The Journey of Soup: Soupermatic

Who are you and tell us about yourself?

Hello, my name is Matt Diaz, commonly known these days by my online handle: Soupermatic. I am a streamer, dancer, an avid watcher of anime, k-drama, and pro-wrestling. I’m also a reader of comic books and manga, a movie buff(a person who loves watching movies), and a guy that loves spending quality time with family and friends.

How did you get into Twitch?

I used to watch Justin.tv back in college while studying and doing homework. I remember relying on Justin.tv for sports games and WWE wrestling shows and noticed random gaming streams pop-ups. Eventually, I moved on to watching Netflix or Korean pop music videos instead, so I forgot about Justin.tv for awhile. Around 2012, one of my college buddies, who was an arcade buddy of mine mentioned he had just started streaming on Twitch. I got curious and checked it out and for a while, I only watched two people: my friend Chun(Chunandrice), and LilyPichu. Flash forward to six years later, I attended FanimeCon and got invited to a Twitch streamers meetup hosted by Danielle(AttieBby or CerealPrincessSociety). Everyone at the meetup was very friendly and encouraging when I mentioned that I wasn’t a streamer yet but was considering getting into it. A week after the meetup, I started to stream. Here we are now, haha.

What are your biggest struggles when it comes to streaming?

There are many days where I struggle with wondering if anyone will even watch me if I went live. Even the simplest action of pushing that “Go Live” button gets hard at times because of my self-doubt and self-criticism. When I do stream, even though it doesn’t show on camera, I am always asking myself if I’m being entertaining enough, if I’m doing enough to keep my viewers engaged, questioning what I am doing that is keeping them there and would it be okay for me to change something? I’ve learned there are all kinds of viewers when it comes to streams and the struggle to grow loyal viewers that will always be there for you regardless of what happens. Some viewers would only stop by for a specific game or category, viewers that will stop by to say hi then leave, and viewers that will check up on you, lurking, and being active in your chat.

Another struggle that I’ve learned a lot that streamers faced, even those who are partnered or have “made it” is how to keep on growing, how to stay consistent, and not get complacent. A reason why streamers struggle on growing because of the habit of comparing. We can’t help but compare ourselves to other streamers, especially when we use others we view as more successful than ourselves as the comparison. When we do compare ourselves to others we start questioning ourselves, doubting ourselves, and constantly asking what they do that I don't? Why do people watch them but not me? What am I doing wrong that they do right? And countless other questions like that.

Lastly, the struggle of everyone constantly asking you if you’re making money or “famous yet” on Twitch. Especially from those who aren’t in the streaming community that doesn’t fully understand that making money and getting famous doesn’t come naturally nor easy. An example of questions I get is why would people watch you playing a game when they can play it themselves? Or why would people watch you just talking to them? The struggle is all on you to push out the negativity even if it’s your own and push through because you enjoy and love streaming.

What have you achieved and accomplished as a streamer?

What I am most proud of in my journey so far as a streamer is being able to grow and cultivate my community into something more than viewers but more like a second family. The members in my community have been a huge part of it growing and drawing others in. When I first started streaming, I thought I would only hit the 50 followers required for Affiliate and keep at most five people watching me all the time. But here we are 2 years later with over 700 followers and I can’t even count how many of those are regulars that constantly pop in to show me the utmost support and keeping the community vibes up, welcoming, and open.

Additionally, I’m so happy that streaming has helped me go to places and meet so many amazing people! I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of the bigger and more popular streamers that inspire me, along with meeting a lot of fellow smaller streamers who have amazing communities of their own and being able to connect and become part of each other’s communities. It's tough to make friends and maintain friendships and connections that mean something because of the age gap between myself and the younger people on Twitch. Streaming has given me that and so much more and it's quite a blessing to make friends despite the age gap.

From all the accomplishments and achievements as a streamer, what's your mindset right now?

My mindset is to remember why I started streaming in the first place and knowing that there are people who are rooting for me and the unconditional support my viewers give me. I learned to not worry so much about the numbers and put my focus into the content of my stream itself instead. If I have fun playing a certain game or creating a certain type of content then people will come to watch and have fun. I have to remind myself or have friends and fellow streamers to keep me in check to not get comfortable just yet and stay consistent.

What are your goals as a streamer and how do you prep yourself for those goals?

One of my goals as a streamer is to continue building the community I have so far and enjoy playing games with my viewers and share my adventures with them whenever there’s a stream. My long-term goal, of course, is being able to get partnered, but leading up to that, I just want to keep on having great streams with my community and hopefully bring in more viewers who enjoy the content I provide.

The preparation for my goals is to remind myself that the community I’ve built so far is amazing and knowing that there are people that will always support me no matter what happens. At the end of the day, it’s about what I enjoy doing and being able to share with others.

What advice would you give to smaller streamers that just started streaming?

As cliche as it sounds, just have fun with it! As hard as it may sound, try your absolute best to not worry about the numbers. Play what you want, talk about what you want to talk about, create the content that you want. Be real and true to yourself and don’t feel like you have to change who you are or create a whole new persona for the audience on Twitch. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to talk to people and network. Networking is a huge part of growing on Twitch and if you’re aiming to make something out of it, then networking is very crucial as a streamer. One way to network is getting to know the streamers, become part of their communities, and show real and genuine support for them. If you show real and genuine support that kind gesture will surely come back your way as well. You're going to encounter people that will question why you stream, break you down negatively, and people who don't want to see you happy and successful. As hard as it may be, block all of the haters and ignore them. You should stream for yourself, your community, and your true supporters.

Thank you for the interview, Matt! Is there anyone you would like to shout out/thank?

Thank you for allowing me the honor of being your very first interviewee Peter! I hope everything I said here can be of value to someone at least and help them out. I don't want to leave anyone out and I am so sorry if I do, but off the top of my head, I have to thank:

-Chunandrice for being an awesome friend for over a decade, and for introducing me to Twitch in the first place.

-Lilypichu and everyone at OfflineTV for being an endless source of inspiration and always managing to make us smile and be happy.

-Its_Corey for being my very first follower when I first officially created my Twitch account, even though I didn't stream at all back then.

-AttieBby / CerealPrincessSociety for hosting that streamer meetup at Fanime in 2018. That meetup led to me finally taking the plunge to start streaming.

-Popnwafflez and KnowledgeableBanana, the first two people to gift subs in my channel as soon as I hit Affiliate!

-Chibblz for being an avid supporter of mine since day 1, and for being my very first emote artist! Not to mention always supporting me on socials and plugging my streams to anyone and everyone.

-Amisometimes, one of my absolute best friends of about 13 years from the anime convention scene, who also became a streamer and recently got Partnered (much deserved!) and has always been a huge inspiration to me as well as always keeping me in check, not to mention being an amazing emote artist!

-d1ppind0tz for being my very first subscriber and donator! and was in literally every stream of mine no matter what I was playing or doing for the first few months of my streaming journey.

-JasmineMilkTea aka Bem, JayLightz, ShinyDiane, and the whole JayLightz community for being the first stream team I became a part of, as well as an amazing community and group of friends that always show the utmost support. I miss you, beautiful people!

-StreamerHub for welcoming me in with open arms and being so supportive as in my journey as I continue striving towards becoming a better streamer and content creator.

-The Radiant Crew: KanaBananaSplit, Rhychek, p0gii, TheRealN1kki, Sapphina, its_lyddy, VonDrago604. Kana and Rhy were the first two new friends I made at my very first TwitchCon in 2018 and getting to know them and the rest of the crew has been one of the biggest blessings of my life.

-Osnapitskat and her amazing community for welcoming me in with such open arms and warm kindness and for being a wonderful group of friends and supporters that I have been so grateful to be able to spend time with this year

-My absolute best friend for life, TiffyLuna. You have been my rock, keeping me grounded and in-check when I lose myself. For being the BEST support I could ever ask for. For always seeing more of me than what I see in myself a lot, and for always believing that I can be more, and pushing me to do so. For showing me the love, kindness, courage, strength, vulnerability, support, confidence, and everything else that makes a true, real, genuine best friend. Thank you so so much.

-All of the countless viewers, fellow streamers, and friends I've been lucky enough to make and share this experience with. You all keep me going and continue to inspire me one way or another.