Matt Moore of EastWest Bottlers
Profile: I was born and raised in Lilburn, Georgia – a suburb of Atlanta which remains one of the most beautiful, diverse cities in America. Though I spent most of my early life focused on athletics – baseball and football – it was an injury in High School that unfortunately closed the chapter of pursuing sports in college and beyond.
Matt playing Football
Truthfully, the incident allowed me to flourish and explore my other passion – music. At the age of 10, I started to learn how to play guitar and sing. My favorite artists were those most loved by my mother – 60’s folk and Americana like James Taylor, Jim Croce, The Eagles, and The Grateful Dead. I started a band in high-school with five other friends, and the dream of writing and performing original music was born.
Matt as a musician
Attending college at the University of Georgia in Athens was a true awakening – Athens is a bastion of great music, fostering the likes of R.E.M., Widespread Panic, The B-52’s, The Flat Duo Jets, and Pylon. Our group, OverflO went on to build a loyal following in the college markets – traveling to surrounding towns like Atlanta, Greenville, SC, Auburn, AL, Oxford, MS, New Orleans, and New York City. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world during college days – earning money at night playing in restaurants and bars, and treating my friends to great meals either at favorite restaurants around town – or in my own kitchen (more on that later). We recorded an EP with legendary producer John Keane – but graduation, and the prospect of working in the “real-world” soon became the dominant reality that each of us had to face.
Though I had studied International Finance and French during university, I wanted to continue to pursue my love and passion for writing and performing music. I made the move to Nashville, got a steady job in Finance to keep my parents happy, and started to write and record. Looking back, this was an earnest time in my life – I had really no direction of who I was, or what I wanted to do. It seems to me much later, that I was working hard – but just in the wrong direction. I did have fun though – having the opportunity to open shows for artists like Luke Bryan, Zac Brown, and Jason Aldean – all of whom went on to become widely successful – but still humble in their craft.
I say this with complete transparency – music no longer served as my passion. I felt like I was trying to fit my style and authenticity in a format that was incongruent with Nashville. I remember telling an agent friend of mine one day that I was done writing music – and instead, I wanted to write a cookbook. It was sort of a joke I threw out there, as I was always known as a great cook amongst friends (thanks Mama!). He loved the idea, so in a small apartment on the Cumberland River, I began typing a manuscript for a book I dubbed Have Her Over for Dinner.
Books by Matt (great names!)
What I didn’t know is that the publishing industry is even harder to crack than the music industry! I was turned down by every publisher and agent in the business – as I wasn’t a trained chef, and I lacked a “platform” to deliver on book sales. So being an optimist and green – I self-published the book. I used my knowledge on self-booking shows to promote book events, local and print media, and whatever else I could muster to make this new chapter seem successful and exciting. But truthfully, it was anything but a success. After selling books to mostly friends and family – things stalled. I kept pushing though – never afraid to pitch the biggest in the business – from NBC, to TIME, to The New York Times. Eventually, small things started to happen – more and more buzz built, and after another year or so, The New York Times went on to name my book as one of the year’s best cookbooks. To make a very long story short, I’ve gone on to write 3 more food and lifestyle books with major publishers – A Southern Gentleman’s Kitchen (2015), The South’s Best Butts (2017), and Serial Griller (2020).
On American Perfumery: But this is about fragrance, right? My first memories of fragrance are those of my grandfather – Giddy, a name we called him due to my Lebanese ancestry. A veteran of the second world war, Giddy went on to become a butcher and run his own grocery in Valdosta, GA. I fondly remember him getting ready in front of his wooden armoire, which now sits in my home, splashing on the likes of Old Spice. My father furthered said tradition, on childhood nights when babysitters meant that Mom and Dad were taking some much needed respite from us kiddos with a night on the town. Dad would pull out a dark green bottle of Ralph Lauren Polo, it’s a smell that instantly takes me back in time.
The real “Bros” in fragrance: Colin Newbury, Matt Moore and Charlie Holderness
And so at this point in my life, with a critically acclaimed book completed, I found myself once again at an impasse. Publishers thought my success was just a flash in the pan – so again, on a long run, I began to think about other industries that were ripe for disruption. A friend of mine (college fraternity brother), Charlie Holderness, much to our fraternity brothers chagrin, had been modeling for Southern themed clothing brands – I was surprised that these brands essentially rebranded the classic polo with a southern theme (fish, bird dogs, etc.) and were finding success. Not knowing a thing about clothing, my thoughts moved back to fragrance.
As a musician, a cook, a writer – I’ve always believed it’s our olfactory sense which is our strongest memory of recall. Yet most American men, especially southern men, have been conditioned to believe that scents are not manly. It’s hard not to blame them – as celebrity fragrances peddled by Justin Bieber and others at the time still seem laughable. But this was, and frankly, still is the backbone of American perfumery for the masses.I wanted to create an iconic, Southern inspired scent – and the name Moonshine came to me on a run. It was a name that was rebellious, adventurous, and disruptive. Though we were nearly 10 years post-university, I mentioned the idea to Charlie, and our fraternity brother Colin Newberry, and a business – EastWest Bottlers was born.
EastWest Bottlers Moonshine Cologne
EastWest Bottlers Moonshine was launched with the same earnest approach as my first book – but it immediately resonated in the market as an authentic, niche fragrance. It’s been nearly 10 years since we released the line, and we have built a prohibition themed line of fragrances and apothecary for men and women that can now be found throughout the world. I believe that fragrances allow each of us to tell a story – to come along for a ride, or to set a placeholder on a certain space and time. I’m forever grateful for each step in the journey.
Jim Croce via Rolling Stone
Favorite American Artist – for me, it’s definitely singer/songwriter Jim Croce. He had a real way of connecting with the everyday American – from a single mother to a truck driver – his songs resonated in authenticity, humility. I love his storytelling on songs like “Don’t Mess Around with Jim”, or how he puts you in an exact moment with “Operator”. Moments, stories, time, and space – these are the hallmarks of all great art. Matt Moore, Co-Founder of EastWest Bottlers.
EastWest Bottlers fragrances montage
If you’re a registered reader in the USA, (you must do this here) and you can enter for a full bottle of your choice of EastWest Bottlers Moonshine and Moonshine Reserve, EastWest Bottlers Bluegrass, EastWest Bottlers EastWest Bottlers GI Joe, Southern Living Gent 1966, Speakeasy or Southern Living 1966 Belle. To be eligible please leave a comment with what you enjoyed about Matt Moore’s path to perfumery and please leave that in your comment. Draw closes 7/9/2019
Please like CaFleurebon Profiles in American Perfumery and your entry will count twice. Please leave that in your comment. I named the draw “Bros”, because this is great Bro Culture in fragrance, over ten years of friendship and collaboration!
Matt Moore of EastWestBottlers is 145th in our CaFleureBon Profiles in American