Do617 Interview With Mat Kerekes

Best known as the vocalist the Toledo, OH rock band Citizen, Mat Kerekes presents a wider range of influences from Queen to Third Eye Blind on his recent release Ruby on Black Cement Records.

Mat joined us to talk Boston memories with Citizen at Democracy Center and jumping off of a bridge, what he was doing on Oscar night, and his songs 'Diamonds' and 'Hawthorne' in our latest 5 Questions interview. Mat plays The Sinclair tomorrow.

DO617: Thanks so much for joining us! We can't help but here a heavy Queen influence in the chorus of your latest single 'Diamonds' but also there is a healthy dose of punk rock energy. Who makes up the studio band?

MAT KEREKES: I 100% was listening to a lot of Queen at the time. I wrote that song in 2017 and that whole year I got really into Queen and David Bowie... It was like getting ice cold water dumped on my head. It felt real cool to dive into all of this old stuff and become really invested in it. It kind of felt like I was 10 again, obsessing over Linkin Park and Slipknot. 

It was fun to experiment with things I don’t normally do vocally and experimenting with layers in a different way other than harmonies.