A Singer Finds His Voice

Apr 29

by Matt Davis

Matt Davis, lead singer of The Wonder, shares how The Tools took him from not being able to hit a single note to putting out his first album (and more).

I have been a devotee of The Tools books (and podcasts, and interviews, and whatever else I can get my hands on) since the first book came out. I don’t know how I discovered the first book, perhaps the New Yorker article, but in any case, I found it immediately incredibly powerful.

I was going through a difficult period in my life, and The Tools gave me, at first, at least a sense of doing something, anything, to move forward.

At the time, as well as dealing with some personal struggles, I was trying to change my life. I have always been a musician, composing for film and TV sometimes, but mainly in bands. But I couldn’t naturally sing, so I avoided doing that even though it was the thing I wanted to do most of all.

“I thought it would take a few months to get to the point where I could sing publicly … but it took doing scales every day for three years.”

—MATT DAVIS

Singing was the reason I was drawn to music in the first place. I so longed to tell stories and sing my heart out! But I couldn’t. So I would be the guitarist in the back, the guy who wrote the songs but wouldn’t sing them. You can imagine my relationship with my Shadow wasn’t so great back then.

Finally, I had had enough of hiding this part of me and started taking singing lessons and practicing. How hard could it be?

It turns out that for me it was really hard! I was terrible! I couldn’t hit one note when I started. But with the help of The Tools, I persevered.

I would use the Reversal of Desire to get me to practice, The Mother and The Tower to deal with disappointments, and I would evoke my Shadow when I was practicing or if I had to sing in front of my new band mates.

I thought it would take a few months to get to the point where I could sing publicly and begin my new journey, but it took doing scales every day for three years to finally be able to sing my own songs well enough to perform them.

During that time, The Tools helped me in immeasurable ways. Not only did they help me persevere with my singing journey, they had a profound effect on the other, perhaps more important, parts of my life.

They helped me be a better husband and parent and member of my community.

They helped me deal with deep disappointments and unravel lifelong resentments.

They not only helped me become a better human being, they gave me a deeper sense of meaning.

As I have said to friends, this isn’t “self-help,” it’s a deeply profound spiritual system that has elevated my life.

And, I can sing!

Seven years after starting my journey, in 2019 I released my debut album. My project name is The Wonder. The album is called Love.

I still want to keep improving my voice and to continue that journey, but I’m so proud to have made this record. From where I started it’s almost unbelievable. And I know I couldn’t have done it without The Tools.

Here’s a video I made for the first single from the album, featuring my then 7-year-old daughter Frankie on backing vocals. It’s called “When We Are Young (We Run and We Run)”.

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WATCH THE VIDEO: