Matreya

Reinvention is a powerful thing. For Matreya, formerly known as Mason Noise, has stepped into a new chapter, one that embraces transformation, healing, and boundless creativity. With the release of the debut single Eagles, Matreya marks a return to music after a decade-long journey of self-discovery, navigating personal challenges, spirituality, and artistic rebirth.

Chatting to Matreya, he opens up about the inspirations behind this new identity, the courage it takes to start over, and the profound role that energy healing and spirituality have played in shaping both the music and the person behind it. From blending global influences in sound to the deeper mission of bringing joy and consciousness to audiences, this interview explores what it truly means to evolve—not just as an artist, but as a human being.

How’s your week been?

It’s been a very interesting week. Lee Harris was great fun. We went to see him do a show. Everything seems to be going well with the single campaign; people are receiving it well and enjoying it. So far, it’s been a blessing.

So Matreya is a new chapter for you. What does this new identity mean to you as an artist, and what is your mission statement as an artist?

Matreya represents all I have been and the vision for the future that I see for myself. It’s all the different facets of me and reflects my soul rather than just my personality. My mission would be to bring joy and consciousness to people through my creativity, music, and the visual world that we’re creating. My journey is there to inspire people to look inside themselves for who they really are and to work through challenges that have happened to them and know that they can come out of the other side with a sense of renewal and freshness.

How does starting this new character and starting again feel to you?

It feels like I’ve gone back to the blueprint many times in my life, like I’ve started over again and again. This is another chapter of that—I truly believe we’re dying and being reborn every day. Who you were yesterday isn’t necessarily who you are today. I’m always changing, always growing, and it feels beautiful to step back into the world and share music again. After 10 years of what felt like creative constipation, this is a much-needed release. It’s given me a sense of renewed life force.

I was originally extremely scared to go back into the world and share things with my creativity. As artists, we wear our hearts on our sleeves, and it’s always daunting to share something so personal—whether it’s writing, performing, or creating.

You’re starting with ‘Eagles’; that’s your first single. How did you know this was the right thing to open up with?

I think it was the lyrics. We had a few options for singles, but this record feels like one of reemergence—the lyrics are quite self-explanatory in that sense. It feels like a kind comeback record. A record about courage and hope and all of these themes and struggle. I wrote it in a period where, yeah, I was struggling with a lot of conflict inside myself. Choosing it as a single just felt intuitive.

You blend a lot of styles together. What draws you to these different styles and to different genres, and how natural of a process does blending those things together feel?

I grew up on R&B, Motown, funk, and reggae, and my love for harmony and R&B structure shaped me through my teens and early 20s.

When I got into healing modalities, I became more sensitive to what I listened to and sort of backed away from music quite a lot. I was still listening to music, but I wasn’t consuming it in the same way. Then a friend introduced me to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a massive Pakistani artist. He does a type of music called Qawwal music, which is basically like religious music they sing with a big group of people, all harmonising.

I saw in that moment that he wasn’t just singing for an audience; it felt like he was singing for something greater, or it was coming from a different place, similar to how Bob Marley or Freddie Mercury would. To enter this trance-like state. But with Nusrat, there was a distinct religious depth.

I’ve always been drawn to rhythm—African tribal drums, Indian percussion, all of it. I think rhythm is something that really gets me going. If I have a rhythm, then the melody and the harmony come afterwards for me. Learning about Indian rhythms fascinated me, especially how they use an alphabet to represent drum sounds.

So I was like taking these rhythms, and my love for R&B was naturally coming out and sort of sitting on the top of them, and all the influences that I’ve had over time were sort of just very naturally emerging as I was just making these songs. I also love Hans Zimmer—the big cinematic drums, the sweeping synths. But I never set out to blend these influences; it just happened naturally out of love for different sounds.

Beyond music, you’re also a Reiki practitioner. What is Reiki?

Yes, I practiced Reiki during my break from music. Reiki is a Japanese healing modality developed in the early 1900s by Mikao Usui. Not much is known about his life really, but during a difficult period in his life, he went up a mountain and had a realisation almost. After stubbing his toe, he instinctively cupped his hands around it, and the pain vanished. He ran down this mountainside, and he went to this cafe, and this woman was moaning that her tooth was hurting, and he put his hand on the side of her face, and the pain disappeared. He sort of discovered that there was this healing ability in our hands and in our bodies that we could channel.

Reiki means "universal life force energy"—"Rei" meaning universal and "Ki" meaning vital energy. This life force energy is sort of like the essential spark to all living things. So Reiki is really about channelling this pure, fresh life force from the universe into yourself and into other people. And what it does is it works with the sort of meridian system or the energy lines in the body. And it basically flushes out your energy body almost like turning on a tap that hasn’t been turned on for a long time. In essence, it’s a form of spiritual energy healing.

And how did you discover Reiki? Would you say that you’ve always been quite a spiritual person?

No, I wasn’t spiritual at all. I wasn’t raised with religion—my dad, though Christian, encouraged me to find my own path without imposing any beliefs. I never saw myself as spiritual, intuitive, or psychic in any way.

As I was sort of going through my depression, I became completely bedridden, utterly fatigued, and burnt out. I was losing weight, and despite multiple blood tests, doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. I think my GP at the time was quite special because he could see that something was going on with me that was sort of deeper than just a physical ailment. I think he could see that something in me was trying to awaken, and awakening to myself really. Jim Carrey said when you’re depressed, you need deep rest from the character that you’re playing. When you’ve been playing your character for so long, it has a negative effect on your energy.

My GP said to me, you should start meditating. He told me to visualise Christ or the Buddha and allow their energy to envelop me. So that really kind of sparked something in me.

I went to a place in Birmingham where I saw someone who did Reiki sessions. I was kind of familiar with it from some people mentioning it before in my past. I really went as a sort of a last resort sort of thing. I had such a profound experience with it that I think after I had my session, I sprung off the bed literally vibrating. I remember driving home after it, just laughing my head off. I had this experience; something just went bing and unlocked. What has been going on? Where have I been? Did that just happen that quick? I think I went home and I made like four records that one night.

I kept going back, joined the courses, and became obsessed with the idea of healing through touch. Initially, it was just about healing myself, but over time, it naturally extended to others.

I know you’ve been pretty open about the challenges that you faced before Matreya. Did Reiki play a massive part in that healing, and how else did you navigate that period emotionally and mentally?

Yeah, I’d say that was the core element that helped me understand my own energy. —what I was feeling, perceiving, and where these emotions were coming from. It gave me a roadmap for deciphering my thoughts and experiences, helping me reset, refresh, and protect myself. When you open and expand your energy field, everything becomes more vivid. As well as things coming up from your past and from your shadow and things that have been hidden in your subconscious mind, all of these things start to emerge, while at the same time, you become more sensitive to the outside world. You start noticing how other people’s energy affects you, how their thoughts influence you, and even how you shift into different personality roles depending on who you’re around. It’s complex—like a web of emotions and energy, with everyone casting their nets and getting tangled. Reiki gave me the tools to come back to myself, meditate, and find clarity instead of getting lost in it all.

I think a lot of people are going through this awakening—becoming more aware of their energy, emotions, and intuition. We all recognise good and bad vibes, but in the West, we don’t really have structured ways to navigate this. Yoga is growing in popularity, but often in a way that’s very different from how it’s practiced in the East. For me, alongside Reiki, Buddhist psychology really played a massive part for me in coming to a place of clarity in my own mind about who I am and navigating really tough emotional situations. Hinduism also influenced me, particularly Bhakti Yoga, which means sort of devotional yoga, which is when you devote yourself or you practice loving a deity or you practice loving a guru or enlightened being like Christ or one of the many incarnations. Through devotion, there’s an exchange of energy that can be deeply healing.

I’m really like just a dilettante in that way. And I just like, I just pick up all these little things that I really love. I think it’s really important that you develop your specific unique practice rather than just doing something because everybody’s doing it. You have to find your way.

One last question before you go. What would you say was the most valuable lesson that you learnt throughout that time?

The most valuable lesson—and perhaps the most healing realisation—was understanding that I am not who I think I am. That statement alone raises endless questions: If I’m not who I think I am, then who am I?

Realising I had been playing a role rather than living as my authentic self set me on a path of infinite discovery. Who we truly are is limitless, never born, never dying—a paradox beyond human perception. Trying to conceptualise it is impossible, but the liberation comes from knowing we extend far beyond our physical form and personality.

https://lnk.to/MatreyaEagles