31
Jul
2026
August 2026 Student Spotlight: Stacey Matthews
We are excited to feature Electronic Music Production student Stacey Matthews as this year’s August Student Spotlight!
Stacey was nominated by her instructor, Jason Cohen, who says:
“Stacey has infectious positivity that’s impossible to miss. She greets everyone with a huge smile, and you can feel her energy from a mile away.
She is funny and never misses an opportunity to make people laugh or offer words of encouragement. She has a way of making everyone around her feel seen and appreciated. As her teacher, I’ve always tried to empower her, but the truth is, she empowers me just as much.
Recently, she stepped outside of her comfort zone and started recording her own vocals, embracing the unknown with excitement instead of fear. We are currently working on her first album.
She has an eclectic taste in music and approaches every new style with curiosity and an open mind. She also shows up for the community, regularly attending Listening Parties, supporting other artists, and encouraging everyone around her.
Whenever we make a musical breakthrough or discover something exciting, she’s the first to celebrate it. I’ll never get tired of hearing her yell, ‘Get it, DJ JAY!’
Stacey brings positivity, courage, creativity, and contagious enthusiasm to everything she does, and our community is better because she’s a part of it.“
Congratulations, Stacey! We’re so proud of your accomplishments and can’t wait to see what you do next.
Read on to learn about Stacey’s background, inspirations, goals, and more. For the full interview, visit our YouTube channel.
I came to Stages after recording a song and being told I couldn’t make my own beats, because there were too many computers and maybe I was a little too old to do so.
It made me want to explore songwriting so I could get the song out the way I wanted.
At the time, there were no songwriting classes, but there was Electronic Music Production.
My instructor is so amazing, Jason Cohen. I told him that same story about there being too many computers to make a beat and that I might have been “too old”, and he said, “you’re never too old to learn”.
I’m a hairstylist, so I really have no need to go into a computer, but he would open up the screens for me. He was just so good at cultivating my gift.
Day one, yes, I was the oldest person in the class – I was there with 9 year olds, 14 year olds, 11 year olds, but they were so amazing.
I was trying to rearrange something for a Listening Party, and one of the young people just came up and rearranged my whole thing. Having the group influence was really a positive thing.
It was really positive to see how wisdom doesn’t have to come with age.
I’m doing a lot of music in gospel hip-hop, gospel rock, gospel club – that’s my passion.
Jason always wanted our songs to be more authentic, that they would not just sound like electronically-produced sounds.
One of the things you’ll hear in all of my music is that I’ll base something on a sound of nature. Under the layers of my songs you’ll hear heartbeats, you’ll hear trains, you’ll hear water.
Those elements really bring the listener into a different place, so it’s not all just notes and tones, it’s real life.
One of my favorite things about being here is just growing. As I walk past the drum room or hear somebody in the electric guitar room, it’s making me even more curious. Jason is my favorite teacher, but there are other people here that I probably need to get to know.
Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel!
