Matt Fishel is a British singer, songwriter, music producer and record label owner. He plays guitar, piano, bass and keyboards. He grew up in Nottingham in the East Midlands in the late 1990s, going on to study Music and Performing Arts at Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) in the early 2000s, before moving to London, UK, where he currently lives.
Music and style
Fishel's music spans several genres including rock, punk rock and pop punk and draws on influences from modern American rock, college rock, alternative rock, indie rock and pop music. He grew up listening to Prince and Madonna and, as a teenager, discovered punk and hardcore, which inspired him to want to write songs. Fishel has cited a range of musical influences including American rock bands Jimmy Eat World, Boysetsfire, Green Day, UK rock acts Skunk Anansie. and Funeral for a Friend, as well as pop artists Prince, Madonna, Björk, Seal, Annie Lennox and Pet Shop Boys.
Fishel is openly gay and he is candid and open about his sexuality in the lyrics of his songs. Themes of love, lust, sexuality and education run through his work. His songs and lyrics frequently deal with the "joys, pains and experiences of growing up as a gay teenager and young man".
British actor and writer Stephen Fry has described Fishel's music as "gloriously gay, sweetly romantic, wonderfully touching".
Career
2010–2012
In 2010, Fishel launched his own record label, Young Lust Records, which he runs from his London studio. Tired of being advised by major labels to remove all the references to other men from his songs, Fishel set up his own record label to retain artistic freedom so he would not have to compromise on his music and lyrics.
Fishel's debut single "Football Song" was released worldwide by Young Lust Records on 7 June 2010, with artwork by Italian comic book illustrator Jacopo Camagni. The official music video for "Football Song" is directed by Dan Shipton and features Fishel reminiscing about a crush on the captain of the school football team and performing the song alongside a team of dancing footballers. The fictional football team in the video comprises both professional dancers and members of Stonewall F.C., Britain's first and top-ranking gay football team. Attitude magazine called the song "our 2010 World Cup Anthem" and Fishel's fan base started to grow further after Stephen Fry publicly praised the song and video on Twitter. The video for "Football Song" won the Best Video So Far award at the 2012 RightOut TV Music & Video Awards.
Fishel's second single "The First Time" was released on 7 November 2011. It was released as a three-track single, including two club remixes from Amsterdam remixer and producer Matt Pop. The official music video for "The First Time" was shot in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is directed by Argentinian film director Alexis Dos Santos (Glue, Unmade Beds, Random Strangers). The video was filmed on location in Argentina and tells the story of the first kiss between two teenage boys. The boys are played by Argentinian actors Juan Gabriel Miño and Ronan Nuñez. Fishel does not appear in the video in person, but his image is displayed on one of the boys' T-shirts. Reviews for the song and its accompanying video were positive. Instinct Magazine called it "one of the most adorable music videos we've seen in a long time" and Out magazine's Jon Roth referred to the song as "an empowering soundtrack" and "A music video that will make you want to be a teenager all over again". The Sydney Star Observer called the video "stunning".
In 2012, Fishel released two further singles. The first was "Behind Closed Doors", a "driving pop-rock song" that deals with themes of homophobia and hypocrisy. Released on 9 April 2012, the song went on to win the 2012 Song of the Year award at the 2012 RightOutTV Music & Video Awards.