Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Miramontes.
Hi Matthew, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started my website (MattsMusicMine.com) in high school based on the fact that no one/publication would hire a 17-year-old writer who focused primarily on album reviews or strictly critique-based writing. So I started out small, doing three album reviews a week, which slowly transitioned into sharing more posts about albums or videos that had come out but I did not want to fully cover in-depth. So that brought the number of posts up from three a week to 21, three streams a day with an album review every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
I then made steps to begin covering concerts with photography based on the fact I was going to around 3-5 shows a week and owned a DSLR. It began with shooting in bars in college and obtaining passes through my site, giving me some connections to eventually start shooting artists like Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, Code Orange, Show Me The Body, The Melvins, A$AP Rocky, and a plethora of other musical heroes to me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest struggle is having the commitment to constantly be at work at a show or always working even when trying to be in a place of relaxation. I’ve taken vacations and worked through them, I’ve gone through college, jobs and been able to work through them on Matt’s Music Mine every step of the way. I haven’t missed a single album review in over five years, that’s a lot of writing on Christmas, during dinners, at parties, and having the laptop and headphones surgically attached to me. It wasn’t entirely hard, but I am a workaholic and spend around 80% of my week either writing, photographing, or posting about music. The other 20% is spent listening to it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in writing, photography, and social media management for my website Matt’s Music Mine. I’m most proud of my photography and the artists that I have been able to meet as well as the community that I have been able to integrate into since starting in Pittsburgh.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
The best advice is to start today, even if that support system is not present. I never really received any love from the people closest to me until I started producing work that was worthy of that. Once you work past that original stage of people doubting that you are serious about your work, that’s when it becomes fulfilling to prove those same people wrong.
Contact Info:
- Email: MattsMusicMine@gmail.com
- Website: MattsMusicMine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattsmusicmine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MattsMusicMine
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattsMusicMine
Image Credits
Personal Photo – Cirsty Burton – @cirstyburton (IG) Portfolio Photos – Matthew Ryan Miramontes – Matt’s Music Mine – @MattsMusicMine
