Hello again my friends in 311 nation! A new fan spotlight has arrived, hooray! Let’s learn all about Matt Quast.
It was while Matt was in high school that he remembers hearing some songs from the Grassroots album on the Vanderbilt University radio station and he said it just clicked. “Then, when “Down” was released and I realized it was the same band, I was all in at that point.”
For show count, Matt’s number is sitting at 54. His first show was at the McNichols Arena in Denver back in 1997. “After having to sell the tickets to the two prior shows at Red Rocks (ETSD show) due to family events I could not get out of.”
For favorite show, he said that even though the Stanley Hotel show was AMAZING, that his first cruise back in 2019 was really pretty awesome. “The fan experience was just on a totally different level.”
There isn’t one song that takes top prize for Matt. He said that each song/album fit depending on his mood. Favorite lyrics of his come from the song “Space & Time:”
“Wrapped my head around somethin’ you said I didn’t know
Making my mind, overflow
Somethin’ I just can’t let go of
Keep thinkin’ about to break through
Got in too deep, fightin’ about what to do
Needed a good talking to
Somethin’ I just can’t let go of
I think it’s about to break through
Do-do-do-do-do you still remember
What you tryin’ to dismember?
A construct to destruct.”
Matt is originally from Burlington, Wisconsin, and all of his family is either in Wisconsin or Illinois. He mostly grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to the Denver, Colorado, area in 1995. “I was a junior in high school when we moved, so I left behind a ton of people I had grown up with. I was excited to move to Colorado since there was every major sports team here. I’m glad I never moved away. It’s too nice of a state and I have some very solid friends here that I wouldn’t want to leave behind and I would have never met my wife.”
When Matt was in college, he said his goal was to land a public relations job with either a record label or sports team. “I learned that it is very difficult to get hired. I am now 16 years into the criminal justice field. I really like my job because I’ve met plenty of people who come from different backgrounds and have it much harder than I do and I try to use that to be more understanding. Sometimes I’m good at it and sometimes I fail at it.”
Fun fact about Matt, he had to be a security escort for Kelly Osbourne during a The Used concert! Something that makes him unique is he said he absolutely can’t speak other languages. Guilty pleasure? He said he follows and has a fandom of standup comedy just as much as bands or sports teams. “I really wish I could afford to go to a stand up show every single weekend.”
Musicians that Matt loves, aside from 311 obviously, include Deftones, Pennywise, Bad Religion, Passafire, and Ballyhoo! just to name a few. “I could fill a whole page with multiple bands and genres.”
Matt has these words to send out to the members of 311: “Thank you for creating experiences that have led me to new friendships.”
Now here is his message to all of the other fans:
“We all got here from our own unique path to meet with this great common bond. Let it develop and enjoy it during that time. But when it ends, respect it, learn from it and walk away respectfully.”
Thank you Matt for sharing your story! As always, thanks to my readers each week, you are all amazing. Christmas week is upon us. Do good deeds. Send out positivity. If you celebrate it, I hope you have an amazing Christmas! Until next time.
Much Love – The Runt