Matt Brevner, Juno and Much Music Video Award-nominated artist, shares his new single More of Us—written in 20 minutes and shot in two weeks with B. Dice—critiquing fear-based pandemic rhetoric, vaccine mandates, and corporate moral influence while promoting unity. The song, blocked by Google/Facebook ads but trending at #11 on YouTube, resonated with marginalized audiences, contrasting mainstream media’s silence. At Rebel News, his "home," Brevner challenges cultural hegemony, arguing that grassroots voices can reshape discourse, and plans future collaborations to "renormalize being normal," echoing Andrew Breitbart’s philosophy that politics follow culture. [Automatically generated summary]
Oh hey rebels, it's me, Sheila Gunnread, and you're listening to a free audio-only recording of my weekly Wednesday night show, The Gun Show, and I say this every single week, but let me remind you, this is the internet, so you can listen or watch whenever you feel like that's the convenience of not being tied to terrestrial radio.
Now tonight my guest is someone I think you already know.
It's my Vancouver-based colleague, Matt Brevner.
He's a videographer with us.
But what you might not know is that he is a Juno Award-nominated recording star.
He's also been nominated for a Much Music Video Award.
And he joins me tonight to talk about his new single, More of Us.
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Have conservatives walked off the battlefield of the culture war?
Not entirely.
I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.
Change politics, change culture, as conservatives often say, but we say that a lot.
We don't actually do all that much about it.
With the exception of our friends at the Daily Wire, there are really not a lot of conservatives producing movies and music, especially the big budget Hollywood kind of movies with actual stars in them.
Us Joining Forces00:06:27
It's why I'm such a fan of Ghostbusters, the really, really old one.
It feels like that was the last time that a pro-small business, anti-professional student, anti-municipal government, anti-environmental protection agency movie was ever made.
And it was perfect.
But that movie's coming up on like 40 years old.
I'm dating myself here.
Now, part of the problem of the lack of conservative content in Hollywood and in pop culture is the cancel culture enforced in the industry.
Matt Brevner is a Vancouver-based recording artist.
He was nominated for a Much Music Video Award.
He was also nominated for a Juno.
And then he was canceled just like that for being a Christian.
The music industry's loss, however, was our gain.
Matt joined Rebel News as the expert videographer working with Drea Humphrey.
And he's done some incredible work in front of the camera reporting too.
Matt's been covering the normal people being harmed by the government's overreaction to the coronavirus from the very beginning.
And he's also covered the division harming society that's being stoked by politicians and the media every day.
And so he did what he does.
He wrote a song about it.
It's called More of Us because there's more of us than them, people who feel our way.
And it encourages people not to feel alone.
Maybe tune out the mainstream media for a minute and come together in person.
The song also encourages people who are waking up on the other side of the lockdown argument to reach out across the aisle.
And it encourages us on our side to show a little grace if they do.
Joining me tonight to discuss why he wrote More of Us and what he's working on next is Canadian music sensation no matter what the mainstream media says, Matt Brevner.
I can't help but look around and feel like things are getting out of hand We've been told to trust the science, but the science just doesn't make sense They say it isn't mandatory, but they also say you jab or you drop But if it doesn't stop the spread, it makes you feel like this is just a facade What about the healthcare workers?
What about the frontline nurses?
How quickly we forget that they were working 18 hours a day.
What about informed consent?
What about due diligence?
It seems a country that I used to call home is surely slipping away.
I can't help but look around and feel like minds are slowly starting to change.
Cause even if you're triple vaccinated, no that segregation isn't the way.
Freedom is a choice and it's available to all if we choose.
But first things first, you gotta turn off the news.
Yo, what about the health care workers?
What about the frontline nurses?
How quickly we forget that they were working 18 hours a day.
What about informed consent?
What about due diligence?
It seems a country that I used to call home is surely slipping away.
If you're late to the party, there's plenty room at the table.
This side, don't discriminate.
I'm calling on every single man, woman, child of the able.
It's time to take the streets and liberate.
But please don't be a part of the problem.
Staying willfully ignorant, cause there's just way too much at stake.
Yo, it's okay to change your mind.
You can admit you were wrong.
Cause where there's perfect love, there ain't no shame.
Heavenly Father, show me what I don't understand yet.
I got my marching orders, I don't fully know the plan yet.
Hold on to my Bible before bed, no, it ain't been yet.
Did you know the makers of the vaccine make the Zanex?
I would never lean on corporations for morality.
Cause they put their profits over people for their salaries.
No, they wanna make you bend the knee for your normality.
I know you're feeling all alone, but there's way more of us than them.
There's way more of us than them.
Way more of us than them.
There's way more of us than them.
Joining me
now from his studio, I guess, in Vancouver is my friend and colleague and recording sensation, Matt Brevner.
Matt, thank you so much for joining me.
I think your music is sort of taking the internet a little bit by storm, as much as the mainstream media kind of wants to ignore what's happening.
And we'll get to that in a second.
Why I Wrote This Song00:05:53
But first, what prompted you to write and record this song?
Sure.
Well, it's kind of interesting that you asked that because during my career with Rebel News so far, I've really tried to make a focus on, because I had a career before that being in front of the camera.
I wanted to stand behind the camera.
I really wanted to do my best to honor the subjects that we were filming, honor the stories we were covering, and do my best to really work with Drea and put together, you know, the news in an honorable way.
So I kind of took a step back.
And over the last year, I've been really let down by the lack of artists speaking up on behalf of what's happening in our country and in our world right now.
I understand people are kind of afraid to do that, but the arts need to be, you know, the front line of the voice of rebellion in social justice movements.
And ironically enough, over the past couple of years, they've been very loud and very vocal when it's convenient and there's corporate bucks behind it.
But when it's not convenient and your reputation or your job is on the line, it seems that fearless artists that's almost an oxymoron these days.
So I just felt inspired to write the song.
I've been having a lot of conversations with friends of mine that are maybe on the further left side of the spectrum, but we've remained relationship and a sense of normality and staying cordial through all this abyssiveness.
But I've noticed people are just starting to kind of change their minds, especially with the latest restrictions over the Christmas holiday where people kind of just feel like they did everything that they were supposed to do and it still wasn't enough with lockdowns and closures and not being able to see their families over Christmas or whatever.
And I think people are pretty fed up with it.
So I just felt like I just felt inspired to write a song.
So yeah, it came out pretty quick.
I wrote the thing in like 20 minutes.
And as soon as we wrote it or I wrote it, I reached out to a friend, B. Dice, who helped me put the video together.
And I was like, man, we need to shoot a video.
And then, you know, basically two weeks later, it was out.
No, I think it's really, I think it's really beautiful for all your skills to come together And you could draw on that well of experience over the last year, telling the story of the normal people who are so impacted by these lockdowns.
We hear all the time from the fancy TV doctors and we hear from the politicians, but especially for you and Drea, the work you do in Vancouver is you're just talking about the normal people, the forgotten people, the people who live with the consequences of these big decisions.
And not only are their lives being ruined and their relationships with their families being destroyed, but then their politicians and the media are calling them names and stoking fear and division and hatred towards them.
Yeah, they're being absolutely demonized from the top down.
Basically, you know, our top government officials are inciting violence against people who, for legitimate reasons, choose or are not physically even able to receive this medical treatment.
And it's disgusting and it's shameful.
And I think, you know, a lot of people, most people in society, they have faith in their institutions, whether that be the government or big media or what have you.
So they're just kind of doing what they're told.
And they don't all have the time to do the research that we do.
I mean, we're in the news.
It's literally our job to be informed.
So it's unfortunate.
You know, there needs to be some accountability to think critically and try to do better.
But fear is a huge motivator.
And when the loudest voices in our world are screaming, you're going to die.
You're going to die.
These people are going to kill you.
It's like, how can you not be susceptible to that sort of rhetoric?
You know, what I like about your song, well, a lot of things, but in particular, the message of anti-division.
You see the problem as division.
And so for me, the message of the song is: look, you know, you might have been an early adopter of the fear rhetoric and division, but it's okay for you to wake up and realize that you were wrong and come on over to our side.
And I hate to use our side, their side, but come on over here.
We don't how you came to believing in freedom, but get here.
Yeah, and I mean, maybe this will resonate with some people, maybe it won't resonate with some people, but I'm a Christian.
I'm a believer of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and he doesn't discriminate.
It's like if they're not for us, or if they're not against us, they're for us.
So, and everyone has a checkered past.
Everyone falls short of the glory of God.
Yet it's available to all of us.
And I think with something like there's no room for pride or ego when you're trying to win hearts and win minds.
And again, it can be a bit of fear on both sides, justified, completely justified, but still fear.
And it just deepens the trenches of division.
So there needs to be some grace and some humility and some patience for one another, regardless of your understandings and your ideology, so that we can actually have a peaceful discourse and not just like throw grenades at one another.
Because things will never change if that continues, you know.
Overwhelming Response Resonates00:03:02
So now I wanted to ask you, I've sort of been watching the YouTube comments on your video.
And the response, overwhelming.
Like 99 points, I don't actually think that I've seen a bad comment left.
I haven't looked in a couple of days, but the response from your fans, tell me about it.
Yeah, it's been strange because it's mostly been new people.
I think leading up to this release, just because of the work we've been doing journalistically, the truth can be polarizing.
Well, the truth is polarizing.
So there's a lot of folks, maybe from liberal-minded folks from the music industry that have kind of written me off or said heinous things about me in the past.
But those voices are definitely being silenced because I think what this song is doing is it's creating an opportunity for people who feel disenfranchised or marginalized to be like, oh, wait, like I'm not weird or I'm not crazy.
There's actually, you know, tens of thousands, millions of people that are going, not only think what I think, but are going through exactly what I'm going through right now.
And I've received thousands of messages from nurses and doctors and professionals that have been fired and demonized and whatever.
And it's just like, yeah, it's giving people hope, which is just such a blessing.
And it's far beyond anything that I expected or could have hoped for.
And yeah, it's just beautiful.
It's really beautiful to see.
Well, and as a mom with a 12-year-old, I was really happy that, you know, it's, you know, conventional pop culture music.
However, no swears, no, it was, it was great because it's something that you, I feel comfortable letting my daughter listen to and learn all the words too.
And I noticed that other parents in the YouTube comments felt the same way.
And again, one of those things where you're not alone.
You know, there are other parents who are desperately looking for music that you, you, you know, you see your kids singing along to and you're like, no, no, no, you can't sing about that.
But she doesn't even understand what the words mean.
I'm so glad that there's none of that in your song, obviously.
Yeah, I mean, music is a vessel and it really resonates with the spirit.
And even if you go back thousands and thousands of years across different ethnic groups, different tribes, different ideologies, music was always such a powerful binder for theology and for concepts.
So we have to really be careful about the music that we allow into our brains, even if it seems innocent, even if it seems like it's just party music or it's just whatever.
There's some very grotesque messaging in contemporary pop culture, contemporary music, even just pop music generally going back to 50, 60 years.
It's usually about either, you know, sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
That's just what it's always been about.
So to be able to, you know, counter that with some positive messaging in a package that's maybe familiar to people, I think that's, that's what I'm trying to do.
People's Resilience Blocks Big Tech00:11:59
You know, that's all I could hope for.
And if it resonates with people, whether it's, you know, 10 people or a million people, then that's, it's all a bonus from there.
Now, I know what your fans think.
I know what your new fans think.
What about your former, and I guess current, because you are recording, you're a recording artist.
What is the response from people within the industry, people you used to be colleagues with or are no longer who are sort of part of when you were initially canceled?
Have you heard from any of them?
There's been a few people that have DM'd me and reached out kind of saying, hey, I've been following everything you've been doing for the past year and a half and speaking out against the public narratives.
And you're really brave, you're really courageous, which is like, I appreciate that.
But it also, to me, I don't really see it as being brave because or courageous because it takes a lot of courage to just take it on the chin and deal with things the way they are.
Because if we don't speak up, like the fabric of our country is being completely ripped apart and destroyed, maybe beyond repair, unless we all speak up.
And it doesn't have to be on a huge level.
It's just having stern conversations out of love with people that we care about.
And then this stops.
It's really it.
Like we have this passive aggressive PC undertone in everything we do in Canada relationally.
And I think it's really one of the reasons why Canada is really struggling right now throughout the pandemic and all the issues that are arising from it because we're afraid to have conversations with one another.
Anyway, sorry, that's a bit of a rant.
But I have received some nice messages.
I think because the reception of this has been so overwhelmingly positive and global, I think a lot of people that maybe did me dirty or have had not so nice things to say about me in the past are just shutting up right now.
And that's great.
Yeah, I was going to say, I think that's probably the best you can hope for.
Yeah.
No, I think I saw this trend for quite a few days at 13, but 12.
I think you got as high as 11.
I'm not sure if you broke the top 10.
Did you?
Not that I'm aware of.
It got as high as 11.
But that's still pretty incredible.
That's what I'm saying.
That was my next question.
So, number 11, YouTube music.
I think you're probably the number one song Canadian artist for sure.
So you would think that that might be something that music journalists, entertainment journalists in this country might be interested in this independent artist with his, you know, his self-written music.
He's filmed all the footage in the documentary or most of the or in the video or at least most of it.
He put together the video on his own.
What a great story that you trended all the way at number 11, but they don't seem to care, do they?
Why is that?
Yeah, I mean, surprisingly, I haven't even had even people, even guys that have supported me my whole career, like small publications haven't, it's been crickets.
No one's really posted it.
But they're afraid.
They're either afraid or they think that this message is dangerous.
And the only reason why they would think that a message of unity and hey, like maybe don't demonize people who are being fired for their choices.
Like the only reason why that message is dangerous is because it puts a crack in the narrative.
And they're very subscribed to the narrative.
So yeah, I mean, this is just, again, just pointing out the hypocrisy of the media, Zeitgeist, and big corporate news and whatever else.
And it's nothing new, but it's still unfortunate.
Because I mean, it's one thing if a song is trending with a label behind it where you have access to everything, you have a big marketing budget.
But I mean, this song has been blocked on basically every step of the way.
So it's really just come from, you know, the help of our supporters.
A few, like Tom McDonald shared the song, Zuby shared the song.
And luckily, Dark Horse Podcast shared the song.
But it's really just been going through by word of mouth.
And it's interesting because, yeah, like Google blocked all the ads, Facebook blocked all the ads.
So it's literally just like, hey, check this out.
Hey, check this out.
Hey, check this out.
So it's like a real grassroots movement and still crickets when it comes to media.
So, oh, well, they're lost, you know?
Yeah, you're being passed around like a mixtape.
It's kind of fun to see, to see that the people, as much as the powers of big tech are trying to suppress the will of the people, the people are still speaking so much so that you trended at number 11, which is such an incredible accomplishment, given what you're up against with big tech censorship, but the lack of resources by which you did it.
I mean, again, good news story.
You think any reasonable entertainment journalist in Canada would be like, holy heck, look at that guy.
But no, I think your politics are wrong.
I think it can be an encouraging thing, though, for our viewers, because the only reason why this message has been able to get out there so far is because you guys have been sharing it, because you care about it, because it resonated with you, because you wanted people to see it.
So there's this misnomer that, oh, I'm just one person.
What can I do?
Well, you can do a lot.
You have a voice.
You can do a lot.
And if we make enough noise, people can't ignore us.
You know, the song was wedged between the weekend and Disney.
It's insane.
Like, we're talking billions of dollars of access between those two, those two institutions.
Right.
So it's just, it really starts to put a crack in like the veneer of the big tech oligarchy, the overlords.
It's like, no, we just have to work.
We just have to stand up for what we believe in and rep the things that we love and appreciate.
And that's enough.
I really believe it.
Well, I think the success of the song is a testament to the accuracy of the message in the song in that, you know, the message of the song is that you're not alone.
And if you, if you're finally realizing that you were maybe wrong about this issue, it's okay.
We understand.
Get over here.
And that's sort of what's happening with how well the song is doing.
People aren't alone and there are more of us than them.
And that's why the song is doing so well, because there are more of us than them that care about this issue.
And YouTube can't block that.
Yeah, they really can't.
And if they do, I mean, it's been populated in so many different channels uploading it and across different networks.
There's multiple uploads on BitChute, multiple uploads on Rumble, which aren't mine.
I have no idea about who uploaded them or I couldn't tell you, but I don't even care about that because I just want the message to get out.
I'm hoping that this, you know, just invokes conversation.
It's not about garnering all the views into one video so that my ego can get hyperinflated.
That's not what it's about at all.
So yeah, I think we just have to use the tools at our disposal, even though messages like ours are being blocked, whether that means, you know, we get a content strike or we can't get a mortgage or we can't have access to our banks or whatever it is.
There's always going to be a way around it because it's, it's this, like I was speaking with Ezra.
I mentioned we're in a cultural hegemony right now where 1% of the population has the loudest voice and they claim to represent the 99%, but in reality, they don't at all.
They only represent themselves, but the 99% is afraid and we haven't realized yet that we actually hold the chips.
Now, I don't want to take up too much more of your time because this is the middle of a work day and you're working on one of Drea's videos.
So I don't want to take you away from that.
But what's next, Matt?
Like, what's next for you?
How do you build on this success and what's the next project?
Well, I'm working on some new music right now.
There's going to be some pretty exciting announcements coming in the next few weeks.
I'm hoping we can maybe work on that together.
You bet.
This is all happening like super real time.
And clearly, you know, it's interesting because I had fully put down music.
Like after what I went through and taking the job with Rebel, I'm like, okay, I'm entering in a new season in my life.
I'm going to focus on video.
I'm going to focus on journalism.
But I feel like God's restored that for me and he's calling me back into it.
So I'm ready to go pretty hard on the music stuff.
I'm lining up some collaborations with some artists that I think our fans and our viewers will really know and love, which is crazy, but nothing ready for announcements yet.
But just know I'm working hard and I'm going to keep promoting the song and the video.
Hopefully hop on some podcasts, do some more press and keep spreading the message.
That's incredible.
And you're doing all of this while working more than full time for us with Drea in Vancouver.
So that is an incredible accomplishment.
I never worry if you're working or not.
Matt, one last thing for people who don't know, how can they find your work and how can they support the work that you're doing?
Sure.
Well, if you go to brevner.com, it's a landing page I set up and it has access to merch if you want to support that way.
The music video is on there.
And also there's a link to the song, which is available for download.
There was a mix-up.
They're saying there was a mix-up with distribution.
So the song currently isn't on Spotify or Apple or any of the mainstream streaming sites.
They're saying it could take as much as two business weeks.
I don't know.
It could be a while.
So if you want to get the song, if you go to bandcamp.com or brevner.bandcamp.com, which you can redirect through brevner.com, you can download the song for free.
Or if you feel like chipping in a penny, a dollar, whatever else, you can also download the song by donation there.
And that money basically goes straight to me and trying to market the song and do more press and some alternative marketing.
So yeah.
Well, I hope you don't get too successful and then leave us.
But I also hope that, you know, that if you do, your voice is used to amplify the stories of normal people, which is exactly what you're doing for us.
So, you know, either way, God's will, right?
Well, Rebel's my family.
And regardless of where this ride takes me, it's been you guys that encouraged me to step into my giftings and do this.
So I'm so glad.
This is home for me.
Okay.
And I'll try not to be selfish about it.
Okay, Matt, thank you so much for taking the time.
I don't want to take you away from your regular job.
And I cannot wait to see what you do next.
Thanks, Feela.
I really appreciate it.
I don't even really know who said it first, but it was constantly reinforced by Andrew Breitbart before his passing that politics are indeed downstream of culture, as in to change the political landscape.
we first need to change the culture instead of completely tuning out of it, which is something that I know I'm a little bit guilty of.
And I think Matt's music is one step in the right direction of renormalizing being normal again.
Now, if you'd like to support Matt's work, I'll include a link to his website and to his band camp in the description of the video today.
Thanks so much, everybody, for tuning in.
As always, I'll see everybody back here in the same time and the same place next week.
And remember, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.