Fast Facts About 44Phantom
44Phantom, real name Brayton Matthews, is an artist from Seattle who combines pop and rock to make a unique blend of original music. Brayton’s music has been described as “grunge pop,” and he has made a name for himself in this genre with his lyricism and musicianship.
44Phantom released his first single, “Break Your Heart,” in 2019. The song has since gained hundreds of thousands of Streams on Spotify and helped make 44Phantom a well-known name in the pop-grunge world. Although he didn’t release music until 2019, Brayton started working on songwriting when he was very young. He told Beyond the Stage that he wrote his first song at just eight years old, but started taking music seriously in 2017 as an adult.
- After growing up in Oklahoma, Brayton moved to Seattle, Washington, during his sophomore year of high school. His school in Oklahoma had been much, much smaller – just 60 students total – and the transition to a 3,000-person high school was a source of anxiety and overwhelm for the young Matthews.
- Brayton’s struggle to adjust to the changes in his life as a high schooler was what originally inspired him to make music. However, he’s shared in interviews that his passion for music emerged at a much younger age. He told Beyond the Stage, “I wanted to do this since I was a little kid. I didn’t think it was realistic.”
- Matthews’ music taste as a child and teen was eclectic, to say the least. He’s cited hip-hop and rock as some of his favorite genres growing up, mentioning artists ranging from Nirvana and Fleetwood Mac to Lil Wayne and Drake. He also appreciates folk and country music and has expressed affection for the work of Bob Dylan.
- Since releasing his debut single in 2019, 44Phantom has put out several more tracks, including “All Figured Out,” a song that he has described as being inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” The track was co-produced by the artist with support from Jon Kilmer.