Traverso Management

Even before a record label or traditional backing, Matt Simons had already been heard around the globe. After being noticed from a Facebook ad he created for his independent album Pieces, the song “With You” received a high-profile 2013 placement on one of the biggest Dutch soap operas. Before the Northern California-born and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter knew it, he began selling out shows in Europe and was serving as guest judge on the Netherlands X-Factor, while “With You” went platinum in Holland and earned the unofficial title of the country’s “most played funeral song.”

He can speak to any occasion, and that’s why his 2015 single “Catch & Release” and its Deepend Remix became a runaway international smash. It’s no surprise he’s been honing his chops since childhood. For Matt, music is a family tradition as both of his grandparents were professional opera singers, and his dad shared a love for The Beatles and the classics with him early on. Playing saxophone his whole life, he got a degree in Jazz Saxophone Performance at The Purchase College Conservatory. That background ultimately gave him the foundation to write these kinds of songs. “I won’t ever lose that influence. I started off with jazz and those rhythms and patterns have been ingrained in me. Now, my main focus is to continue writing these songs that really can resonate.”

From his lightning-fast start 25 years ago until his much lauded work with the biggest names in Dutch music and showbusiness of today, Gordon Groothedde has been one of the most commercially successful producers and composers in the Netherlands. After writing and recording with people all over the Netherlands and abroad, most of his output nowadays comes straight from his state-of-the-art GG Studio in his own home in Zutphen. The art of producing music came naturally to Gordon Groothedde. By the end of the 80’s his goal was to be the best guitarist in the world, but, as he points out, that didn’t work out. While trying his best with several rock bands (Vangouw, Spitball, Poundcake), he was teaching guitar on the side when a few students asked him to join them for a recording. This turned out to be a life-changing moment: Gordon had never imagined himself in the producer’s chair, but before he knew it, he was directing the whole recording session. And the mix as well. The songwriter in Gorgon was awakened through his work with Nick & Simon, and has since taken off with requests for songs from a range of artists and publishers. Very rarely he produces music that he didn’t also (co-)write. Gordon has produced or mixed with renowned artists like: Vengeance, Lemon Crush, Normaal, K-otic, Shiver, Jovink en de Voederbietels, Rich Wyman, Intwine, Orange Grove, Feeler, Absent Minded, IOS, Born, The Sheer, Barry Hay, Branko, Nick & Simon, aballadeer, After Forever, Jan Keizer, Beth Hart, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Live, Xander de Buisonjé, Moke, Katie Melua, 3JS, Syb van der Ploeg, Miss Montreal, Jeroen van der Boom, Jaap Reesema, Pearl Jozefzoon, Loïs Lane, Krezip, Golden Earring, Waylon, Ayreon, Chris Hordijk, Bløf, Guus Meeuwis, René Froger, Johannes Rypma, Marco Borsato and many more; and has co-written with Randy Goodrum, Anders Bagge, Jorgen Elofsson, Andreas Moe, Chris DeStefano, Greyson Chance, Will Simms and many more.