Born in Baltimore, Maryland the son of a North Carolina church organist, Matt grew up with music and spent many hours as a child creating music on his father's piano because he did not know how to read music until many years later. He began songwriting at age 9. He failed as a piano student because he was more interested in writing than in learning from classical masters. The failures at piano led him to the guitar.

While in college at the University of Maryland, he was a member of the obscure D.C. band, Trina 90, and, eventually, split with the trio to pursue solo writing. In the mid-90's, he met Harriet Schock who recognized his raw talent and spent several years mentoring him on how to drive images and stories into his lyrics. Recently, he has played at many small clubs throughout Los Angeles.