Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jarred Matthew listens to feedback following his blind audition on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Jarred Matthew arrived on The Voice stage with an unusual background for a contestant on the show.

For instance, on Facebook, he introduces himself as Dr. Jarred Matthew Roberts.

That’s because holds a PhD in astrophysics, an endeavor that took him to Hawaii for his studies and included doing experiments on a NASA project in Antarctica.

As for The Voice, he turned two chairs with his blind audition performance of Al Green’s “Tired of Being Alone,” landing a spot on Team Adam Levine in the process.

His Voice journey ended following a battle round match with Tyke James. But Jarred now has a Christmas gift of music he’s preparing for fans.

Here’s his exit interview with Voice Views.

Voice Views: The battle round was filmed in June. What have you been doing in terms of music or the entertainment industry since then? Has there been a specific post-Voice experience that stands out so far?

Jarred: Since the filming of the blind and battle rounds, I’ve been playing a lot of local shows, including some festivals. I’m hoping to start playing full sets of all of my original music at larger local venues in San Diego.

I’ve also been very busy with my science work. We had a major NASA site visit that will determine the future of our mission. I’ve been working hard at developing a lot of instrumentation for the project so it’s been a busy fall on all fronts!

Voice Views: Where do you see your time on the show leading you musically? What do you have planned next? Do you think you’ll be releasing new music in the future and, if so, what can fans expect in terms of sound/timing?

Jarred: I’ve been working hard on a collection of eight original songs that will be released Dec. 25. This album was recorded in Hawaii and it has an interesting perspective being that I wrote most of the music while I was also writing my dissertation.

I wrote one song, “Wasted and Weary,” while I was stationed at McMurdo Station, Antarctica for a balloon launch of an experiment called ANITA (the ANtarctica Impulsive Transient Antenna). The record features a full band on all of the tracks, as well a few songs with a brass + woodwind section, and some with string arrangements. I’m really proud of how this record is turning out and I’m hopelessly excited to send it out into the universe.

Voice Views: Moving forward, how to you see your dual interests / career in astrophysics and music working out?

Jarred: One question I was asked a lot while on the show was: If your music really takes off, will you stop doing physics? The question was never framed in the reverse. I found this question to be really interesting because it seemed to imply that one can only do one of those things. I don’t think this is at all accurate and it was a little disappointing, in my opinion.

I have two main passions in life (as well as many other passions) and I’m always going to pursue both/all of them to their fullest potential. Someone’s dreams and passions are some of the most precious and sacred things about them as an individual. I think that someone trying to put limitations on someone’s dreams is tragic. Why should anyone ever make the claim: You’re allowed to have dreams, but you’re limited to N=1? Does having more than N=1 dream make you selfish? Does it make you foolish? Does it make you less deserving of that dream than others that might only have that one dream in life? Regardless of how my music career goes or how my science career goes, I’m always going to do my absolute best at both for as long as I can.

That being said, I’m currently working on a NASA funded balloon-borne gamma-ray telescope — the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI). I’ve been developing a lot of instrumentation (readout electronics) for the upgraded payload, COSI-X, and I’ve also started an analysis project for this payload which is focussed on the x-ray/gamma-ray source, Cygnus x-1 — a black hole located in the constellation Cygnus.

Voice Views: Do you think you grew as an artist as a result of The Voice experience? If so, in what way?

Jarred: Being surrounded by so many amazingly talented musicians is about as inspiring as it gets for any artist. I became really close friends with Keith Paluso, for instance. We would rehearse together a lot and bounce ideas off of one another. I think Keith helped me develop a really great low register vibrato that I’ll hang on to for as long as I can.

Collaborating with Dave Fenley helped me tap into the storytelling element of a performance, as well as really singing with your entire heart and emotional palette. The show also does a phenomenal job supporting the artist as they prepare for their performances.

For example, I’ve never had a vocal lesson before being on The Voice, and my first vocal coach on the show completely transformed my approach to singing. She was truly amazing and even saved me as I battled a really horrible cold/flu just a week before my blind audition. I lost my voice as the result of this cold/ flu spell. Let me emphasize this again: I LOST MY VOICE. She put me on vocal rest for 4(!) days, helped me with various and plentiful vocal warm-ups, and was able to help get me my voice back the day before my audition.

Collaborating with the music director, the amazing official Voice band, and the coaches were also very impactful but to go into the details there would be pretty difficult. In short, I’ve been a fan/admirer/performer of Adam’s music for my entire life. He represents the epitome of a successful musician, in my opinion. I wasn’t expecting Adam’s feedback to be as genuine and pointed as it was. One thing I can say with confidence about Adam is that he is really/truly invested in his artists on the show. It’s something I’ll always cherish — along with the signed Songs About Jane vinyl record (first pressing), I was able to take home and add to my collection.

Voice Views: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your experience on the show?

Jarred: One thing I noticed while on the show is the incredible amount of dignity the producers, PAs, and staff treat the musicians with. They really do their absolute best to source the best musicians, prepare them to have the best performance they’re capable of, and present their craft and their backstory in the most accurate and positive light as they can. I found this to be very refreshing and I’ve actually made really close friends with a lot of the staff and crew. In short, The Voice creates a family-like atmosphere and it was obvious to me that they truly care about their artists.

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Tyke James and Jarred Matthew prepare for their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)