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Matt Farley

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Matt Farley
Farley in 2019
Background information
Born (1978-06-03) June 3, 1978 (age 46)
Massachusetts, U.S.
OriginDanvers, Massachusetts, U.S.
GenresAlternative rock, rock music, folk, novelty songs
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, musician, filmmaker, podcaster
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active1996–present
LabelsMotern Media
SpouseElizabeth Farley (née Peterson)
Websitemoternmedia.com Edit this at Wikidata

Matt Farley (born June 3, 1978)[1] is an American singer-songwriter, musician, filmmaker and podcaster. He has released more than 25,000 songs as of January 5, 2024.[2][3] Farley’s music is released under a variety of band names.

Farley's creative output is released under his label Motern Media, and he usually presents his musical work under a pseudonym. Farley often includes his personal phone number in his lyrics, which often yields calls and texts from fans surprised to find the number is real.[4][5]

Matt’s other creative work includes releasing over 15 feature-length movies with his friend Charlie Roxburgh, in which he stars, co-writes and co-produces.


Farley also has two podcasts. The Motern Media Infomercial Podcast, where he discusses his life in the entertainment industry with occasional special guests, and The Motern Media Celtics Podcast, a weekly basketball discussion focusing on the Boston Celtics, with his friend and band-mate Doug “Froggy” Brennan.

Life and musical career

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Farley grew up in Massachusetts, graduated from Bishop Fenwick High School in 1996, majored in English at Providence College in Rhode Island, graduating in 2000, and then moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, specifically because he knew no-one who lived there. Around 2008, he discovered that songs with silly titles from his band Moes Haven (which he had streaming on Spotify) were the only ones generating revenue. He soon began writing and recording songs about everything and anything that he thought people might search for.[6][7][8] His band names, which exceed 70, often correlate to the subject matter of their songs. For example, "Papa Razzi and the Photogs" release albums filled with songs about celebrities, and "The Hungry Food Band" releases songs about food. Thousands of songs celebrate birthdays with different names. Over 500 songs are "prom proposals" songs each sung with a different name. Yet another series of albums are composed completely of songs about towns within a U.S. state or other country, with lyrics derived from reading Wikipedia articles on each town. However, his most lucrative band is likely the "Toilet Bowl Cleaners", who sing songs about fecal matter. According to Farley, one song that contains only the word "poop" repeated over and over generates $500 in streaming revenue every month as of 2018, likely in part because children request it from Alexa or other devices.[9][10][11] Farley earned over $23,000 in 2013 from his song catalog, $65,000 per year by 2018, and almost $200,000 per year by 2023.[6][8][9][12][13]

Farley has also written custom songs, generating $2,000 or more in revenue per month, but stopped doing this in 2021.[14][15][16][17][18] The Reply All podcast has featured Farley multiple times and used his custom songs.[19]

Much of Farley's output is piano-and-vocals compositions.[4] Albums can run to 100 songs in length.[20][21] Some of his albums, even from a band such as The Toilet Bowl Cleaners, contain more serious output; that band's 11th album is titled Mature Love Songs, none of which are about fecal matter. Farley's serious and non-lucrative albums are called "no jokes" albums.[22][23] He previously had a day-job at a group home for teens but by 2017 his musical career was so lucrative that he was able to focus on it full-time.[9] He has two children with his wife Elizabeth.[9][24]

In 2016, Farley performed "Used to Be a Pizza Hut", a song topic derived from internet traffic about how re-purposed locations of the American chain restaurant still retain their distinctive roof style, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[14]

He performs an annual five-and-a-half-hour concert "extravaganza" in Danvers, Massachusetts, where he now lives.[8][10]

Filmmaking

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Alongside his musical output, Farley has also made more than a dozen independently financed low-budget films, almost all as collaborations with director Charles Roxburgh, which star their family and friends, with titles such as Freaky Farley (2007), Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You (2012), and Slingshot Cops (2016).[5][25]

Their early films were mostly comedy-horrors, but their more recent films have broadened in their genre. As an example, in Magic Spot (2022), fan-favorite recurring actor Kevin McGee stars as the deceased Uncle Dan Port, who as a ghost visits his young nephews and nieces to teach them a poem; when his nephews Walter (Farley) and Poopy (Chris Peterson) reflect on the poem as adults, they find that it reveals the secret to both time travel, and to their uncle's mysterious death. From 2021 through 2025, Farley and Roxburgh are attempting to release two films per year. [26]

His working method, primarily relating to his music, is the subject of a 2018 Australian documentary, Lessons from a Middle Class Artist.[10] As well, he wrote and directed a fictionalized version of his career in 2013's Local Legends, the only film Farley has made where Roxburgh is not credited as director and co-writer. [27]

Farley's film work has been chronicled in the book of interviews Motern on Motern: Conversations with Matt Farley and Charles Roxburgh[28] by Will Sloan and Justin Decloux. In 2020, Spectacle Theatre and Laserblast Film Society presented an online retrospective of Motern's film work.[27]

Filmography

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Acting roles
Year Title Role Director
2002 Adventures in Cruben Country Matt Farley Yes
2002 Sammy: The Tale of a Teddy and a Terrible Tunnel Jamie
2003 Druid Gladiator Clone Matt Farley Yes
2004 Druids Druids Everywhere Matt
2006 Obtuse Todd Todd Harding Yes
2007 Freaky Farley Farley Wilder
2009 Monsters, Marriage, and Murder in Manchvegas Marshall
2012 Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You! Neil Stuart
2013 Local Legends Matt Farley Yes
2016 Slingshot Cops Rusty Sinclair
2017 Motern Media Christmas Special Matt Farley
2021 Heard She Got Married Mitch Owens
2021 Metal Detector Maniac Matt Farley
2022 Magic Spot Walter Moore
2023 Boston Johnny Boston Johnny
2023 Heard She Got Murdered Mitch Owens
2024 Local Legends: Bloodbath Matt Farley Yes

Discography

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"No Jokes" work

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Farley calls his serious music "No Jokes" music. It started with Moes Haven from 2004 to 2010, and was then revived in 2014 with Projection from the Side's Basement Reunion. This is a list of all of his "No Jokes" material.

Moes Haven era (2004–2010)

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  • Moes Haven – Out with the Old (2004)
  • Moes Haven – Music for the Final Millennium (2004; taken down)
  • Moes Haven – Dislocated Songs (2004)
  • Moes Haven – Svetlana Finds Solace in the Arms of English Men of Letters (2005)
  • Moes Haven – If Not Us, Who? (2005; taken down)
  • Moes Haven – Someone Else. (2005)
  • Moes Haven – Explorations in Madness (2005)
  • Moes Haven – Moe's Haven (2005)
  • Moes Haven – Sir Paul Made Ram. We Made This. (2005)
  • Moes Haven – Down With Memories (2005)
  • Moes Haven – January (2006)
  • Moes Haven – February: From the Barnyard to the Bayou and Back (2006)
  • Moes Haven – March: of the Aliens (2006)
  • Moes Haven – April: What a Cruel Month! (2006)
  • Moes Haven – May: I Buy You a Sandwich? (2006)
  • Moes Haven – June (2006)
  • Moes Haven – July: in the Sun with Me? (2006)
  • Moes Haven – August: of Temporal Inconsistency (2006)
  • Moes Haven – September: in Manchvegas (2006)
  • Moes Haven – (SH)OC(K)TOBER (2006)
  • Moes Haven – November the Tar! (2006)
  • Moes Haven – December (2006)
  • Moes Haven – If Not Us, Who? (2007; re-release with altered tracklist)
  • Moes Haven – This is My Millennium! (2008; re-release with altered tracklist)
  • Moes Haven – Stromboli's Alarm Clock (2010)

Renaissance era (2014–2017)

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  • The Toilet Bowl Cleaners – Mature Love Songs (2014)
  • Projection from the Side – Basement Reunion (2014)
  • Matt Motern Manly Man – Joyous Cackle! (2015)
  • The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man – Common Phrases (2015)
  • Matt Motern Manly Man – Motern Heartburn (2016)
  • The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man – Keep Being Awesome! (2016)
  • The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities and Towns – I've Never Left My Hometown (2016)
  • The Strange Man Who Sings About Dead Animals – Animal Noises (2016)
  • Matt Motern Manly Man – Delicate Genius / Thirsty Killer (2017)
  • The Finklestinks – Double Take Action (2017)
  • The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man – Roy and Cathy (2017)
  • Projection from the Side – Let's Go Camping! (2017)
  • The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man – Emotions (2017)
  • Matt Motern Manly Man – Great Unfinished Masterpiece (2017)

Modern era (2018–present)

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  • The Big Heist – MO75, Volume 1 (2018)
  • The Big Heist – MO75, Volume 2 (2018)
  • The Big Heist – MO75, Volume 3 (2018)
  • Matt Motern Manly Man – I Forgot What I Was Gonna Say (2019)
  • Brennan McFarley – Wednesday Night Chronicles (2019)
  • Caniko Tucci – These Are the Forces (2019)
  • The Big Heist – Tightrope (2020)
  • Brennan McFarley – The Beyond (2020)
  • Caniko Tucci – Frantic Frenzy (2021)
  • The Finklestinks – Sweetheart Deal (2021)
  • The Big Heist – Perfect Crime (2023)
  • The Big Heist – Old Route One (2023)
  • The Big Heist – This Ain't Mardi Gras (2023)
  • The Big Heist – Sirens (2023)
  • The Big Heist – Roller Rink (2023)
  • Moes Haven – (Several Supreme Beings Told Us to Make This) One Last Album (2023)

References

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  1. ^ CJ Rooney (December 21, 2017). "Quest for a Million Listeners: Matt Farley on Songwriting, Philosophy and His Creative Life". CJRooney.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  2. ^ Kay, Liz F. (September–November 2024). "Why Matt Farley wrote 25,000 songs for Spotify". Providence College Magazine. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  3. ^ Schneider, Dana (27 March 2024) Matt Farley Won’t Stop: In conversation with the prolifically silly songwriter
  4. ^ a b Brawley, Eddie (September 4, 2014). "This Genius Lunatic Has Recorded 16,000 Songs About Everything from Poop to Ellen Degeneres". Vice. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Reed, James (February 7, 2014). "Danvers man becomes a click-bait music star". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  6. ^ a b McConnell, Fred (January 29, 2014). "Spotify: how a busy songwriter you've never heard of makes it work for him". The Guardian. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  7. ^ Forman, Ethan (April 10, 2013). "The perfect 'promposal'". The Salem News. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Martin, Brett (March 31, 2024). "Why Did Matt Farley Put a Song About Me on Spotify?". The New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Remo, Jessica (September 2018). "This guy wrote 88 terribly awesome songs about N.J. towns. Have a listen". NJ.com. Advance Publications. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Bennett, Emily (February 6, 2019). "Matt Farley of Motern Media puts Highlands towns on the map in Australian-themed album". Southern Highland News. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  11. ^ Musician Brilliantly Capitalizes on Promposal Season. Right This Minute. March 21, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  12. ^ Perry, Kevin EG (January 29, 2014). "This Guy Made $23,000 by Releasing 14,000 Songs on iTunes and Spotify". Vice. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  13. ^ Murphy, Bill (September 22, 2018). "This Guy Works From Home and Makes Big Money on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. (Here's His Brilliant Trick)". Inc. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Mastrogiacomo, Angela (July 9, 2018). "Matt Farley continues to exist: How one man is bringing quantity and quality to Spotify". Substream Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  15. ^ Klinkenerg, Brendan (January 8, 2015). "The Musician Who's Gaming Search Engines To Actually Make Money". Wired.
  16. ^ "Click Bait Muso". RN Drive (Podcast). Radio Australia. September 9, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  17. ^ Vogt, PJ; Goldman, Alex (January 22, 2014). "One Hundred Songs In A Day". On the Media (Podcast). No. 10. Retrieved May 20, 2019 – via WNYC.
  18. ^ "Custom songs". Motern Media. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  19. ^ "#82 Hell?". Reply All (Podcast). No. 82. November 17, 2016 – via Gimlet Media.
  20. ^ D'Onfro, Jillian (January 23, 2014). "This Man Makes $23,000 Posting Music Spam On Spotify And iTunes". Business Insider. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  21. ^ Heltzel, Zachary (October 17, 2014). "A glimpse inside the mind of the world's most prolific musician". The State Press. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  22. ^ Dunavin, Davis (January 5, 2017). "Digital Savvy Earns Money For New England Musician". Connecticut Public Radio. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  23. ^ Decloux, Justin (June 11, 2018). The Best Music of Matt Farley (in Five Albums), Film Trap
  24. ^ Holmes, David (June 6, 2014). "I spent the day making music with Matt Farley, Spotify's number one 'music spammer'". Pando. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  25. ^ Vogel, Jim; Lowe, Kenneth (July 4, 2018). "Bad Movie Diaries: Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You (2012)". Paste. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  26. ^ Zigler, Brianna (June 3, 2022). "The Mad Genius of Magic Spot, Motern Media, and Matt Farley". Paste Magazine. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Farley/Roxburgh's Heard She Got Married". Screen Slate. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  28. ^ "Motern on Motern: Conversations with Matt Farley and Charles Roxburgh". Amazon.com. December 15, 2020.
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