TORONTO -- For musician Matthew Monias, music isn鈥檛 just a creative outlet, it鈥檚 a way of showing others nothing can hold him back.
Monias, who goes by the artist name Mattmac, was born blind and recently 鈥� that he wrote, sang, and mixed from his bedroom in Garden Hill First Nation, about 470 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
鈥淚鈥檓 not one to let my disability hold me back,鈥� Monias told CTV News. 鈥淭here needs to be more of that mentality.鈥�
The 20-year-old鈥檚 track is a catchy tune about love, with lyrics that pay homage to his story, including lines such as: 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 with you, I'm in paradise, I swear my eyes are paralyzed.鈥�
The song is already gaining momentum and has earned a spot in the regular rotation of several Winnipeg radio stations. As of Thursday evening, 鈥淧aradise鈥� sat , a Canadian ranking of the top Indigenous songs from around the world.
鈥淓veryone is really in support of Matthew,鈥� said David Hodges, a music producer and executive director of N鈥檞e Jinan, a music education program for Indigenous youth designed to help them gain self-esteem and community empowerment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about the story, this is actually a good song.鈥�
Things haven鈥檛 always been easy for Monais. As a kid, he struggled with depression and remembers the first time he realized was not the same as many of his peers.
鈥�(My mother) was telling me what colour the trees are, what colour the sky is and what colour is the sunset 鈥� and that鈥檚 when I really started realizing: 鈥楬ey, I鈥檓 blind, I can鈥檛 see. I鈥檓 different from everybody else,鈥欌�� he said.
While he couldn鈥檛 see, he could certainly hear. The gospel music from his mother and the rock and rap music from his siblings became an inspiration. Soon he taught himself how to play various instruments.
鈥淚 play the drums, I play the guitar and I play the keyboard,鈥� he said.
Monias isn鈥檛 stopping with just a single either; he was a catalogue of new and old songs set to be released in the coming months.
鈥淚 just want to be someone people will look up too, and encourage them to do big things,鈥� he said.
