isn’t knowing everything, but rather it’s knowing what you don’t know.
Matt sent us a demo of a new guitar piece he is working on called “River” — listen below!