🎙️Beyond the Noise: Episode 6

BEYOND THE NOISE FROM ARROWHEALTH
Podcast Transcript: Sober On Stage: Finding Clarity in the Noise of Fame & Addiction
Featuring: Bec (Host), Josh (Co-host), and Matt (Guest)
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TOBY VO: This is Beyond the Noise from Arrow Health. Real voices, raw stories, and the truth about addiction, recovery, and life.

BEC: Today we are joined by Matt. Matt is not only the lead singer of King Parrot, but he is an amazing human who I have the pleasure of working with and Josh has the pleasure of working with and who has achieved recovery and has come a long way on his journey. So welcome, thank you very much.

MATT: Thanks for having me. Appreciate you.

BEC: It’s really our pleasure to have you. So I guess we would love to hear about your journey and especially, I guess what’s unique for you is that you live this famous life, as I always say, that you’re a celebrity and you’re famous and you’ve managed to achieve recovery in that space. In a space that I would imagine is quite difficult to achieve that. So where did it all start for Matt?

MATT: Well, I guess I always like enjoyed playing music, that was something that I’ve done since I was probably 8 or 9. I was always drawn to music from a really young age,. But I started playing guitar and stuff when I was maybe about eight or nine. Then I kind of stopped for a bit. I was, like learning basic songs and chords and, all that basic guitar stuff. And then when I was about 13 or 14, I kind of picked up playing bass guitar just because I wasn’t a very good guitarist and I felt bass was going to be easier and I wanted to be in a band,. So that was the thing for me. And so, yeah, I joined a band and there was a gig happening.

MATT: There was a gig happening in Wood End. Yeah, at the Wood End Community Centre. And I just wanted to play at the gig,. So I got a band together to play at the gig and got a few guys from school together and we played first at this gig and that was the whole idea of it,. And then we just kept going from there.

BEC: How old were you then?

MATT: I was, I think I was about 14, I think when we played that show.

BEC: Yeah, okay.

MATT: At the Wood End Community Centre of all places and. But, like, I guess for me that’s sort of around that time and just after is sort of when my journey with addiction stuff started as well,. And so it kind of went hand in hand with the music thing, which was. Which was challenging sort of to navigate probably for the best part of about 15 years. Yeah, so.

BEC: So you’re about 15 when you first picked up?

MATT: Yeah, it’s about 14 or 15, I definitely alcohol much younger.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: Yeah, probably. Well before that even.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: But, yeah, as I started, messing around, smoking pot and stuff like that, around that age, and. And I guess probably from the age of about 15, 16, till when I was about 30, when I got clean, I pretty much used every day either alcohol or drugs.

JOSH: Yeah.

BEC: So, yeah. Yeah. And when did it, I guess, become out of hand?

MATT: But probably when I started, like, probably when I was about 15 or 16. You know, my. My memories of that sort of was that, I mean, even the first time I ever drank, I just kept going and I just enjoyed the feeling of that escapism. But I think when I dropped out of high school, around 16, and my earliest memories of that sort of stuff is, I was smoking pot all the time, every day. And then I used to drink and drink too, and I’d get blackout drunk. Yeah, all. Every time.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: You know, drink a bottle of whiskey or whatever. At that young, kind of happy until I was, kind of unconscious.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: Yeah.

BEC: So it was go hard or go home, pretty much.

MATT: Yeah. And then I really, as I got older, I realised that the harder drugs and the speed and all of that stuff would, keep me awake so I would be able to drink more or smoke more pot. And it was. When I look back at it, I kind of think I was just trying to feel normal.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: You know, I just wanted to feel normal, but I hate to feel. I hated being straight. So I was just sort of, the pot would get you down and then the booze would bring you up a bit. And then once I discovered the, like, harder drugs that, it was just. It was just like this balancing act all the time,.

JOSH: So with that, like, what do you think you were trying to escape? Like, what did you hate about being. Feeling normal?

MATT: Yeah, that’s a good question. I don’t really know, to be honest. Like, I’ve. I guess. I don’t know, I felt like maybe. I felt like maybe I’d let my parents down a little bit or I felt like. And I guess I felt this sort of neglect a little bit from when I was. From when I was younger. It’s. Yeah, it’s sort of hard to say. Yeah, I really don’t know, to be honest. But all I knew was that I just loved that escapism. But I guess it was a pivotal thing around that time in my life. My parents sort of split up when I was about 15. And that just gave me like a free pass just to go crazy.

BEC: Yeah, My. My parents are splitting up. That’s it.

MATT: That’s it. Yeah.

BEC: I can just.

MATT: I’m just gonna do. And then that’s when I. My, like my foot really went down on the pedal and I just went for it. Yeah. So that was kind of. That was my get out of jail free card. I was just like, I’ve got an excuse now and I can just go as. As hard as I want. And, I grew up in Wood End in a little town, and as soon as I had the opportunity to get out of there, I just went to Melbourne and that was. And then I was gone, I was off.

BEC: Yeah, yeah. And so were you playing in bands and stuff then?

MATT: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I played. I played in lots of different bands in Melbourne, but I guess.

BEC: And so everything was totally socially acceptable then in your circle. It was completely like one was looking at you in any different way because it was.

MATT: Everyone was doing it exactly right. So Yeah, and the thing was is that, I loved playing music and I loved going to rehearsals and I love playing gigs and all that sort of stuff, but it was just completely overrun by my using, so that was the priority. And then the music stuff was always sort of second to that. So while I was in bands and while I was, playing gigs and stuff, I wasn’t able to kind of do what I really wanted to do because I was so impaired all the time. You know, I wasn’t. I felt it was like. I often say it was like. It was like I acted like I was in Guns N Roses or something, taking all the drugs and all that sort of stuff, but didn’t have the ability or the.

MATT: The commitment to the craft or anything like that. I just live that life.

BEC: Yeah. Because that, again, gave you permission. Like you. It’s like from your parents divorce to then the lifestyle you were living, you were like constantly getting these free passes to do these things because of your environment.

MATT: Right.

BEC: And when did, like, King Parrot come about?

MATT: So that was sort of like. That was a bit like. That was later, like, probably when I was about 29 and, I felt like I’d, used from when I was about 25. I remember having like a really pivotal moment where I got really honest with my mum and told her what I’d been doing and all the drugs that I’d been taking and all the stuff.

BEC: So she had no clue.

MATT: Well, I kind of Just kept everyone at an arm’s length, I was in Melbourne, I’d kept everyone at a distance. So she had probably had an idea, but not the extent of the use. And so I guess probably, maybe from that point until I was like, 30, when I did actually get clean, I was kind of doing it against my will and wanting to stop but not knowing how to stop. And I always had this desire to do it, but then I just couldn’t. I didn’t understand the whole one day at a time thing. I didn’t understand any of that stuff. It was like, I’d wake up in the morning, I’d be like, yeah, I want to be clean today. But then if someone called me at lunchtime and said, hey, you want to get on? I’d get on. Yeah,.

MATT: So going back to your question with King Parrot, that was like, right, sort of towards the end of my using, when we sort of started first doing, jamming and doing demos and stuff like that. So it was sort of. It did sort of start with me using, but as it went on and like, I think maybe the first gig we played, I think it was just down the road here in St Kilda at the Greyhound Hotel, which is. I don’t think it’s there anymore, but. But I was. I think I was still using then. And then we sort of had a break for a bit of about a year and then we sort of got back to. Got, like, sort of regrouped.

MATT: I’d actually moved to Copenhagen for a year in an effort to try and get clean, but I just got worse and worse. And that’s tried that geographical thing, you.

BEC: Know, that was your thing. I’m going to move because I had someone speaking to me the other day about a loved one and their loved one’s answer was, yeah, I’m going to. I can’t remember where they were going to go overseas and they were going to get clean overseas and I did. I had a bit of a giggle and I’m like, well, that’s not. Yeah, it’s just not gonna work.

MATT: No, that didn’t work for me at all. Yeah, yeah, I did that twice in my. In my twenties and neither time it worked. But when I got back, though, I sort of had this really strong desire to stop. BEC:And what was driving it? MATT: The behaviour, I guess. The behaviour. Some of the experiences that I’d had, some pretty bad car accidents, some, bad relationships and, people overdosing me overdosing, just experiencing all of that sort of.

BEC: what were you using By at this point?

MATT: Everything. Like I was using everything. Yeah, I would just mess around with whatever. If you had it, I would take it kind of thing. That was, that was my. But my main things were meth and coke and weed and booze. They were sort of consistent,. So I kind of was in this relationship when I got clean and I got introduced to the rooms of recovery and going to meetings and things like that. So I got a bit of a taste for it. And I just like a lot of. I never went to a rehab or anything, but the partner that I had at the time was in rehab. And so I saw all the things that they were doing, like yoga and all of this stuff, and I was like.

MATT: And they were trying to get me to go into the rehab and I was like, I’m not, I don’t, I didn’t want to go to rehab.

BEC: I was going, but I’m not going to rehab.

MATT: Yeah, I was very stubborn, and I, I felt like I could do it on my own because I had like a lot of desire to like. I won’t say willpower, I’ll say like I had a desire to get clean. So I did meetings. I did a lot of meetings for a three month period. And then I actually went overseas with a different band that I was playing with at the time. And I had three months up. But as soon as I got on that plane and flew into Germany, I picked up, and that whole tour was like six weeks in Europe and I used every day and I got really messy and. And I was.

BEC: Was it even worse because it was.

MATT: Worse because I’d had that head full of recovery stuff, and I knew I was doing it against my will again and I just, I was just so sick and tired of it. So I,
when I got home, I had one last bender and I decided that I was going to do all the things that recovery suggested and I did all of that stuff. And we picked up doing, King Parrot again. And I’d made a kind of decision in that time that I wanted to be able to instil all the things that I’d learned in recovery into the business of the music stuff. And so, just that honesty and open mindedness and willingness to. To the business side of things is what really helped get things moving and rolling for the band.

MATT: That was something that I’d never done before because it’d be always like, play a gig, take out the Money, buy some drugs, spend it on booze, whatever it was. So when we stopped doing that, it was amazing how. Just quick, and. And, we. And I’m like, super proud of the fact that, we started this band. It’s never had a backup. It’s never had, like, someone just injecting money into it from the start or anything like that. It all just started from us, like, selling 20, like ordering 20 T shirts and selling 20 T shirts, using it to reinvest and. And reinvest and. And working hard and playing lots of shows and touring a lot. So

BEC: Yeah. Wow, that’s pretty incredible because you. Yeah, you literally had to change the way you approached, playing your music and what you were doing. You had to change that whole approach because you made that decision to get clean.

MATT: Right.

BEC: Like, it’s. It’s really brave, I think. Wouldn’t you?

MATT: Yeah.

JOSH: I mean, like, the one thing I always. When I think about you, Matt, is the. The balance between. I guess when I think of, like, music in general, there’s always like, this sort of culture of drinking and it doesn’t really matter what music you play, Drinking and drugs and all that sort of stuff. It’s kind of like that identity.

MATT: Yeah.

JOSH: Of the muso and seeing you, knowing you and seeing how you navigate it. Like, did you think that was the. Some of the conflict at the start was that this was like kind of my identity, which gave you kind of that, I guess a permission to act a certain way or to behave a certain way as well?

MATT: Yeah, totally. I think that, it’s almost expected, and that’s what I thought. And, I was a big advocate for drugs, of course, because it was. Went hand in hand with the lifestyle, but I knew that one. I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of it. Like, I wasn’t doing any of the things that I really wanted to do, like, touring and, potentially making a living from playing music. And the other thing was, is that the behaviour that I was engaged in while I was using drugs and drinking and stuff was getting out of hand and out of control. And there’d been, many episodes where I was like, it was lucky I wasn’t dead. You know, it was. It was really lucky that I wasn’t dead.
MATT: So now it’s like, it’s become this thing where my identity is that I’m. I don’t take drugs and drink alcohol at all. And people kind of know that or some people. I still get off of drugs all the time nearly, at gigs and stuff like that, when people don’t know. But it’s, it doesn’t like seem to bother me anymore. And I feel like the experiences that I get to have now, clean and sober, are just so much more real and meaningful. And I really embrace and appreciate and have like proper gratitude for all the things that we do, and that, that feeling of, like some people will be like, oh, we’re going to get up on stage and go out in front of like thousands of people.
MATT: I better have a few drinks and have a couple lines or whatever they do, just to feel a bit buzzy in that. But I, I really embrace that feeling, the nerves and all that stuff and just really, just thrive on it. And then. And when you just get that experience one after the other of doing it so many times, that it’s almost like it becomes the drug itself. It’s like this. I’m just gonna really enjoy and embrace the fact that I’m going out there and doing this for real.

BEC: Yeah. Immerse yourself in that feeling. Yeah.

MATT: And people like see that, that genuine, it’s like genuine proper energy. It’s not like drug fueled, it’s not booze fueled. It’s like you’re getting 100% of me and. Yeah, I love that. You know, I love that now.

JOSH: It’s so amazing, the turnaround from being someone that escaped themselves and their feelings at all costs to being comfortable sitting with them or
embracing anxiety and the nervousness and all these really uncomfortable emotions,. But instead of using that to escape it, you’re using it as a way to kind of like drive your behaviour now in a positive way.

MATT: Right.

JOSH: I think that’s amazing.

MATT: Yeah. It just feels good to be able to do that stuff and just be ready all the time. And it does. I mean, sure, there’s days where you’re tired and you don’t. Like the last tour we did, we just did like 45 shows in the States and it was just like one after the other after the other. Some days where you just don’t feel like it, or you just don’t just like, I just want to have a day off today, you know?
BEC: Yeah. I always think about that, how people in, the public eye, like when you just got to like smash it out if you. What if you can’t be bothered or, you’re sick. You just got to keep going.
MATT: You just got to do it. Yeah, it’s like. And, and so, yeah, it’s all about. A lot of. It’s got to do with like routine and just continue just doing the same thing over and over again and just getting yourself into that mode where, even if you don’t feel quite 100 that day, you just push on and you just do your routine. And like I will, meditate and do things like that. I drink lots of tea and then I’d like to just try and spend like half an hour or 45 minutes just quiet, and just before we go on and just on my own and do some push ups or something like that and just. And then just get out there and do it.
MATT: And regardless of how you might be feeling mentally or fatigue wise or whatnot, you can just sort of get on.

BEC: With it and push through.

MATT: Yeah. Yeah.

JOSH: Was there a transition? So you’ve got. Look, we’re heading into your 30s. You just started going on tours and stuff with King Parrot.

MATT: Yeah.

JOSH: Was there a transition ever where people were kind of presenting you drugs or alcohol, where you kind of felt like I couldn’t really enforce a boundary or was it, was there uncomfortable sort of like transition?

MATT: Yeah, there was. Yeah. What I remember from like those really early days was that, I mean we. In the early days when I was, first getting clean and stuff, that was. That was really challenging. So I would often have like a support person with me at the gigs and stuff. But weren’t touring and stuff. Like the way that we did a few years down the track, were just playing, doing weekend shows and things like that. So it was. I would go to the gig and have a support person with me and then I would just leave.

BEC: Who would that support person be? Like a friend.

MATT: Just a friend from recovery that I met in the room or something like that. Someone that wanted to come along. So there was that. But there was also that feeling of, disappointment from my band. Some of my bandmates as well too, because we used to use together.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And then they kind of felt like I’d abandoned them.

BEC: Yeah. Okay.

MATT: So that was kind of. There was a bit of a weird dynamic at the start which was. Yeah, it was. I just. There was a few moments where I remember they kind of getting the shits with me or whatever because I wasn’t hanging around and partying with them. But it took like maybe a year or two. And they could also see that I was really applying myself to the business side of things, so they could see the benefits of me not doing it as well. That was really quite evident because it was like, oh, hold on a second. Now we’re touring up and down the east coast and, oh, we’re going to Adelaide and Perth for the first time.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And we’re doing all these. Oh, now we’ve got to support with this big international band. You know, that’s a lot of that sort of stuff happened pretty early on. So were able to. They were able to see that it was actually having a positive effect on the business of the band while not interrupting what they wanted to do, like the growth. Right. Yeah, yeah.

JOSH: Do you think that King would have got to. Because, you guys have just come off a massive tour with Pantera.

BEC: Yeah.

JOSH: Doing massive sold out stadiums. This is like your second tour this year, pretty in last year where you’ve done Europe and do you think you can, obviously you’ve got other band members, but your drive to, I guess, commit yourself to the business side of things. Do you think that’s been the reason why you guys have blown up so much or.

MATT: I wouldn’t. I mean, it’s definitely a part of it. It’s definitely a part of it. It’s, it’s. You’ve got to have someone that is committed to that stuff. It’s, it’s. The music business is, challenging and fickle and there’s lots of challenging people. Music business as well. So I would say it’s definitely a part of it. But I feel like there’s, there’s been a big commitment from the guys in the band as well to, get better at our craft and to continually apply ourselves, continually try and get better at writing and, playing this crazy music that we play that we’ve been playing since were kids, really. You know, like we’ve just stuck with it. And there’s something to be said for that as well, because there’s.

MATT: I mean, I couldn’t tell you the amount of people that I know from the music scene that phenomenal musicians or phenomenal bands or whatever that just quit.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: You know, and that’s. That’s the easy thing to do, I would imagine. Like that’s just, oh, no, I’m too old or I don’t. Didn’t work out or whatever. But we’ve just kind of stuck with it. So there’s something to be said about that. Resilience too, of just sticking with it and doing it and. And saying yes, and that’s. That’s one thing that I also say to a lot of bands that want to take that next step is, like, you’ve got to say yes to things and then work it. You kind of work. You say yes and work out how you do it.

BEC: That’s it. That’s anything. Take the opportunities.

MATT: Yeah, always. So those opportunities, like, they’ve come and we’ve had the opportunity to, the first US Tour, I remember we got invited to go and play at south by Southwest Festival in. In Texas. And then we got, we ended up getting a few shows with a bigger band in California. And then we ended up doing about 40 shows around America on our own, and it was. It was challenging because no one knew who were.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And some nights we’d play in front of three people, and some nights we’d play in front of seven people and then eight. And then you do like five of those in a row and morale in the camp gets pretty low and you start sort of, niggling at each other a bit. And then you might have a good one and, 100 people turn up and you have a great, like, everyone’s happy again. But then, like that same year, that was like. I think that was back in 2014, we got a bigger tour. The next one, it was just a few months later, and went and did that and it was like, like 100, 200, 300 people at every show. And by the end of that year, we actually.

MATT: We did a tour with the band called down. And they, play in theatres, like, 2,000, 3,000 people a night. And that all happened in the space.

BEC: Of just like one year, that resilience. Do you think that had a part to play? Obviously, we’re talking it as the band, but individually for you, like, you didn’t go to rehab and you got clean on your own, right? And so I always say so. My husband did the same thing. He didn’t go to rehab. And I. He works in sales. And he. And I say he’s always really resilient. Cause he can take one rejection after another, right? And he can still get up and go back and be a beast the next day. And I think it’s really resilient.

BEC: And I wonder if that resilience, that trait is something that enabled you to get through and get Clean and get recovery without needing to go to rehab and have that, that you could make a decision about what you wanted to do and then follow the steps and the advice and the guidance and stick to it. Do you think that resilience is possibly what played a part in you being able to achieve recovery?

MATT: Yeah, I think. I think potentially there’s. I mean, there was. Yeah, I guess maybe there was always something like that in me, but I think it was also something that had to be built up as well. You know, it was something that we had to build up or that I had to build up. And it sort of. I’m not. Yeah, it’s hard to say where that came from, but it was, I guess.

BEC: Maybe because to keep getting up every day on your own, like, we look at people come in and for 30 days, 90 days, every day, they’ve got us there. Push, push, push. But to get up every day and keep doing it on your own, you’ve got to have resilience there somewhere.

MATT: Yeah, totally.

BEC: Like, you have to, like, you’re. You’re. You’re the one cheering yourself on, you’re the one who’s got to get up every day and make the calls to those supports or go and do that thing. It’s not presented to you. And, I always see that as quite a challenging thing for people to get recovery on their own.

MATT: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I agree. I mean, I guess it’s hard, and it’s hard to sort of know where resilience comes from, but did you ever.

BEC: Consider yourself as resilient when you think.

MATT: You know, I probably do now. Yeah. And I guess maybe it’s like I can attribute it to, just having those experiences of doing stuff that I didn’t want to do or I’ve regretted, on reflection, and just, just, the old cliche of being sick and tired and wanting to initiate that change.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And I guess, sort of now, like, even thinking about resilience and the way that, like, you’ve got to kind of be resilient to, you’ve got to be resilient to work in this. In this field that we work in, with recovery and even. And with the band and sort of getting out to that kind of bigger audience that we’ve done, like, in this last year, and, you’re going.

BEC: To be touring Arrow soon and working.

MATT: Right. But, just putting Yourself out there. And people like. Not everyone loves it. Not everyone likes it. People write bad reviews and shit reviews and like, because I’m the, the. The business guy in the band, I read a lot of that stuff and, and it’s like, oh, these people in France thought we sucked, which is an uncommon, like, and they write this horrible review.

BEC: And it’s like commenting on podcast right now.

MATT: Yeah, yeah, right. And it’s like you kind of just gotta. You gotta have the thick skin and, and just be able to go, well, everyone’s got their opinions about stuff and you just gotta, if you feel like you’re doing the right thing and you. You’re being true to yourself and all that sort of stuff, you just push through it and I feel like the resilience stuff has definitely grown over time, for sure. It’s great. And now I really, it doesn’t, bother me what people think or say or what their opinions are really. I feel like I know I’m on the right. My right path, and I’m doing things that I love, that I’m doing, that I’m truly passionate about.

BEC: Do you think you’d be doing them if you’re still using?

MATT: No way. No way. Absolutely no way. If I was still using, I’d be dead by now for sure. Without a doubt. Yeah. I always, like, on reflection, I always think, if I was lucky that I didn’t die, back then. So, yeah, there’s. There’s no way. There’s no way Nona would have made it past that for sure.

BEC: And what would have been the hardest thing for you in those, say, first three to six, three, six 12 months of, in early recovery?

MATT: The hardest thing, I think it was just. Just that. Just like having no friends, really. All the people that I thought were my friends kind of dropped away. I did make new friends in recovery, which is good, but that was. That’s really, confronting early days. I felt like all the people that I used to use with were my. I thought that was it. I thought they were my people. But then when I stopped, it was like they weren’t. It wasn’t it. I have reconnected with some of those people, as time’s gone on, and it hasn’t. It hasn’t been as raw.

BEC: Yeah. Yeah.

MATT: But I really had to immerse myself in the recovery world to. To get that connection there and understand and start to actually really learn what real connection is.

BEC: We were actually just talking about that too, about that when you actually get recovery, you Then you. You get it through developing an ability to be aware and then connect and. Because if you’re not self aware, you can’t connect and if you haven’t got connection, you can’t maintain your recovery. So important, And I think they’re battles that people face all the time that, oh, I don’t have any friends. And then when you make friends in recovery, then some of them fall off because they relapse and it can be a really lonely time.

MATT: Yeah, absolutely. You can, and the amount of people I know that have passed away, that have been sort of involved in the recovery world, it’s just, it’s been phenomenal over the years. You know, I’ll be 14 years clean and sober coming up in a couple of weeks. And yeah, the amount of people that have died and all of that has just been remarkable. Like, it’s unbelievable. So, yeah, it’s incredibly sad.

BEC: How did you end up working in the addiction space?

MATT: So when I. When I first got clean, and this is probably just before the King Parrot stuff started sort of getting a lot busier, I went. I wanted to go and study because I didn’t finish high school. And I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do something different. And I knew that if I went. I used to work in, like, construction stuff and.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And, it was just a means to an end, really. It was just, decent pay, get drugs. That was it. And a lot of the people that I worked with were using, so that suited me fine for that, that was. But I knew that something had to change. I knew I had to change. So I enrolled and did my diploma in counselling.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And I started doing that and I was, sort of getting into it and I was doing. I was about maybe three or four months into it, and. And the teacher pulled me aside and he said. And were doing it. We said, like, older people, it was older education. It wasn’t like, yeah. So, but were doing it in class and he pulled me aside and he goes, the standard of what you’re doing is really good. And I was like, really? I was like, horrified that I was not me doing it at all. Like, doing well at all, but I saw some of the.

MATT: Some of the stuff that other people were handing in, and it was, handwritten and, and I was like trying to type it and do references and do all that sort of stuff and I, and like, and they were passing and I was like, okay, yeah. So But he pulled me aside and said, you’re doing really well with this. And I thought, oh, awesome. So at that same time I kind of decided that I wanted to sort of step out of that working like in the construction industry and that because it really wasn’t beneficial for recovery for me and I started working as a, like in disability support. Yeah.

BEC: Okay.

MATT: So that was kind of my foot in the door to the caring kind of work. And, and I did that for a number of years. But I was living down in Geelong, I moved down to Geelong and I started working in one of the rehabs down there.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: Got my foot in the door there and just sort of worked my way through the business basically because they were starting and I was sort of, keen to do it. And so, I do the overnights and do all this. And then I started doing some admin stuff and then I started doing some counselling stuff. And then an opportunity came up to do the management side of running rehab. So I did that as well for a few years and I learned a lot in that. I’ve done lots of forensic stuff, going to court and, speaking on behalf of potential clients that could get bail applications into the rehab and yeah, things like that. So that was kind of how I got my foot in the door.

BEC: Wow. Such a, such a journey, like, don’t finish school, all this. Like, I just find that to be, like, admirable that, you just worked and you, and now we’re lucky enough to have you.

MATT: Oh, it’s great. It’s. Well, it’s great to be part of the team at Arrow. It’s such a unique and awesome place to work and it’s been a real eye opener to me, having worked in, like in the, in private rehabs and also in the public space as well. To come to a place which is really dedicated and focused on being there for the client and the resources and the team itself is just phenomenal. It’s like nothing I’ve experienced before. So
BEC: Yeah, it’s so nice. I love it. To know that everyone’s, happy and, enjoys.

MATT: Yeah, well, like, I’m not just saying it’s actually true. It’s. And I mean, it’s there for the client, and a lot of other places that I’ve experienced sort of, it’s a balancing act. You know, it’s not an easy business to get involved in and I, I commend anyone that, wants to go down that road. It’s incredibly challenging and I know the back end of it pretty well as well. And I know the challenges that you’ve got to sort of come up against with running a private hospital. It’s. It’s tough work, but you’ve just got.

BEC: To balance it when. So that they don’t feel it. That’s what I think. The client doesn’t need to know about our problems. That’s how I see it, to always say we have to take off our own jacket at the door and just come in there for them. Cause, we get to go home.

MATT: Yeah, absolutely. And, and the way that Arrow does it is the best I’ve seen. So it’s a real credit to the business.

BEC: Yeah, that’s so good.

MATT: Yeah.

BEC: I just think it’s pretty special because, yeah, you go and you go off on these tours and you’re famous and then you come back to us. And I think that’s really lovely that, you can do both of those things and you can be crazy busy as well and still maintain your recovery and be great at work and be a great d. Do all those things. I think it’s, a credit to you.

MATT: Oh, well, thank you very much and thank you for allowing me to go up on these crazy tours. I appreciate it. I do, I really do. It’s. It’s incredible. But it’s, it’s. It’s great when you get. You’re able to, like, come back and go to work and it doesn’t feel like you’re going to work. You know, it feels. I feel like I’m going.

BEC: I can’t relate.

MATT: Well. But to me, it feels like, to me it just like I’m so. I love what I do, I love working and helping people get recovery.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And so to me, it doesn’t feel like work.

BEC: Yeah. And it isn’t when we’re there. It’s not. Is it really?

MATT: Like we have. We have fun and we enjoy it and we enjoy each other’s company and we make it pretty light hearted too, which is. Which is great.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And I feel like that resonates out with the community, like with therapeutic community itself. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

JOSH: I mean, it’s such an amazing story, like, from where you’ve come from and just your ability to navigate two completely different worlds while maintaining your recovery.

BEC: Yeah.

JOSH: I mean, for anybody listening, it’s like, if you can get it, they can get it. You know what I mean? There’s that type of thing because it. And I think, like, this resilience that you have is a byproduct of your discipline. You know, you knew what. What you needed to do to achieve your goals, and that meant kind of removing drugs and alcohol from the situation. You know what I mean? And after your discipline for so long, you can see how resilient you really are, and you get to collect that evidence. And now you go on tour. You come, you. You’ll land and literally come to work the next day, smile on your face, happy to be there. And you can. I can fully tell that you are engaged.

JOSH: And there’s never been a time where I’ve thought, oh, my goodness, Matt is.

BEC: Matt doesn’t want to be here doing his famous job, but it’s like you.

JOSH: Navigate it really well, and we’re really blessed and lucky to have you working with us and, get to tell our friends and family famous,.

MATT: Well, I mean, what? Like, I feel blessed, too. You know, it’s like I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to do these two things that I love, And And I mean, yeah, it’s a. It’s a busy life and all of that stuff, but are you living? Yeah, that’s right. It’s like, there’s not many. You know, we always joke at work. It’s like, we. We never come to work and we’re bored or we’re, like, scratching our head going, there’s always something going on, right? There’s always something.

BEC: And if you boys are ever bored.

JOSH: You just come and find out where it’s never happening.

MATT: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, there’s always something to keep us entertained. And there’s always. It’s. It’s one of those jobs where it’s just. It’s always. It’s always a challenge. It’s always. It can be, confronting at times, but it’s also incredibly rewarding as well when you see that light come back on in people’s eyes, and, after those sort of first two, three, four weeks, and you see the light come back on and you’re like, oh, they’re back.

BEC: It’s like this beautiful thing, isn’t it? It’s beautiful.

MATT: Yeah. I absolutely love that. And it’s something that I’m incredibly grateful for. Yeah.

BEC: Before we finish up, we like to ask everyone if there was something that you wanted to tell anybody listening, what would you tell them?

MATT: I feel that it’s important in life to find what you love doing, And I know that can be challenging for people, especially people in recovery as well, like where they just love taking drugs, you know? You know, and I was kind of in the same boat, but I also, like, I kind of reflected and. And, I always loved music from when I was like 5 years old. That was my thing. I loved music and I knew I loved it, but I could have easily thrown it away at any time. I also loved playing football when I was a kid as well, and I did that up until I was 15 or 16 and the drugs kind of took over and. And I thought I could do football or play music and, all the drugs go. Right.

MATT: Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought. You know, that was. I couldn’t run anymore. You know, I was like trying to play footy and I was smoking bongs.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: Smoking cigarettes. Right. And I just couldn’t run anymore.

BEC: So I was like, there’s so many budding AFL players that never made it because it bongs.

MATT: Yeah, totally. Totally. I was definitely one of those. And But I think, like, I would just say, like, find what it is that you really love that makes you tick, that makes you. That makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and stick with it and keep doing it. You know, it’s. You know, I often laugh with the guys in our band. Like, we’ll have like these heated discussions about drum beats and guitar tones and things that most people would have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about. And we passionately arguing about how it needs to be this way or that way, and it would make absolutely no difference to anyone, like, apart from us, and then.

MATT: And you just kind of got to step back and just go, listen to us middle aged men arguing about drum beats.

BEC: But it’s passion, isn’t it? Yeah.

MATT: Yeah, totally. That should be half time or this. No, it shouldn’t. It’s got to be a downbeat. It’s got to be fast. And it’s like, oh my God, we are insane. Yeah. So it’s quite funny though. And it. But we love it, and. And that’s the thing. We. We all really love it. I mean, we just did three shows up in Queensland on the weekend and, we flew. We. We flew into the Gold coast and we picked up our van, we drove up to the Sunshine coast, we played, then went to Brisbane. We played Friday night, we did Brisbane Saturday night and then we did Gold coast on Sunday afternoon. And then were due to fly back on Sunday night.

MATT: We’re at the airport with all our gear and everything like that and we’re sitting there about to catch the last plane home and it was cancelled. And we’re just stuck there with like 200 people, like working out how. What we’re going to do, you know?

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: And like, because I’ve been in these situations a lot, I’m like, quickly get on bookings dot com. There’s a Bridges hotel right there at the airport. I knew
exactly what to do. Got the last rooms at the hotel. We all got a bed, and. Yeah. You know, and we. And it’s just the stuff that you have to do when you’re doing that when you’re living. When you’re living. Yeah. You get good at it.

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: You know, and other people, like, they were all sitting there arguing with the Virgin staff and I was like sitting there going on booking. com, and I was like, I need to get all these guys, these seven dudes that I’m with the bed for the night, you know?

BEC: Yeah.

MATT: That’s amazing. Yeah. So that was really cool and,. But resourceful, right? Yeah. Well, you just gotta, you gotta think on your feet sometimes and. Yeah, but that’s the sort of stuff we do and that’s just how it is. And, and, I’m just, I just laugh and I feel grateful that we have these amazing, opportunities even just to go and do what we did on the weekend, it’s. It’s really cool.

JOSH: Yeah. That’s amazing.

BEC: Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Matt. That was great. Thank you for sharing your story. It was beautiful.

MATT: Absolutely. Thanks so much.

JOSH: Cheers.
TOBY VO: You have been listening to Beyond the Noise from Arrow Health. For help or more stories, visit arrowhealth.com.au.

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