John Mateer (musician)

John Thomas Mateer (born December 4, 1995), also known as Johnny Saint Marks, is an American musician, filmmaker, and entertainment entrepreneur. He grew up in Wantagh, New York. Mateer was an early-era content creator on YouTube in the late 2000s, and his first media appearances resulted from the viral content that he created on the platform. Shifting his focus towards music at the beginning of the 2010s, Mateer released his first extended play, Love is Not a Lifestyle, in the summer of 2011. He founded the post-production company, Riot Motion.

Early life
John Thomas Mateer was born on December 4, 1995, in the village of Mineola, New York, to parents Carol and John Mateer. He was raised in the Long Island hamlet of Wantagh, New York, along with his three siblings Erin, Bryan and Kelly. In July 2003, when Mateer was 7-years-old, his mother died at the age of 39 from cancer. In December 2012, less than a decade later, his father succumbed to the same illness.

Mateer's father was a Detective Sergeant with the Nassau County Police Department and a 9/11 first responder. The death of Mateer's father is acknowledged by multiple associations dedicated to first responder relief as being the result of 9/11-related cancer, after having been exposed to the contaminated air at the World Trade Center site. Mateer graduated from Wantagh Senior High School in 2014. He went on to attend both CUNY Queens College in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens and CUNY Hunter College in nearby Manhattan.

Early media appearances
Mateer was first featured as a cast member on the children's television show, Zebby's Zoo, in the late 1990s. In 2003, he was featured on an episode of Crossing Over with John Edward on the Sci-Fi Channel following the death of his mother. Mateer first appeared on YouTube in the late 2000s. In 2009, at the age of 13, Mateer collaborated with singer-songwriter Charlie Puth on the theme song, "Have No Fear It's John Mateer". In October 2012, at the age of 16, Mateer recorded a video of the destruction to his home in Long Island during Hurricane Sandy. The video immediately attracted large amounts of attention, amassing 1.1 million views on YouTube and 5.6 million views across platforms and reuploads. Despite Mateer's video documenting the devastating effects of the natural disaster, it was most widely noted for its unintentional comedic value due to Mateer and his family's off-screen commentary. During a televised interview of Mateer by Katie Couric for her talk show, Katie, Couric described the video as "a terrifying situation..." following lightheartedly with, "... but I do like your color commentary!" Mateer's video received global attention and subsequently found him featured in numerous television shows and documentaries. The Los Angeles Times called Mateer's video "one of [their] favorites from the storm", while describing the "eruption" of "oh my gods" and "oh my gosh'es" that the video had widely become associated with. It was also the repetitive "eruption" of the phrase that led others on the internet to spoof and Auto-Tune the clip in parody of Mateer's original video. In the initial days following it being filmed, Mateer's video had been re-uploaded to LiveLeak, CNN.Com, ABC.com, Forbes — among other major magazine & news websites. It was even re-uploaded by Dan Schneider, the creator of shows like Drake & Josh and iCarly, to his official YouTube channel "DanWarp". In the wake of the media attention he had been receiving, some had declared Mateer the "next double rainbow guy". In June 2013, Mateer and his two sisters were featured in an episode of Long Island Medium, where they had a Psychic reading by Theresa Caputo. In the episode, Caputo claimed to be connecting Mateer and his sisters with their parents, both of whom died from cancer. The reading was described by TLC as "one of the most powerful readings that Theresa has ever done". Caputo went on to write about her encounter with Mateer and his sisters in her book, There's More to Life Than This.

Film, podcasts and music
Mateer is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. In May 2021, Mateer filed to incorporate his post-production company, Riot Motion, of which he is the chief executive officer. The company operates out of the East Village of Manhattan. In August 2022, Mateer began releasing a scripted psychological thriller podcast entitled John Mateer's 'METRONOME'. The show covered topics related to personality disorders and psychological abuse. Mateer wrote and directed the series, which featured a full cast of actors, as well as provided the voice for the show's protagonist. In November 2022, Mateer released two singles entitled "St Marks Place" and "Blue Era", the latter of the two surpassing 150,000 streams on Spotify less than a month after its release. In March 2023, Mateer released his first EDM/Electronica single under his pseudonym, Johnny Saint Marks, entitled "Total Hemorrhage".

Housing rights
In 2022, Mateer filed a lawsuit against the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the management company of his apartment building, Citi-Urban Management Corp. HPD and Citi-Urban Management both settled the case with Mateer. In 2024, Mateer publicly criticized both the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Citi-Urban Management Corp. for persistent warranty of habitability violations present at his home on Saint Marks Place in Manhattan despite the settlement reached in 2022. He subsequently founded the nonprofit organization, Citi Residents Alliance Ltd., which according to the Village Sun, operates citywide in New York. Mateer serves as the president of the organization.

Personal life
Mateer is a pantheist and of Irish descent. Mateer has been openly gay ever since coming out in 2010 at the age of 14, and he has described his coming out as having been a positive experience for him. Mateer is a resident of Saint Marks Place in New York City, and this is where his pseudonym, Johnny Saint Marks, originated from. He is the cousin of former New York Stock Exchange chief executive officer, Richard Grasso.

Penn State University assault
On October 4, 2015, during a fraternity party at the Penn State University Sigma Nu house, Mateer was assaulted by a fellow party-goer after Mateer revealed he was gay. Mateer did not initially report the crime to the police, opting instead to post photos of his injuries on his Twitter page, subsequently going viral. Two days following the incident, Penn State University issued an official statement condemning the attack and wishing Mateer well during his recovery, stating "Authorities have been in contact with the alleged victim, and it is our sincere hope that he is recovering well. Violence in any form is repulsive and hurtful, and those responsible should and will be held accountable for their actions. We thank the concerned individuals who made us aware of the incident on social media on Sunday; they are representative of the care and compassion we see at Penn State every day." After Mateer had correctly identified him in a police lineup, an 18-year-old Penn State Altoona student, Matthew Ryan Chandlee, was charged with simple assault and harassment. Despite Mateer's initial claims, Matthew Chandlee was not a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Chandlee not being charged with an hate crime caused major controversy online. This controversy was mainly due to Pennsylvania's lack of protection of LGBT people under their hate crime laws. Mateer has since advocated for the expansion of hate crime protections in Pennsylvania to protect LGBT citizens.

Film
As cinematographer: As himself: As actor: Visual effects:

Television
As himself:

Audiography
Podcasts: