My name is Matthias
and I'm going to Draw My Life.
I was born in Woodland Hills, California
in 1988.
I have an older sister
and 3 years later, I got a younger brother, Joey,
or as we refer to him on this channel, J-Fred.
Before I went to school,
some of my oldest memories involved playing with Hot Wheels and Legos.
I loved Legos!
I didn't actually go to preschool
because I had to stay home with my mom.
In fact, she actually put me in a kindergarten a YEAR later then I should've gone,
because she wanted just a little more time with each of us.
Once I finally went, I was pretty shy and never really talked to anyone.
When I was about 5, my brother and I met one of our best friends we would ever have.
His name was Trevor.
Or as we refer to him on this channel, as "T-Spence".
They had just moved in across the street from us.
He had an older sister, my age, and I went to school with her.
Trevor shared me and my brother's love for Lego's, Hot Wheels, and basketball.
Everyday we possibly could, we would hang out with each other.
We loved to grab our sleeping bags and take them into the backyard,
camp out with food that our parents packed for us.
We would take trips with our family to other states,
we would draw basketball courts on our driveways, and set up small hoops so we could play basketball.
We would buy every basketball jersey we could find in thrift shops and pretend we played basketball in the NBA.
We would do everything together.
Until I turned the age of 11 . . .
Then, one day, they moved away :(
They moved over NINE HUNDRED miles away !
My brother and I didn't know what hit us.
Our "brother" had moved away, and depression hit me.
I haven't played basketball since; I haven't really played ANY sports.
Since that day
In retrospect, I know it hurt my brother, Joey, a lot, but I was 11 and I coped with it the only way I could.
It was at that point, I believe, I grew up.
I stopped believing in a lot of things.
But
Don't worry, it gets better.
very soon after, my family and I moved to Orlando because of my dad's job.
He was an "imagineer" at the time, working for Disney on theme parks.
Designing rides, and such.
It was only going to be temporary, but me and my siblings resisted.
But on the first day, two different neighbours came up and introduced themselves.
And just like that, we had new friends. [^_^]
We were able to go to Disney World at ANY point we wanted to,
since my dad worked for them. It was pretty fantastic.
But then we moved BACK to California [;-;]
We took a month and drove across the entire country, and almost all the states. [Geezums]
I loved it! [Oh, okay then.]
I was in the car for an entire month. [Sounds horrible to me . . .]
But it went by so quick.
So we finally got back to California, away from our new friends,
back to our old.
I was 13 at the time, and a lot of things go on at that age. [true dat]
So you can imagine that the friends I moved back to . . . changed.
And I no longer identified with them. [I'm sorry]
I got into making videos -- I was in 9th grade.
But after making around 15 videos, I felt no-one else cared about it.
It was hard to make videos all by yourself, [yeah it is] so I stopped.
In 10th grade, I found some guys I identified with.
They were in a band, I had never played music before, but I told them I could sing!
When in fact, I had never sung before.
They let me be in the band anyway!
We would play shows, where I would literally make up lyrics and melodies ON THE SPOT.
I could imagine the audiences were confused, at best.
I really got into music at that point, though, I had started to learn how to play guitar, bass, and piano.
It was also at that point when I saw the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
I was running around the track for PE, and she was in a different class, playing soccer.
I couldn't wait for PE, regardless of my distaste for sports,
because I just wanted to get a glimpse of her.
Her name was Amanda.
Later, she tells me a similar story of how she would watch me run across the track to the point where she would get distracted playing soccer,
and someone kicked the ball into her face and how embarrassed she was.
Luckily, she said, I didn't see it.
So, I kept on with music, and then slowly realised highschool kids just want to hang out and mess around.
I was in it for the music,
and incredibly frustrated by that.
Then I met Michal Badal.
We shared the same passion for music.
He first introduced me to Apple computers, and that changed my life forever!
It sounds dramatic, but it was then I realised that with this tool, I could do anything I wanted,
and be anything I wanted to be. I could record an entire song, and
write and play every musical instrument myself.
I didn't NEED anyone else; and that empowered me.
So I did that.
With Michal's help, we recorded a 14-song album before I was even out of 11th grade.
To this day, we are still very proud of that album.
It's called "Where We Should Be".
By "The Social", which is what I called myself back then.
People started to hear it, and other musicians wanted to part of the band.
Michal played drums, and we played a bunch of shows.
I'll never forget that feeling when the crowds know the words you wrote by heart.
But playing live WASN'T for me.
I got a job at a local drugstore, and got a car, finally.
After flirting around for 2 years, I was ready to have a girlfriend.
So I asked Amanda if she wanted to be my girlfriend, and she said yes.
I remember our first date, which was a story she loves to tell.
Because the waiter came up and asked if I wanted change.
I said, "no".
I thought he meant coins . . .
But evidently, he meant 20 dollars left over from the cash that I gave him.
The waiter got a $20 tip that night.
Pretty sure our meals cost less than THAT.
Amanda and I would hang out together every day,
we quickly fell deeper and deeper in love.
I then went to college for filming music,
and I directed a film at the community college I went to, that won "Best Cinematography".
Vemio, that - that other video site,
LOVED IT, and featured it on their homepage.
I was proud of that. It was titled "Maestro".
It was about a musician that needed to learn to believe in himself and his instincts.
That theme you'll probably find in a lot of what I do.
Amanda and I have been dating for about four years at that point.
I took her out to a deserted beach on a boardwalk and proposed, right then and there. [FANGIRLING]
I knew I would ALWAYS be with her.
And she said yes. [YAAAAY]
I then transferred to CSUN, where I continued my film degree.
I was chosen to be one of the 4 students to direct a thesis film.
The budget for that film was over $30,000.
My team and I had to build an entire farmer's market for the film.
Alex Goiyet, another film student at CSUN, helped me with the project.
At that time, he had just started up HIS YouTube channel -- Joule Thief.
A couple months before I graduated, I was laid off of my job at the drugstore;
it was scary and depressing.
I was in a bad mindset. But then, that's when I decided to start making YouTube videos. It was April of 2012.
With the help of Alex, I started my channel, "Matthias".
I've been making YouTube videos on a weekly basis ever since,
and I love it!
I soon started getting work and making videos for networks and other people for money.
I'm about a month away from my wedding, with my beautiful Amanda Faye as we speak.
And this is where the journey continues.