Small Streams Big Dreams #1: MattyP89
By Tanner Banks
2/19/2016, 6:30 a.m.
Tweet to: @SirJamtrousers
Matty P, The Bearded Gamer, Pimp Daddy Matty, call him what you want because he won’t care. Recently, I had the honor of interviewing one of the most laid back, genuine, and awesome streamers on Twitch. When doing the first interview for Small Streams Big Dreams, my time with Matty was an experience all itself. SSBD’s format is less a strict interview, and more of a chance to get to know some of the smaller streamers who produce good content, interact with the viewers, and maintain a positive atmosphere when playing. We had a chance to talk about a little bit of everything, from his love of wrestling, waking up early to get hours of grinding in of Final Fantasy before school, and being the primary caretaker for his severely ill mother. Without further adieu, let’s get started!
Matty P is a 26-year-old streamer out of southern England, first starting in 2013. Recently he passed 1,000 followers, and to celebrate he did a super long stream that ended up being 13 hours(!) and gave away tons of games on Steam. But for Matty, it isn’t the numbers that he’s celebrating, it’s the people. I asked him about what motivates him and he told me it was the people. “These people have only what I say I am, and they’ve given me so much. They’ve helped me create a community… It’s not me that’s created a community, it’s the people that have wanted this to become a community.”
Matty’s computer is 100 percent the result of community donations (before he was streaming on a six-year-old Samsung laptop) and he is extremely thankful. When asked about donations he said the reason why donations can be controversial is because larger channels won’t even acknowledge it unless it is a large donation, when they’re already making money from their sponsorship with Twitch and other companies. As for smaller channels, he said, “You can physically see how much the smallest donation has impacted that person’s day or that person’s life.” If you ever go to Matty’s channel (which you totally should) you’ll rarely, if ever hear him mention the donation button.
“Twitch.tv has restored my faith in humanity in a larger way than anything in real life that I’ve encountered in the past ten years. The kindness of strangers has absolutely astounded me.”
As for why he loves streaming, it was all about getting to be with others, while making sure to be with his mother. Before his mother fell ill, he had been streaming for about eight months, religiously. After her health took a turn for the worse however, he has returned to his mother’s house as her round-the-clock caregiver. Streaming giving him a chance to “do something I’m real passionate about and be five feet from her” is the perfect opportunity.
His passion for gaming goes back a long way as well. He would get up early to play Final Fantasy and would grind the same enemy for hours on end and level up. The camaraderie came from gaming where he and his friends could plop down on a couch and spend hours having the time of his life. As for Twitch, having so many people watching him and having that much company with him is the future. The world of MSN messenger internet has advanced a long way for Matty. The company that he has on Twitch and the chance to be someone different and escape the world’s problems makes taking care of his mother that much easier.
Although he’s on unemployment, taking care of his mother is a full time job. I asked him what all ails his mother and off the top of his head he listed COPD, osteoarthritis, a failing heart, Type 2 diabetes, desaturated oxygen levels requiring her to be on oxygen 24/7, and an inoperable hernia in her stomach. However, taking care of his mother is no problem as far as Matty is concerned; the government is another question, however. The toss pots in the government have repeatedly denied Matty’s request to receive caregiver benefits despite the fact he is the caregiver for his mother.
But that will not discourage Matty from enjoying his time with his partner Jade, his mum, and the people who follow him on Twitch. In the month of January, Matty logged about 219 hours of stream time, or about seven hours a day. Every. Day. But for Matty, helping his mother and streaming aren’t a job or a chore, they’re what gets him through the day. Getting to play games and chat with people. And it was the people who first told him to add a donation button. While he freely admits he would love to be a streamer for a living, donations are a bit of a touchy subject as mentioned earlier, but one watcher was very generous with his donation leaving Matty lost for words. http://www.twitch.tv/mattyp89/c/2993355
When it comes to a typical stream, it’s like hanging out with your best buddy for hours just shooting the breeze. He plays a fair amount of Rocket League and has rather high in the rankings. (Relative to most, at least.) Whenever he plays, though, you can see him constantly looking at the stream and talking with the stream regardless of if it’s one person or dozens of people. Some of the props that he keeps on hand at all times, outside of his glorious beard, include a fuzzy pimp hat and a John Cena plushie. There’s a constant stream of chat-requested music keeping the hype train rolling. A common sight in the chat are what Matty calls beard battles, where people can bet the beard points they’ve earned by watching the streams for a certain amount of time. These beard points are used to request songs, sound effects, and in the future to do polls to help Matty make decisions on what to do in game.
Matty is as genuine of a guy you’ll ever find searching the vast array of Twitch streamers. Here’s to the first thousand followers, and to many more thousand.
If you want to check out his stream here’s the link: http://www.twitch.tv/mattyp89
