Following his new deal through Interscope Records / Krucial Noise, singer-songwriter Mateo is ready to reveal more new music to his ever growing fan base. Continuing in his lane of free mixtapes, which he has been successful with for years now, the Ohio native will release his new project, “Suite 823” next week, the set has been proceeded by the first leak “Carry On.” In a recent interview with Singersroom, Mateo talked about the idea and concept behind the new mixtape, first single and more.
Check out part of the interview below…
How does “Suite 823” compare to or differ from your previous “Underneath the Sky” series and “Love & Stadiums” EP?
I think this is the best body of work I’ve ever put out. It’s still continues the sound that I’ve been creating, but it just took it to the next level. It still kinda has the young, foolish and in love sentiment that has always been in my songs, but it also has more edge to it, add different sounds to it, and we really tried to come up with something really really special.
“Carry On” is the single from your upcoming mixtape “Suite 823.” What’s the meaning behind the title?
Basically, there’s two different meanings. While I was creating the mixtape, I was in New York at the time, and I was working out of studios there in Times Square, but also I was in a hotel like for an entire month. And when I had my breaks, soon as I worked (I really wanted to say and talk about on the mixtape) I was literally in a suite, in a hotel room. It’s kinda a place where you’re left to your thoughts. I was thinking about past loves, thinking about where I’m at now, thinking about what kind of songs I wanna put out to my fans. Thinking about everything, thinking about the new label situation with Interscope, and it kinda became this place for me where the music just kinda came out, and that’s where the title “Suite 823” came from. I was pretty much thinking about my fans and past loves, all that kind of stuff, and that’s how it kinda came about.
All those things you were thinking about in the hotel suite, we can expect to hear on “Suite 823?”
Yeah, all those things that came out of there, and just that experience in New York at that time period. When you get signed to a major label, people think it’s all this rejoicing, but it’s not, it nervous, you’re scared, you don’t know what direction to go in, you don’t know what that means for your life. And when you’re sitting in a hotel room by yourself, you got a lot to think about, so a lot of that material came out of there.
What’s it like working with Alicia Keys and having her support behind you?
Because of Krucial, I’ve gotten to work with Alicia on some stuff for her album. It’s a dream come true, I’ve grew up idolizing the work that they’ve done, and to be able to be there in the room, just to be in the game, that’s like a dream come true for me and something that I really wanted to do.
Mateo’s upcoming mixtape “Suite 823” will be released next week August 1.
