From feel-good melodies to lyrics that resonate on a deeper level with listeners, Your Favorite Color is always ready when it comes to crafting songs that have a lasting impression. Their music has shaped a space where authentic passion fuses with driving alt-rock melodies, welcoming any music fan to find something they'll enjoy. With the band's latest single, "Where Did It All Go Wrong," this track is the perfect example of just how versatile they are as artists. A song that truly captures honesty and self-reflection, which is what sets them apart in a unique way. I recently had the chance to talk with Matt Warren of Your Favorite Color about what keeps him inspired with songs, the story behind their latest single, and something he hopes listeners can take away from their music. Here's what he had to say.
Who are some of your early musical influences, and how have they shaped the evolution of your sound over time?
Matt: For me, I grew up listening to bands like Phoenix, The Strokes, The Killers, and Young the Giant. All those early 2000s indie rock bands—they just shaped me so much musically because it was the music I found myself identifying with the most. I remember when I was maybe 11 years old; one of the first concerts I saw was Young the Giant and Grouplove. On the ride home, I was telling my parents that I want to do music and I want to pursue that dream. I've always been inspired by singers and those bands, and it has definitely shaped my voice over the years.
What keeps you motivated and inspired each time you dive into the creative process of a song?
Matt: I think what keeps us inspired is, what's the word? I would say the unexpected surprises that we find when we sit down to write a song. We never really know what's going to happen, and we don't know what kind of song is going to come out. Music has this funny way of expressing deep subliminal feelings that maybe we don't even know how to understand or process on our own, and music becomes an outlet for that, and you never really know what it's going to draw out of you. Every time a new song comes out like that, it's like a little reflection into the unknown, and there's no feeling that really beats that. So, whenever I'm feeling down or not inspired, I just need to force myself to sit down and work on a song, and as soon as you get that little spark, then you just ride that, and it lights the fire inside, and it keeps us inspired. It reminds us why we do what we do.
I imagine the writing process varies with each song?
Matt: Yeah, it's always a little different. I think that there is a safe place when it comes to writing music, like I've always written music at my home studio, and there is a little process that has naturally unfolded over the years. Usually we just start with a demo at my house, and then when the band and everybody calls it complete enough, then we'll bring it to our producer and bring it to that next level. That has kind of seemed to be the process we enjoy the most, but we have experimented with other ways, and yeah, it's not always the same. It's not always every single band member right at the beginning. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's me and Cameron, our bassist, or me and David, or me and Foz, or Nicky, our keyboardist. Then, if we like an idea, we can present it to the band, and then if they like it too, they'll jump on it and then move forward that way. Even sometimes I'm not a part of the first initial spark, but if it's something the band shows me and I hear something with it and I'm immediately inspired, then that's a good sign to go down that road and see what this song can become.
What first inspired your latest single, "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" Is there a specific moment or story behind it that you would like to share with listeners?
Matt: Yeah, that song was interesting. I think before that song came about, a lot of our songs had a much brighter, happier tone. This one, naturally, when we sat down, just kind of started to take a little bit of a deeper, more melancholy route, and as that song unfolded, we found our personal experience of chasing our dreams as musicians but realizing that dream, although it may be righteous in principle to chase a dream, and it's maybe a commendable thing to do that. We hype ourselves up for going for something in our lives, but after being in the industry for as long as we have now with still a long way to go, it's not all rainbows and sunshine, and it's not the life and plans that you have, which don't always go the way you think they're going to go. I think that this song was about that moment and relatability for us, with being near LA and having LA in our backyard, just kind of realizing all the different factors that go into trying to be a band that can make music for a living. It's a lot more than just sitting down and writing a good song you like. There's so much more that goes into it. Social media is such a big player. Meeting people is such a big thing, and sometimes while you're trying to meet people, you might be going out and staying out until 3 in the morning in LA. Then you have to work the next day, or you have to do something else the next day, and you're hungover or tired. Then maybe something you thought was going to be great falls through, and there are so many letdowns that you have, but you need to keep finding that inspiration to keep moving forward. That inspiration will always be there, I believe, if you open your heart and mind to it and you try to get those mental resets, but that song really just was a cry out, like, "Hey, this isn't all that I thought it was going to be. It's a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I feel a little lost right now." There's a line in the song that says, "I'm not ashamed, but I wish I was." That line captures kind of the whole message of the song for me. I'm proud of our band, and I'm proud of all of us for staying true to ourselves and following our dream, but at the same time I'm like, "Fuck, why did we have to choose such a hard path?" I sometimes wish I could have chosen something with a little bit more of a roadmap. Sometimes I wish I didn't have this double-edged sword of creating myself in my mind to have such high expectations, like I wish I could have just settled for something more simple. At the same time I'm not ashamed of it, but also at the same time I wish I was, so then maybe I'd change.
What would you say makes this song stand out compared to your past releases?
Matt: I think one is that it just talks about something a little more melancholy. It has a little bit more of a melancholy, sad, or troubled tone to it. Also, sonically we used a bit more acoustic guitar and a different drum sound and a different vocal delivery. I think in that way it's a little different from our other songs. Our first album was extremely high energy the whole time, like with loud drums, loud guitar, singing my freaking heart out, and pushing my range to its max. So, I think this one kind of laid back into itself and found a deeper-rooted thing that it can just sink into a little bit more, which was interesting and exciting.
Is there a particular lyric or line in the song that hits hardest for you personally?
Matt: Yeah, I think definitely. "I'm not ashamed, but I wish I was so I can change into someone new." That line kind of hits home for me on such a deep philosophical level because as I was growing up as a teenager—I mean, I'm not particularly religious. I would say I'm a pretty spiritual person, but ever since I was a little kid, I've been trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing here on this planet, and I think I got really inspired by some Buddhist philosophy and Jim Carrey and this idea of decompartmentalization of just the constraints that humans have made. There was an interview that Jim Carrey did that really stood out to me, and he was talking about when you create yourself in your mind to "make it," you have a choice to take that chance and go for that, or you can kill your real self and, like, fall into your grave forever, reaching for the person you never were. I think that line pretty much says that to me. It's like, "Again, why did I have to create myself to make it because now I have to do this, or else I'm going to live a life of regret?"
How do you know when a song is "done" and ready to release? Is there a certain process or preparation that goes into deciding this?
Matt: That's a great question, and there's not really a rule for when a song's done, especially nowadays because I think culturally, we have—and I could be wrong here, but I think people have shifted to look for a more raw type of connection. I mean, even if you look at TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, and of course high-production movies and TV series. Those are all still around, but I think a lot of people look for those raw, iPhone, livestream connections to deal with people, and a lot of times that stuff is the worst quality in the sense of production. For me, for a long time, having really high production was very, very important to me. So, if something wasn't up to the standard of what the top players in the music industry are putting out sonically, then I would judge our stuff really hard, and I wouldn't be able to feel like it was done. Even when we would put it out, I still would feel like it was not done. When we met our producer Stephen, he did a really good job at making things industry standard. So, then we completed that, and every song we did, since it was production-wise, was so clean and so good, it was easy for me to call the songs or feel like the songs were done. It's also so easy to be a perfectionist and to always feel like something's wrong. Over the years I found that sometimes just letting go and letting some imperfections peek through can actually be a beneficial thing, similar to TikTok on the iPhone, like livestreams and vlogs, the stuff that's just kind of raw. So, I think it's kind of just up to the person and how much of a perfectionist they are and what type of perfectionist it is. Yeah, I think over the years it's become a little easier. It's just a feeling, you know. Like, when you can listen to the song and you're not judging it anymore. That was a super long answer to get to that answer, but it's when you listen to it and you feel like nothing's wrong and you're not judging it. The reason that's complicated is because it's up to the individual to either be a really hard perfectionist or to learn to embrace their imperfection.
What is something you hope listeners take away from your music right now?
Matt: I hope they take away whatever they need from the songs. When I was growing up and even now, a lot of the times I would never really understand what the singers were saying. So, you have Phoenix, which was one of my biggest inspirations as a kid, and those guys are from France. A lot of their lyrics are sometimes hard to understand, and they are also pretty abstract, and I never really knew totally what the song was saying. Even in bands like The Strokes, his voice is so distorted, and his singing style can make it hard to understand what the real message of the song is, but it didn't matter because I just took what I needed from that song. Similar to reading a book, like, when you read a book, it's all laid out to you to ingest what the author is telling you, but you are imagining things in your head. I think there is a real beauty in that, and people's imaginations are so amazing because they can create the most beautiful scenes in their heads. I think that's a lot of times why people, after reading a book, will make it into a movie, and they don't like the movie because they like what they created in their head. I think for our songs, if people can listen to them and create something in their head that's meaningful to them, whether it's the exact message that we were trying to say in the song or not, that's all I could ask for.
What's something you've learned about yourselves through making music?
Matt: That's a great question. I feel like I've learned so many things, but I'm trying to think about the most impactful thing I've learned. I think the thing I've learned the most about myself through making music is that it is, I guess, my identity in some ways, and without it or without writing music, I don't totally know where I fit in on this earth. If anything I've learned when I'm feeling down or if I'm ever feeling like I'm not on the right path, I can sit down and write a song and know that everything will feel ok. Yeah, I think that if there's anything really great that music has taught me, it's how it's always there to be there for you in times of need or in times of struggle, also for identity or whatever it is. It's a great therapy. That can be one of many answers. I'm just drawing a little bit of a blank on all the different ways it can help and teach me.
Before we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like people to know?
Matt: Yeah, we have a lot more music that we've been working on. Months ago we got back from an amazing tour in Europe with a band called The Driver Era and Almost Monday. Since we've been back from tour, we have just been locking ourselves in the studio, exploring more musically, and we have some more songs we're very excited about. So, we're gonna have a lot more music coming out, and then hopefully a foreseeable album in the future as soon as we can get that out there. We're chugging along, we're gonna be playing live, we're gonna be looking for our fans, and we're going to be finding our fans. Anybody reading this, we are looking for you if you vibe with us. Yeah, come join the journey if you find us.
