Faces Behind The Fest: Matt Martin
- Matt Martin
- May 13
- 5 min read
Helping put together PuckettFest has given me the chance to revisit something I’ve carried for a long time: the feeling that I failed by drifting away from so many of the friends I made during my years with Little Heart Records.
In middle school, I started a band with some close friends called Think Harder. At the time, we were dorks wearing white button-ups and black ties, trying to do our best Green Day and Bowling for Soup covers. At that age, all we thought about was how cool it was that we could all get in a basement together and recreate, poorly, some of our favorite songs. Honestly, it wasn’t bad for 12-year-olds, but it’s difficult not to look back at that time and cringe.
As the members of Think Harder progressed through high school, our taste in music and our standards changed. We found a lineup that worked for us and put in the work practicing every week. We started to play better shows and had our eyes set on becoming part of the Louisville music scene. I’ll always be thankful to Talk of Spring because after we opened for All Time Low together, they told me that I needed to meet Puckett and gave me his number. A 16-year-old boy began texting with a man twice his age and, surprisingly, it wasn’t creepy.
The first time I met Puckett in person was at Lemongrass Café, where he interviewed me about becoming an intern at LHR. I got there early and stood up nervously to shake his hand when he walked in. He laughed and said, “You don’t have to do that, man.” My nerves quickly faded away as we began to talk about music. That was all we did that day. We just talked about our favorite bands and I listened to his stories. We left the restaurant and stood in the parking lot for another hour, just talking. As a mostly introverted person, it takes a special kind of person to pull me out of my shell so seamlessly. Someone who not only shares the same interests, but provides tailored recommendations and anecdotes that made me feel seen and understood.
I began working for Little Heart Records, but I honestly didn’t do that much work. Mostly, I would come over to Puckett’s place and shoot the shit. We would talk about what was going on with the label, upcoming shows, movies, comics, and food. I made excuses to stop by and just spend time with him because I felt like every time I visited, I became more cultured, or at least more knowledgeable about subcultures we were both into. Puckett was also fucking hilarious. His stories, even the really dark ones, would leave me laughing so hard I cried. We would go out to eat almost weekly to talk about the label and plans for Think Harder.
Think Harder signed with Little Heart Records around the same time I began working at the label. Our first release was a song called “Who I Am.” I remember every time I got a mix back, I would send it to Puckett and ask what he thought. He provided honest, productive feedback and would always hear me out if I pushed back on something. He would take the time to talk through it in a mature way, at a time when I definitely wasn’t. He helped the band grow, release our EP, and set up our first tour.
In my senior year of high school, I began co-oping through a program that let me leave halfway through the school day to work. In between working at a restaurant, I also continued to intern for Little Heart Records and a promotion company called The New Vintage. Puckett would sign my hours sheet, but mostly that work was trying new restaurants around town and talking about the Louisville music scene. These meals also included many other Little Heart Records artists, interns, and employees. It was a true community of people who loved art and being a part of something greater than themselves. This group of artists and idealists didn’t look down on me because of my age. They treated me as one of their own and gave me valuable advice I carry to this day.
When I think of Puckett, I don’t think of the label. I think of someone I was friends with. A buddy who would help me plan shows for my band and run the door for us. Someone who would enjoy talking about the logistics of setting up a make-believe tour and brainstorming insane merch ideas. He was a friend who saw my flaws but still cared about me.
It was a very difficult decision to leave Louisville and go to college in another city. It felt like so many of the relationships I built and the work I had done for Think Harder were taking a back seat so I could go to school as an undeclared major. I still kept in touch with Puckett, but less and less frequently. Occasionally, he would tag me in a post asking if I’d dropped out of school or saying that he missed getting lunch with me. Someone I saw almost weekly became someone I would message rarely and see a few times a year.
Think Harder played our last show in May of 2015. I only saw Puckett one more time after that. A few months before he passed away, I took my girlfriend at the time to a show to introduce her to “one of my best friends.” The three of us talked for a while, but he had a ton of people trying to get face time with him, so we moved closer to the pizza warmer and away from the door. I’m so glad my wife Emily got to meet him before he passed away.
One day, I remember seeing the community I had lazily distanced myself from posting hearts online. I didn’t know what it meant, but my first thought was unfortunately correct. The Think Harder group chat, which hadn’t been active in a while, suddenly came alive again with the terrible news.
This news led me to distance myself from that community even more. I moved to Chicago and rarely talked to anyone from Little Heart. I wanted to, but it was so hard. It was a reminder that he wasn’t here anymore. Whenever I did spend time with that community, I felt like I shouldn’t bring up how much I missed him because it might kill the mood.
PuckettFest proved all of those thoughts were wrong. When I was asked to join the group of Pucketteers putting together the festival, I was extremely grateful they thought of me. I had so many side conversations with the LHR community about doing something like this, and I was so excited that the initiative of a few decided to make it happen. The first planning meeting was at a Vietnamese restaurant, just like my first Little Heart meeting. After we talked about our plans for the festival, we walked to the parking lot and proceeded to talk for about an hour. Just like I used to with one of my best friends.
Helping put together PuckettFest has reminded me that I didn’t fail by drifting away. Life happened. But the community was still there, and so was the love that built it.
I am so excited to be a part of this festival as both an organizer and performer in Think Harder and Stay Bent. We’re doing this for Puckett, but we’re also doing this for ourselves, as a reminder that his influence on us is one of the clearest reminders we have of his kindness.
“I’m not shooting to save the world, but you never know what a record is going to mean to somebody.”
— Bryan Puckett
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