Nashville-based alternative rock artist, The F-use, announced the release of the long-awaited single, ‘Chaser‘. Matthew Estevez, the sole writer and performer behind the The F-use, had a unique break into the alternative scene after joining Reddit’s r/IndieMusicFeedback.
The F-use’s previous single, ‘For The Love Of God‘, received Best Alternative Rock Song and also earned Estevez the Best Male Vocalist Of The Year in the subreddit’s version of the Grammy’s. After being crossposted in r/Teenagers, the post went viral, garnering over 34,000 upvotes and 1,348 awards, raising the singles stream count on Spotify by over 5,000 within 48 hours. Estevez continues to capture the attention of those on the ‘front page of the internet’, as a side-by-side panel video of Estevez performing ‘Chaser‘ has remained the top post in r/IndieMusicFeedback for the past two months, and has become the third top post of all time.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with The F-use about the music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born in Florida and spent the first nine years of my life there, then spent nine years in North Carolina, I’ve been in Nashville since. I consider myself to be “from” Florida and North Carolina; experiences from both have shaped my life and why I write music. I struggle a lot with that whole genre thing, I usually just tell people my influences and that does a better job. Foo Fighters, The Beatles, Nirvana, System of a Down, Queens of the Stone Age, The White Stripes. I feel like they all shine through a bit in the music I put out.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I definitely attribute my love (sometimes obsession) with music to my mom and brother. From always having The Beatles and Nirvana playing growing up to being introduced to punk by my brother, I got the best of the best. And honestly, Pandora really helped shape my music taste throughout middle and high school. I fell in love with Ingrid Michaelson and The Shins because of Pandora.
What really rocketed my path in music was (in full honesty) Rockband, Guitar Hero, and Beatles Rockband. I would turn on ‘no fail mode’ on Beatles Rockband and sit behind my moms old drum set and pretend I was playing the game, but on real drums. Then when I got a hold of basic rhythms and playing along to music, I’d load up my iPod with songs I loved and played along to them.
What keeps me going is not any number of streams or “I was put on this Earth to do this” sort of story; it’s the hope of impacting someone the way music has impacted (and saved) me.
When I put my first album out last October I had written about things that I had never really talked about before. A few weeks after it was out, somebody messaged me saying that they always felt isolated in their situation, and that hearing some of those songs really made them feel heard and understood.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
I wanted to push myself as far as I could for this song, specifically vocally. Whenever I record vocals, I do a few takes and kind of accept that it’s good enough. The vocals for this song took about 2 weeks; I was screaming as hard as I could for each line and basically threw my voice out after 3 or 4 lines.
I didn’t have any specific goal or big payoff emotionally for this one; I released a “pour my heart out” album last October and this song was meant to be a high energy rock song.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The fact that music is so easy to create and release all from your bedroom is one of the greatest things ever. But with that comes a ton of white noise and a substantially bigger crowd to wade through. As a listener, I love the fact that I can listen to music I would have never discovered if it weren’t for the internet and accessible streaming platforms.
As an artist genuinely trying to make a stable career out of it – it’s pretty rough. Not only is not being able to make any money off of streams rough, it’s the fact that fans rarely pay for music anymore. The accessibility and cheap subscription to listen to virtually any song in history has taught the world that art shouldn’t cost more than whatever $5-10 subscription they currently have.
On the flip side, I’ve made a countless amount of good friends and met so many talented musicians and artists from the internet. Specifically from Reddit, I joined this subreddit called ‘Indie Music Feedback’, which allows you to post after you comment feedback on five songs. I had two songs perform well on that group, and ended up joining their Discord server and now participate in their events and connect with other members.
What was the last song you listened to?
Days Go By by May Erlewine chefs kiss.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
It honestly depends what kind of mood I’m in. If I want to jam out at 11 I’d prefer CDs or MP3s; I don’t think I’ve been able to successfully turn up vinyl loud enough without it skipping. I usually put on some vinyl as background noise during the day if I’m not doing anything important. My go-to rotation is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles and Skin and Bones Foo Fighters live album.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or omething else? Why?
As much as I hate the treatment Apple Music and Spotify has towards artists, the convenience is something I just can’t pass up. I wish Bandcamp had a better library and streaming system, because I would 100% use that all of the time.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
I’m most active on my Instagram @the_f_use_official, and you can send me a message about anything! You can find my music under The F-use on all of the streaming platforms – Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, Tidal, Bandcamp, all that fun stuff.
Anything else before we sign off?
I’ve started my journey trying to learn how to make the best enchiladas, so if you have any recipes or suggestions, please let me know 🙂
