Episode 03 - Matt Hobbs aka Puppy Songs

Our pets have all sorts of silly, goofy, adorable little quirks, and Matt Hobbs has made a career out of turning those funny quirks and cute moments into catchy songs – or, more specifically, Puppy Songs. What started as a fun hobby during the COVID lockdown has blossomed into something way way larger: thanks to songs like “Cheese Tax” and “Big Stretch,” Matt has racked up over 16 million likes on TikTok and millions of plays on Spotify.

On this episode, Matt shares how he went from selling toilets on the internet to writing viral songs about his pups, how he knows when he has a banger of a Puppy Song on his hands, and what the future of Puppy Songs may hold. Plus, he performs his new song, “If I Were Your Pup,” live!

Follow Matt, Leni, and Mar Pup on TikTok, Instagram, and Spotify, and check out the official video for “If I Were Your Pup” on Youtube.

The Petspace Podcast is:
Hosted by Catie Voglio,
Recorded & Edited by Roger Gomez,
Produced by Cameron Kell,
To learn more about Wallis Annenberg Petspace visit us at our website annenbergpetspace.org

Transcript

Host Intro

Welcome to the PetSpace Podcast!

Our pets have so many quirks, and our guest today, Matt Hobbs, has now made a career out of turning those moments into viral songs that pet owners can universally relate to. Matt – known to most on the internet as Puppy Songs – has taken the internet by storm. Today, he joins us in the PetSpace podcast studio all the way from Atlanta. 

What started as a fun hobby during the COVID quickly exploded into something much larger: with viral sensations like “Cheese Tax” and “Big Stretch,” Matt has racked up over 16 million likes on TikTok, and millions of plays on Spotify.

On this episode, Matt shares how he went from selling toilets on the internet to writing viral songs about his puppies; how he knows when he has an anthem on his hands; and what the future of Puppy Songs may hold. Buckle up people, we have our first ever live musical performance of Matt’s newly released, “If I Were Your Pup,” dedicated to all the rescue dogs waiting to find their forever homes!

Get your cheese out, and please enjoy Matt Hobbs aka Puppy Songs.

INTERVIEW

Catie

Matt Hobbs! We have the Puppy Songs creator here today on the PetSpace Podcast. 

Matt

Woo!

Catie 

Welcome!

Matt

Thanks for having me, Catie, this is awesome. 

Catie

Thank you for being here. You've actually traveled pretty far, not just for the PetSpace Podcast, but I'd like to think so. *laughs*

Matt

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Catie

But for your first West Coast premiere at PetSpace tonight, Puppy Songs live. 

Matt

It's all happening. It's a full day of awesome stuff here. And I'm just glad to be here. 

Catie

Yeah. Thank you. Just, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming. Travel is never easy, I'm sure you're absolutely exhausted. Among other things, we were just talking about in life, life is never easy or convenient. But what we really want to know: Puppy Songs. 

Matt

Yeah. 

Catie

Viral sensation. How did this get started? 

Matt

Yeah, as we were sitting here, setting up earlier, I was just thinking, I was like, “This doesn't feel real, to be doing this right now.” So this project has been going on for three and a half years ish,  officially. It officially started in…so that would have been January of 2020. And I had tinkered with making songs about the dogs, as well as songs about all kinds of things prior to that, before the name Puppy Songs came up. And I started making them for my personal Instagram, like a quick little thing about Mar Pup, which I'll feature in the show later.

Catie 

Can you tell us who Mar Pup is, so everyone has the context?

Matt

Oh, great, yes.

Catie

Most importantly, Matt, who is Mar Pup? *laughs*

Matt

*laughs* Who is Mar Pup? So I have two dogs: they are both 14 years old, Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix ish. And Leni is a short-haired pup, and Mar Pup is a little bit of a fluffier pup. And they are my two dogs, they are the stars of Puppy Songs. 

Catie

Star, inspiration, all of it. 

Matt

Yes.

Catie

There would be no Puppy Songs without Mar and Leni. 

Matt

True story. 

Catie  

Amazing. 

Matt

True story. So... *laughs*

Catie

Sorry I threw you off, dogs first, of course. *laughs*

Matt

Yes, yeah! So the pups have always inspired songs. Like, I've always I make everything a song as well. You know, in general, my wife says, I've made her life a musical. 

Catie

Oh, good. Yeah, that keeps life interesting. 

Matt

Yeah. So at the end of the day, I make a lot of songs about a lot of things. And I was in a situation where I had just left my day job, I used to have another job. And I left that in the summer of 2019. And so I was trying to do more music, freelance, coming up with like, “There's got to be an internet thing, right? I've got to be able to make some songs and put them on the internet, that has to be a part of this.” And so that's where I started, like, “Well, let's just make some songs for Leni and Mar Pup.” And so a few test runs on my personal Instagram late 2019, early 2020. And then I decided, I was like, "Let's see if I can make it its own name," and Puppy Songs, for whatever reason, was available everywhere. 

Catie

Wild. To think that the internet existed that long without someone taking Puppy Songs. 

Matt  

Yeah. And everything's taken – I mean, any username, any domain. And it was available everywhere. 

Catie

It's like that shining light. 

Matt 

Yeah! And that, I think, is one of the most fortuitous parts of this. And just having that name really helped, as opposed to it, I don't know, having any other name. 

Catie

Well, it could have been Mar and Leni's Songs, and probably may not have hit the same way.

Matt

It may not. And the point being that, like, you know, when the name of something is what it is, that really helps, as opposed to like, I don't know.

Catie

What's the saying, “Keep it simple, stupid.” *laughs*

Matt

Yeah, yeah! It helped manage expectations from the beginning. 

Catie  

Right. 

Matt 

And I think it's just fortunate that we call our dogs puppies. They're 14, we always call them the puppies, cuz they're puppies! "Oh look, there's a puppy," whenever my wife and I are on the street. 

Catie

I was shocked when I first started looking into your work, and then I was like, "Oh my gosh, they're like senior puppies." *laughs* I love it. I love that messaging. I have a senior dog who looks like one of your dogs, just blown up in extra proportions–

Matt

*laughs*

Catie

*laughs* That they are forever, like, he's forever my puppy. 

Matt 

Yeah.

Catie

Until forever and ever.

Matt

And what's your pup's name? 

Catie

Ghilley. He's my Ghilley boy. And he's just so good. But he is my forever puppy, and he's always acted that way, so I connected with that, when I saw your grey-faced dogs, but they're your puppies!

Matt

They're the puppies. And I didn't meet them until they were six. So I didn't know them when they were puppies. But, you know, I'm grateful for all the time I get to spend with them now, and I miss them while I'm out here. But I don't know, it's been a treat, and they inspire so many songs. I mean, they inspire so many songs. I think we've done 162 at this point. 

Catie

*laughs* Oh, wow!

Matt

162.

Catie

I know the greatest hits. But 162 is a lot of work, a lot of content, a lot of jingling. 

Matt

*laughs*

Catie

And, what do we call it, workshopping? 

Matt

Oh yeah. 

Catie 

So, let's go over some of your big hits. We've got “Cheese Tax,” we've got “Big Stretch.” How do you know in those moments when your puppies are doing this thing that all of our dogs do, which I think is so...to me, that's what really hits with this, like, mass amount of people, is that what you're singing about, is what my dog does every single day. 

Matt

*laughs*

Catie

Like you really know how to pick out those moments. Like, how do you know, when you're looking at your dog doing something incredibly cute or so silly and funky, that you're like, "That's it, I'm unwrapping this wrapper of cheese. And this is what's gonna get a thousand million streams on the internet."

Matt

*laughs* I think the good tell is when those moments with the pups spark organic, improvised songs. So most of the time when a song comes up, it's because I'm just with one of the dogs, and in that moment, I start singing something. So I'm trying to think of a good example of one, like, “Spot For My Snoot” is one of the early ones. And so Mar Pup, especially, so every time she lays down, she has to find a comfy spot for her body, but then maybe it's an elbow, maybe it's a little elevated portion of a pillow or a blanket, that's where she rests her snoot. And in that moment, I was like, "you gotta have a spot for my snoot."

Catie  

*laughs*

Matt

And that was it, and that was just where that came from. And so then I have a choice: I can either forget about it…I kind of forgot who it is, it might be a Mitch Hedberg thing, where he's like, if the pen and paper on the other side of the room, I have to convince myself, “it's not that funny of a joke,” to write it down?

Catie 

Right.

Matt

But it's that kind of thing. So if I can capture it on my phone, I'll do it. Or I'm like, "It's not that good." Or, sometimes I run, and-- 

Catie

Get the pen and paper immediately.

Matt

Yeah. Or just open up my computer and start making noise, or get a guitar, or ukulele, or the piano, or just kind of whatever is nearby. But a lot of times it starts with just filming the dog and saying, you know, "gotta have a spot for my snoot." 

Catie

Yeah! 

Matt

And so, after I did a lot of those, I started to kind of…I try not to work from a formula. Like, I was aware, when I made “Big Stretch” that generally, people say "big stretch."

Catie

Yeah, it's a universal communication to your dog, you're like, "Ooh." It's hard to resist saying it. *laughs*

Matt 

It is! And so, you know, I consume an irresponsible amount of dog content already. So a lot of these things I'm already aware of – I was already aware of the idea of the cheese tax, also known as the puppy tax, or the dog tax, or the chicken tax. So when these moments happen, if they spark songs and if I capture them, and then I put sticky notes all over the walls in my studio, so I usually have anywhere from 10 to 20 ideas at different parts of the development process at any given moment. But the most important thing is like, as much as I started this project to be this, like, "Oh, I need to teach myself how to produce and mix and make tracks and arrangement." The most important thing for me is: is it an authentic fun thing from the perspective of one of the dogs? And does that get preserved in the way the song is put together, and the way the song is performed? 

Catie

And I think that mentality is what's got you to where you are now. That's what's made these viral moments is that, if it's not authentic…and I think that goes for anything, especially the way the internet is now: everything's so filtered and produced that if you lose that authenticity, you're probably not hitting it the way you're gonna be hitting it right now. So that's so important. 

Matt

Yeah, and tools are an important part of craft, whether that's song-craft and making worksheets for rhymes, or whether it's some new Waves compressor in Logic Pro or something like that. But at the end of the day, I like focusing on whether you can walk around singing something. 

Catie

Yeah. 

Matt 

And whether it fits in that moment, as if it really were a musical, as if that inciting action happened, or some bit of dialogue were delivered, and then the characters turn to the audience and go into song. It has to be earned. 

Catie

Yes.

Matt

It has to come from someplace real, and so that's also the challenge for me, because at the end of the day, I mean, it's funny when people say the songs are funny. But they're not like jokes, necessarily. There's not like rug pulls, or, I don't know, it's not conventional jokes.

Catie

You know what it is almost, is that you make such relatable songs, like I said before, that those pieces are a part of my life everyday. Like, I feel like I could break out in some Big Stretches on occasion that like, then you're like, "oh my gosh, it's like this guy knows me. It's like he knows my life with my dog." And to me, that's funny. There's no rug pull. It's just that it's this universal language of dog owners.

Matt 

I love that. I love that. I mean, that's been what's so humbling and incredible for this project, is the group of people in the community it's brought together, of people who are like, "Yep, that's what happens. That's how it goes, that's my experience too!" Because all of this comes from just, you know, like I said, the moments are so humble, the moments are so small. It's just like me, and a dog, or one of the pups, or with my wife, or on a walk, you know, that's where this stuff comes from. Like, it doesn't come from some grandiose machine where the clouds open and all this stuff happens. And so the group of people that it's brought together, especially early days during the pandemic, when we were all at our house--

Catie

With our dogs! *laughs* 

Matt

With our dogs, on our devices. Looking back, I think the confluence of those factors was like...

Catie  

Yeah. Well, pretty Kismet. I mean, TikTok had its moment…well, it's still having its moment, let's be real. But it really drove a lot of us through the pandemic, it gave us a little place for reprieve. It built a community for a lot of people. That's another Kismet part of your journey is like, could you imagine if TikTok wasn't there, if that didn't come out? Because is that where your big chunk of community is at this point? Or what are you finding as time goes on?

Matt

It's different every six months. 

Catie

Okay. *laughs*

Matt 

The project started on just Instagram, actually. So there was a piece of this before TikTok was very popular, in like January, say, of 2020. There were a lot of people on TikTok at that point. But it wasn't as big as it would be at the end of the year, and then Instagram wasn't doing reels yet. So when these started, if you go back and look at the record of old, first batch of Puppy Songs, they're all square. So fully-produced audio and music videos in the square video format was kind of underutilized at the time, which is funny, because like now music is a commodity.

Catie

Well, now if you don't do that, you're yesterday's news.

Matt

Yeah, and so back then I think there was just a hair of novelty left in making, like, overcommitted assets? *laughs*

Catie

Yes. 

Matt

As opposed to just the picture, it's like, "Wow, they put a lot into this." 

Catie  

"He really put a lot into that." *laughs*

Matt

Yeah! *laughs* And so that I think helped too. Instagram had a very like small dog community that helped push Puppy Songs at the beginning. But then, you know, once we made it onto TikTok later in the year, I started reposting, and that's when “Stuck On My Teefs,” which was seven months old at that time and did okay on Instagram, but “Stuck On My Teefs” took off on TikTok in late 2020. 

Catie

Uh huh. 

Matt 

And then that's kind of where things started to...well, the whole thing started to grow.

Catie

Do you remember as that gained legs, like, what was that feeling? Like, "Oh...oh, boy." *laughs*

Matt

It's so strange. You see these numbers, and you don't know what they mean. 

Catie

Yeah!

Matt

You're like, "yeah, that 100,000 is more than 10,000." And then you realize how many 20,000's are in a million. 

Catie

Yeah.

Matt  

Our brains aren't programmed to naturally parse how things work, and then just trying to keep up with interacting with people? 

Catie 

Yeah, that's a heavy lift.

Matt

Yeah! On Instagram, I try to respond to people, I try to send as many free stickers to people as possible, like I just want people to keep going with the joy they get out of the songs, and it makes me happy to spread joy and give people free stickers and all this stuff. 

Catie

That's really nice, Matt. *laughs*

Matt

But like, TikTok I can't keep up with. 

Catie

Yeah, it's a beast. 

Matt 

It's a bit of a different beast. 

Catie

Yeah. 

Matt

But I'm just really lucky. I'm just really lucky. *laughs*

Catie

I think what you said is really, really...unless you've had a viral video, and we were joking earlier that thankfully PetSpace had a really viral video, it had like 17 million views. I think our staff when we put that out and it started like, "Oh my god, it has 10,000 views." We'd never had any video like that, and then, "Oh my god it hit a million." And then we're like, "Okay, we're done. We don't need any more." Like that makes you feel accomplished, and then at 17 million, you just...

Matt 

That's wild.

Catie

It's so hard to comprehend! And to know that many sets of eyes, human beings, have experienced something that your brain, your voice, they've heard you! It's amazing.

Matt

It still doesn't feel real. And that's why this year and the back half of this year, I'm so stoked to be doing more live shows. Because it adds a very necessary human response component to it. Because like you said, I can't fathom millions of views or comments or these things, but like, I've been a performer my whole life. And so it's really nice to be able to try to bring some of that product, that's been a purely internet thing, into a room where people can sing together, and be together, and that community can be a 'in the room' community enjoying music, which is like, what our, you know, 1000s of years ago, what our ancestors did: we gathered around the fire to tell stories.

Catie

And looked at each other in real life. 

Matt

Yeah, and sing songs and enjoy rhythm, and voices, and presence, and support, and community. So like, yeah, it's been a really wild few years. *laughs*

Catie

Where do you think it's all gonna go? I love the live show aspect. 

Matt

Thanks.

Catie

Do you think...I know your wife has been along on this ride.

Matt

Yeah! Oh yeah. 

Catie 

Do you think she was ever like, "Wow, Matt, you're going to go on the road with Puppy Songs?" Like, is she just as floored as you are? I know sometimes being a partner when someone's gaining legs on something, it's just mind-blowing for you, it's mind-blowing for the other person. 

Matt

Yeah. 

Catie 

She's hanging on for the ride here?

Matt 

She's great.

Catie 

Yeah. Her, Leni, and Mar. *laughs*

Matt 

Her, Leni and Mar, yeah, the whole family. I mean, we did a show in New York last November that, actually, I was able to combine with a work trip she had in New York. So she was instrumental in putting on the first show, and the first East Coast show in November. She's great, she's been so supportive, and I mean, she's crucial for this project.

Catie

Has she inspired any songs, Matt? Has she been like, "Matt, this is something"?

Matt

Oh, yeah. And taken video and sent me videos. I mean, she's the--

Catie

The unsung hero of Puppy Songs. *laughs*

Matt

For sure. She touches all aspects of it. And yeah, I'm really lucky to have her on my team. I miss her on this trip. She's back home in Atlanta right now; we just moved into a new house like two weeks ago. So we've unpacked as many things as we could, but she's there among the boxes, and this is like our first weekend not really like moving anything.

Catie

With the puppies, letting the puppies settle in.

Matt

They're learning a new house: “when do you go outside, where's the door?” 

Catie

Yeah, at 14!

Matt

Yeah! And the paths around the house when there's boxes everywhere -- there were boxes, and now they're over here! Like, they're still learning to navigate it. But she's been awesome, she's been such an important part of this.

Catie

And then building this brand, because now this is a brand. Actually, I'd love to go over some of the numbers. I think I saw on one of your stories the other day that you have now, on Spotify, have over a million streams. Was it that? 

Matt

Yes. 

Catie

Okay. And then I wrote down a couple others. Let me pull up my paper. 

Matt

Okay. 

Catie

So I have written down: you're over 1 million streams on Spotify. Incredible. You have over 800,000 followers on TikTok, with 16.6 million likes. And 141,000 followers on Instagram with tens of thousands of reels that have been made with your songs.

Matt

Yeah. It's wild. *laughs*

Catie

That's so much!

Matt 

It's...yeah, it's wild. I don't know. *laughs*

Catie

Where's the brand going from here, other than the live shows? Do you want to do more live shows? Are you loving these live shows? Is it going to be a nationwide tour? Matt, what are we talking about here? *laughs*

Matt 

Yeah, these are great questions. I mean, this is what I think about, and the full disclosure here is that I have no idea what I'm doing. 

Catie

You know, I think people like to hear that, Matt. *laughs*

Matt 

*laughs* I have a lot of experience in different aspects of this, but this project requires me to combine different pieces of things I've done, whether it's being an onstage performer, or my work in improv and music, or as a songwriter, or in musical theater, or in like, I worked in the tech world for a little while. And actually it was a combination of tech and plumbing -- I helped run a big website that sold toilets on the internet.

Catie

That's a unique combination. *laughs*

Matt

Yeah, so I worked in plumbing wholesale: an online plumbing ecommerce wholesaler. It's where I met my wife. So I used to tell people, "I sell toilets on the internet." 

Catie

Perfect.

Matt

Meanwhile, I was, like, putting out records and playing open mics. I mean, like, I'm very aware: I'm 35, and I make silly songs on the internet using my dogs' voices. And this is the thing that's worked after, I don't know, 15 years of really, really trying different parts of this. And it's special to me because it's a very personal product, because there's a vulnerability to it. It's really weird. Like I was in a band in 2010 to like 2015. And we were serious, and we were like, we had these songs, we wrote these songs. And we used to do these silly bits, improvised songs -- we had a song called "New Baby Goose," where we would improvise a song about a goose. We would use different percussion instruments, and I brought some Paul Newman Italian Vinaigrette salad dressing.

Catie

One of my favorites.

Matt

And I was using it as a drum. *laughs* And halfway through the show, somebody who worked there came up and they were like, "They're worried about the salad dressing. What are you going to do with the salad dressing?" So here's the point: that was a band called Jessie and the Great Perhaps, and we had so much fun, as well as doing serious songs. But this was like 12 years ago, and people would come up and be like, "Hey, you know what you should do? You should do children's songs." 

Catie  

Oh, interesting.

Matt

And we were like, "No, we're 24, we're just trying to, like, be cool. It's indie folk, man!" And I was, like, kind of denying that. And I've heard it said that, like, sometimes other people can see something in you that you can't, cuz you're too close to it, or maybe you put something else in front of you. It wasn't until the entire world shut down, and there was nothing to reach for, there was nothing to imitate, there was nothing to feign. It was just, "Okay, what if it was just me being really honest?" Which, parentheses, is silly.

Catie

Goofy. *laughs*

Matt

And committing to very silly things, with serious treatment.

Catie  

But you know, what's so interesting is that, they're not kid songs. They're so relatable as an adult. And they may be silly and goofy, but they allow you...because I think as adults in this very wild world that we live in, we take ourselves so seriously. 

Matt

Oh god, yeah.

Catie

And this is like such a nice reprieve from that -- that bond you have with your dogs, the bond I have with my dogs, the bond that these millions of people have with their dogs, lets them be goofy and connect to what you're making. And I think that's what's so cool about it. So now you get to be a goof!

Matt

I get to be a goof. *laughs*

Catie

But you're also working on some -- you were saying a little earlier that you're kind of moving into your second chapter of Puppy Songs, or the second iteration of the content you're creating. Can you tell us a little more about what's coming soon? Or now?

Matt

Yes. So the first thing is, there's more live shows coming, and I am enjoying the way these live shows are coming together because there's lots of benefits: I get to play the songs, but I love when I get to partner with organizations like Annenberg PetSpace, or...I won't share any other ones yet, because they're not confirmed! But they're almost confirmed in other parts of the country between now and the end of the year, fingers crossed for at least two or three more big shows. But they all have, I'm partnering with county pet rescue hopefully for one. And when it can be a celebration of dogs with music, but also hopefully bring in some folks and awareness to the work being done at a spot like Annenberg PetSpace, and the people who do the work? And the pets who need to find homes, because there's a lot.

Catie

Literally millions. There's millions, just as many as the people listening to your songs; there are that many dogs that need homes.

Matt

Yeah. So, when you asked what else is coming up -- I get a lot of requests. People message me and they say, "Hey Matt, you should make a song about x." And to be fair, there's lots of songs I still haven't made. For example, we're 162 songs in; there's no Zoomies song yet. 

Catie 

Oh!

Matt

I haven't made a zoomies song yet. 

Catie

Well I'm shocked, actually! *laughs*

Matt

*laughs* I know! Part of it is because my dogs don't do Zoomies.

Catie

Oh, yeah, so you don't have the real life inspiration.

Matt

Yeah. So maybe we'll like partner with another dog and make that at some point, so there's still lots of work to be done. 

Catie

Sure. 

Matt

So I get requests for silly songs. We'll do more of them, there's plenty more to do. But then I also get requests from people saying like, "Hey, I work at this rescue organization, or this shelter, and this dog or these dogs need to find homes. Can you make songs for them individually?" 

Catie 

Big ask.

Matt

And the short answer is there's too many. 

Catie

Yeah.

Matt

There's too many to do. 

Catie  

It's a huge ask, actually, which I don't blame them for asking, cuz you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, right? But it would be tedious to take care of that many animals, to help try to find them a home.

Matt  

Yeah, and I've dipped my toe in the water in different parts in the past. Like, there's a YouTuber and video creator here in LA, Rocky Kanaka. I worked with Rocky last year, because he was working with a pup named Winston to find Winston a home, and he did one of his Dog Day Out, I think is what it's called, where he spoils the dog and they do all kinds of fun things. And one of the things he did was work with me to make a song for Winston. So that was cool, and Winston did find a home. 

Catie 

Perfect.

Matt

But again, too many! *laughs*

Catie

Yeah, you'd burn out. There'd be burnout, Matt, let's be honest, you'd burn out if you had to make a song for every dog. *laughs*

Matt 

*laughs* It wouldn't work. So one of my goals for this year was to try something a little different. And so outside of Puppy Songs, I write full-length songs as well, I'm a songwriter. Country, folk, Americana, pop, and theater are some of my primary genres. So I wanted to make a happy song that could connect with the same audience that we have on Puppy Songs, to inspire rescue pet adoption, specifically dogs. And people ask, like, "What about the cats and the other pets?" And I'm like, "Okay, well, the product I have..."

Catie

*laughs* I was gonna say, it's in the name! 

Matt

"...Happens to be focused on dogs at this point in history." 

Catie

No offense to the cats, we love cats. 

Matt

Yeah. And there's work to be done. I'm gonna pick up this box if we can, and then, you know, there's still other boxes.

Catie

You're only one person, Matt. You're one person.

Matt

Yeah. So we're going to do one, and so this is what I wanted to do. And this song is done, I did it. It's called, "If I Were Your Pup," okay? So there's a full-length song, it's almost three and a half, four minutes long. And it is a uplifting, positive song from the perspective of a dog looking for its new home. The difference between some of the things I've seen in the past is that instead of negative reinforcement – a song or a piece of media that encourages the removal of the negative – I decided to do something that focuses on the addition of the positive, because I've also never seen it. Or not, at least, in the way that I've seen Sarah McLaughlin.

Catie

That's so funny, because I was gonna say I had the song playing in my head. We were Arms of the Angel-ing in my head, as you were explaining that.

Matt 

And mad props, right? Like, that is an incredibly powerful piece of media!

Catie

It permeated, yeah.

Matt

That hit to a degree. You know, what happens after: fatigue, et cetera, you know, well that's its own--

Catie 

Well now you can't listen to that song without wanting to just break out in tears. *laughs*

Matt 

That's a part of the challenge. So working in complement with that, recognizing that everybody's doing their thing, I wanted to add the thing that I felt would be interesting. And so that's this positive song, "If I Were Your Pup." And it's about all the positive things and fun things that happen: good, bad...well, no real bad, but good, messy, and all the things that happen when you add a dog to your family.

Catie

I love that. 

Matt

And that's the song. So it comes out on August 17. The music video for the song, I'm partnering with Here For Good productions in Atlanta, they're awesome filmmakers who I've worked with in the past, they also do great work in the nonprofit space in Atlanta. And all these clips, we've been gathering for like two years. Or not two years, two months. That'd be a really long time if it was two years.

Catie 

Well, it could be two years. *laughs*

Matt

It felt like it. And it's a supercut of all rescue pups having great moments with their humans. 

Catie

Awww. 

Matt

So it's going to be really, really special. It's in the final phases of being edited right now. And then the audio will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, and the TikTok library and the Meta audio libraries. So rescue organizations, if they want to use the song and make videos to highlight who's looking for homes, go for it. That's a part of the promise. 

Catie

Yeah. 

Matt  

And so it's taken a little while to get it going. It's a longer song, I decided to produce it, I wrote it and demoed it. I work with my good friend, Matt Heath, Matthew Heath, he's in Nashville, and so he produced the track.

Catie 

It's Matt and Matt. *laughs*

Matt

Yeah, we're too many Matt's. I only work with Matt's! No, and so he produced the track, and then I'm really, really pleased with how it came out.

Catie

Awww I'm so excited for you about that. I'm so excited for us, because we'll probably wind up using it in some of our social media at some point, hope that's okay. 

Matt

That'd be great, yeah!

Catie

And since your guitar is here and you'll be playing a show a bit later, would you play a little piece for us? 

Matt 

I'd be happy to, yeah.

Catie

Amazing. And now Matt Hobbs, aka Puppy Songs, live with "If I Were Your Pup."

Matt

So yeah, this is "If I Were Your Pup."

…

*Applause and cheering in the studio*

Matt

Thanks!

Catie

Matt, I'm a little choked up. Amazing song. I can't wait for it to go viral, for rescue organizations or for anyone who has a dog to use that. Congratulations on all your success. 

Matt

Thank you. 

Catie

If our listeners want to find you -- if they haven't already, which I doubt -- where can they find you on the internet?

Matt

Well, first off, thanks for having me. And thanks for hosting me here in Los Angeles this weekend. This is a dream to get to do this, and to play these songs, and meet awesome people like y'all.

Catie 

Likewise.

Matt

So thank you. And if anyone who's listening wants to check out more of Puppy Songs, you can find Puppy Songs on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all the places as @PuppySongs. It's also on YouTube under my name, Matt Hobbs; I don't have a Puppy Songs YouTube. But I also write songs as me, and those are out there if you look up Matt Hobbs, I have another new song that will have just been out, I think, by the time this comes out.

Catie 

Amazing. 

Matt

But I'm just grateful for everybody's time and attention, and this means the world to me. So thanks for letting me be here.

Catie

Thank you!

Matt

Yeah.

OUTRO

The PetSpace Podcast is brought to you by Wallis Annenberg PetSpace. To learn more, please visit annenbergpetspace.org.