Behind The Scenes: Matt Cantu
- spiralhtx
- Jan 18
- 11 min read
Hailing from the Lonestar state , Corpus Christi's , Matt Cantu is ready to take on the world at large , one killer project at a time. Pop culture , Gaming , and tech combine into "sicc" flavors for the curious mind . Matt's creations take forefront at the intersection of Y2K nostalgia for the "new," Nu-metal crowds with the twist of Matt's lived experience . The dynamic career of Matt Cantu covers large ground from content creation to audio production. We get to see the full scope of the various endeavors of Matt Cantu.
Growing up in the small town of San Diego , Texas , Matt experienced bullying for being passionately into non traditional interests ( Video games like Sonic the hedgehog , Nu- metal and nerd culture ) now seen as accepted , niche and even nostalgic . Prior to these interests being appreciated at large, prevalent influences of toxic masculinity , outdated ideas of what was appropriate for traditional gender roles made life complicated for many - that just wanted to be themselves.
On the flipside artists on labels such as Fueled by Ramen and Warp Tour bands of the mid 2010s were popular , emo and scene aesthetics influenced pop culture style of the period , leading to more openly unisex fashions. The " Hot Topic Metal Core" styles incorporated aspects of nerd culture but became oversaturated and corporate. There were still many left out of the representation of the time period. No matter how outwardly colorful or silly the time period was , problematic elements were nearly impossible to avoid but not talked about. Many did not subscribe to the negative cultural underbellies of the time. There was longing for emotional vulnerability while still maintaining connection to raw , real life , that is where Nu Metal came into play.
"Nu metal was something I found comfort in because going through all the bullying I experienced as a kid when I heard Chester [Linkin Park] singing about his pain , i felt seen i felt herd , when i heard the first Korn record and i heard Jonathan Davis literally having a mental break down during the last two minuets of Daddy it told me maybe it is okay for a man to have feelings.. for a man to feel vulnerable. It made the toxic masculinity of living in South Texas Null and Void.. it made me feel heard and seen."
Those who were under represented would now be labeled under various terms like y2k, nu-metal or mall goth , generalizations by those not as in depth with underground music or subcultures in general. Nu metal was seen as "old " and ironically too expressive of serious , real life topics that did not fit marketing and the overarching themes of the times.
"I think that is the reason kids of the new generation are getting into this music .They don't see it as something frat boyish , or something immature , they see it as what it is , songs about pain .. real fucking feelings. They see it as something they can relate too . find comfort in , it is almost therapeutic in a way and that's what I love about this genre and that's what I love about this scene , and at the end of the day , I want to be able to share my love of nu metal , my love of adult swim , Sonic and Dragon Ball Z... literally everything i grew up with . I want to be able to put it in the forefront and let people know this is me, this is what I'm into , and that's what I am about."
Q&A with Matt Cantu
My name is Matt Cantu, I’m a musician / content creator from the Corpus Christi, TX area. I’m a solo musician and I also play guitar in a band called Pulse Demon TX.
I grew up in San Diego, TX. It’s a really small town about an hour away from Corpus, and nearly two hours away from the Rio Grande Valley.
I started playing guitar at age 12 and started writing music at 14 when I was in my first band, Sorrow’s End.
That’s basically more than half my life since I’m currently 30, going on 31.
What made you decide to become a musician/artist?
MC: I wanted to become a musician after hearing KISS for the first time in Tony Hawk’s Underground. I was, and still am, a massive fan of the Tony Hawk’s series.
I remember unlocking the live video for God of Thunder and I remember seeing Gene Simmons flying across the stage and spitting up blood.
I didn’t know what it was, but it captivated me and I told myself, “I wanna do THAT one day”.
I went up to my mom asking “hey, who’s Gene Simmons?” She then invited my uncle Mundo over and he told me their entire story. For Christmas that year, I got a PSP, a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront II, KISS’ greatest hits album, and Alive IV. I wore those two CD’s out instantly. I was only 8 years old at the time, but my love for rock and roll had formed and the musician seeds had already been planted.
The Tony Hawk games also got me into Green Day and Motley Crue, then from there I would eventually get into Black Sabbath / Ozzy Osborne, followed by Metallica and Slayer. I took that guitar class at age 12, and I started learning all of those iconic Sabbath riffs early on.
When I was freshmen in high school I heard the first KoRn album…and at that moment they became my all time favorite band and I begged my parents for a seven string. Then, I became the nu metal god you see before you.
What is the history behind your artist name?
MC: I tried experimenting with stage names early on in my previous bands, but everything I came up with sucked.
I was thinking of “Matt Mayhem” at one point, and I don’t even remember the other names cause that’s how forgettable they were! So I figured, if I’m gonna be known for something…especially as an artist…I might as well be known for my actual name.
Everyone knows who Ozzy is, but I bet not a lot of people knew him as John Michael Osborne aside from his family and some friends.
The story of Pulse Demon
My band’s name (Pulse Demon) has a bit of a story though. In 2016, I was diving into other genres of music that weren’t rock or metal, and I found some odd / obscure genres at the time. I discovered Vaporwave, lowercase, danger music, noise, nintendocore, and many others around this time. There’s a Japanese Noise artist by the name of Merzbow, and he had an album called Pulse Demon. I said at the time that the name would go great for a metal band. In 2024, I got in contact with Teddy Smith STX and he wanted to work on a song that ended up becoming I Am the God.
The reception for that song was so great to the point where we decided to work on some more music and come up with a project name. That way, it could differentiate from mine & Teddy’s solo stuff. Teddy wanted a name that was gonna represent both sides of the music, the heavy side and the electronic side. We’re technically just a duo, so the “Pulse” in Pulse Demon is Teddy. He’s literally the heart and soul of what we do and we literally wouldn’t sound the way we do without his contributions to the songwriting as well as the mixing and production.
The “Pulse” also represents the feeling you get in your chest when you’re in a club and the bass is hitting you. The “demon” represents me. My guitar riffs are mainly written in the minor scale and I use seven and eight string guitars in the band. I always want my tones to sound sludgy and heavy, and Teddy’s able to do just that with his production skills. Rock and metal has always had some kind of satanic / occult imagery, and I think the name perfectly encapsulates the various genres and styles we blend into our music.
I guess in a way, you can also say the “Demon” part of the name is a subtle nod to Gene Simmons seeing as how he was the one who initially inspired me to pursue music. We’ve gotten some criticism because of the name, but I chose it because I knew it was gonna be controversial and turn some heads.
You see the name “Pulse Demon” and you’d automatically think we’re like a Black Metal band or something, but you listen to one song and it’s a Cumbia with Metalcore breakdowns (Fuerza Corpitos), the next one is a club banger with 8 string guitars (BVCKWITHTHEBOOM), another one is a funk / jazz song with djenty riffs (Don’t Give Up) and so much more. Once they hear all of that, they get interested because we’re not JUST another metal band in town. We’re trying to shake up the scene and push genre boundaries.
When did you begin making music and how has your process changed between the start of vs now?
MC: Solo wise, I started off in 2017 with nothing but Garage Band on the iPhone and a pair of Apple Ear Pods. My first song, “Che”, was literally recorded in my mom’s guest room within 8 hours using the microphone from my Ear Pods and Garage Band. If you listen to it now, you can definitely hear the imperfections, but that’s what made it rad. Nowadays, I record all of my guitars in my apartment thru Reaper, the Neural Amp Modeler, and a Focus-rite Scarlet 2i2. Not the most professional setup by any means, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need expensive gear to make an impact in the industry.
What made you decide to learn your instrument(s)?
MC: I wanted to learn guitar because I literally wanted to be like Tony Iommi, Dimebag Darrell, James Hetfield, Slash, Jim Root, Brian “Head” Welch, and all of my other guitar idols.
I wanted to be able to do a tenth of a fraction of what they were capable of. It’s the same thing with singing too. When I sing, you can hear the influence from Jonathan Davis, Ozzy Osborne, Corey Taylor, Cristian Machado, and Chester Bennington all in one…or so I hope.
What inspired you to write your catalog?
MC: Music has always been a big part of my life. To me, music is a part of who I am as a person. It’s embedded in my body and soul, I literally cannot live without it much like food and water. I’m constantly creating and writing. It’s almost like a form of therapy to me.
What would you say to other artists or creatives who are wanting to create as well?
MC: If music, art, etc. is something that you’re passionate about and you literally cannot live without it, keep creating and keep writing. You’re gonna have people telling you that you’re wasting your time or that you should put your effort into something sustainable or something worth making a career out of. Don’t listen to them, and don’t worry about the money. If you’re in this business for the money, you WILL NOT get very far at all. Tony Hawk once said something along the lines of, keep doing what you love, even if it doesn’t make you money. Obviously do whatever you need to do in order to put bread on the table, but do the thing you’re passionate about on the side. The money will come eventually.
How has the process been creating your album?
MC: Cathedral Sky was interesting because Teddy actually helped co write it and that was the first time I ever had a co writer on my solo music. He had the original demo from way back in the day, and he showed it to me and I saw the potential in it. From there, we took it back to the drawing board and brought it into 2025. It started off as an instrumental, but we really reworked it and transformed it into this anthemic symphonic metal kinda thing. It’s dope as hell. We also put it out under my name because it didn’t “feel” like a Pulse Demon song to us and it definitely didn’t sound like Teddy’s solo stuff either. It sounds like something you’d hear in a Sonic or Dragon Ball AMV which is exactly my vibe.
What are you looking forward to with your album/track?
MC: I’m actually releasing an acoustic cover of Sometimes by My Bloody Valentine on my birthday (January 23rd). I’m beyond proud of the way it turned out because I kinda went back to my roots in terms of production. Everything was recorded through one microphone, into audacity. I exported the tracks and threw them into Band Lab for basic mastering / eq and reverb. Other than that, it’s exactly how I played it and sung it. Pulse Demon is also releasing their “MAMA DO I BEND THE KNEES OR WE STRAIGHT FLEEKIN” EP on the same day.
Lyrically what have been your favorite tracks in your discography and your most recent releases?
MC: PHRAT BOI is very personal to me because those lyrics came from a dark place in my head. I had a lot of pent up aggression that I knew I needed to let out. I had a bit of a rough childhood, I was in an abusive relationship in 2016, work at the time was really affecting my mental health, among other things.
Those lyrics, while juvenile to some, really came from my heart and soul and they were exactly what I needed to put out at that point in time. I spent hours at Omega Records with my friend Abe Montoya from Kingsville, TX trying to nail those vocal parts down. Abe at the time had suggested that it would probably be best if I get another vocalist on it and I had to fight that fight hard.
I had to tell him that PHRAT BOI is a sacred thing to me and MY lyrics have to be sung by ME. I didn’t care how many takes it was gonna get, I was determined to get it right. I’m a basic vocalist at the end of the day, and I’m aware of that. But I wasn’t gonna let someone else sing something that came from my own brain. I’m glad I got what I wanted at the end of the day and I’m still very much proud of that song.
What is one track /lyrics/ piece of art in your catalog that describes your work the best?
MC: That’s a hard one…that’s like asking your parents to pick their favorite kid. I’ll meet y’all halfway and say the production on Cathedral Sky with the lyrics of PHRAT BOI represent me well.
What is your most recent tour you’d like to share or what has been your favorite so far?
MC:We had a mini two date run with my nu metal cover band, Gorilla Boyz last year. We played at Come and Take It - LIVE in Austin, TX and we played at Retro here in Corpus the next weekend. The Austin show was fun because we got to play that iconic venue but everything else about it sucked. Horrible promotion, travel expenses were through the roof cause it was ACL weekend, AND our set got cut short because the bar wasn’t making money…the corpus show was the exact opposite of that. Crowd reception was immaculate and the crowd wanted more and more from us. We even got asked to play till 2:00am which was INSANE!
If you could make a dream tour, Who would be your dream tour mates?
MC: I’d love to jump on a tour with Lil' Aaron and Travie McCoy / Gym Class Heroes. I’d also LOVE to be able to tour with KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Ill Nino or any of my other nu metal idols.
Coke or Pepsi?
MC: My favorite soda of all time is Baja Blast…which is a Mountain Dew flavor…which is owned by Pepsi. So Pepsi all the way fam.
What do you want the listeners to know about your music and your project?
MC: If you love bands / artists that are always switching it up and don’t stick to the same sound every record…then you’ll dig me and you’ll dig my band Pulse Demon TX. We are a bit of a mixed bag, but we have something for everyone. Hell, we literally have a song called AZZ N TIDDIES n it’s basically club Slam.
Honestly, I also have a Barber Beats (Vaporwave) side project called Death Chamber that deserves more love on Band Camp.
Check out the new Pulse Demon EP and my cover of Sometimes on January 23rd. Wish me a happy birthday while you’re at it haha.
You can also check out my back catalog. If you love Adult Swim, you’ll love the After Hours EP.
I did metal covers of the theme songs for Sealab 2021, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Brak Show, The Boondocks and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
You can also give me a follow on TikTok and Instagram @mattcantumusic
