Where the Hell is Matt: How I was inspired by one guy dancing almost 20 years ago
Vexing Media Blog
August 29, 2025
By Matt Slotemaker
I sometimes show my kids videos from what I tell them is “the old internet”. Viral videos from before the word “viral” was a term we used for videos. Homestarrunner is an example, and though the original flash videos (along with the clickable easter-eggs) on their website are long gone, they have migrated the videos to YouTube where I can take a walk down memory lane.
Another relic of the before times is a YouTuber (again, from before we had the term YouTuber) with a channel called Where the Hell is Matt. Matt Harding was an American that made a simple video of himself dancing* in various spots around the world during the mid-aughts.
YouTube was in its infancy. Mr Beast might not have been born yet. Blippy wasn’t even a blip. In fact, I just looked and Matt’s first video was actually created in 2003-2004. YouTube went live in 2005, which is when Matt started posting his videos on the platform.
But the reason I’m sharing this is because how these videos coincide with my journey. I graduated from High School in 2003, went to community college and them moved to Pullman to attend WSU in 2005, and got my degree in 2008 as well as getting married. In 2011 my wife and I moved to Spokane and we started building our life here.
Meanwhile Matt had videos posted in 2006, 2008, and 2012. Each of them earning millions, even tens of millions, of views in a time when getting even to a million was considered a massive success.
Matt’s visibility was growing at a time when my ideas for what I wanted to do in the world were still forming. The income from delivering pizza as a student didn’t allow me the financial freedom to travel the world, though I definitely had dreamed of getting out there. So I lived vicariously through his videos.
Over the course of the videos he was able to bring more and larger groups of kids and adults into his videos to dance with him. I was inspired that, despite language and culture barriers, just doing a goofy dance in a public space in front of a camera was an implicit invitation for others to join in. For me, the idea that a video could facilitate connections was magical. I already knew that I wanted to create videos as part of my career, but this showed me that some videos can help people see across barriers that seemed insurmountable.
I wanted to do that too.
I still want to do that.
I am doing that.
A lot of my time is spent creating videos for companies and organizations that need to get a message out to the world in some way. I love that I’m a part of that process and I hope to continue. But the part of my job that gets me really excited is when I get to tell stories that connect people.
Just yesterday, in fact, I had the opportunity to drive up to the Powwow on the Spokane Indian Reservation and film a kids and their parents dancing to the drum beats and singing, and then continue filming as an org gave supplies to families with babies. I don’t have to travel to another country to learn about another culture.
TEDx Spokane is another example of an org that gives people the platform to share big ideas right here in Spokane. I love helping capture those big ideas and package them for publication.
Back in April I got to direct a live event with Anne McClain while she was commanding a mission on the International Space Station. My work helped connect her with 1300 students in the gym at G Prep and more classrooms throughout the community, learning about what it takes to be an astronaut.
Twice with my family we’ve taken road trips to explore our country, taking a few weeks away form work to travel and see beautiful places with the people who matter most to me.
Sequoia National Park
Unfortunately, I do feel like I have lost the optimism that I felt 20 years ago. Some of that is certainly a result of our government promoting a fear-based us-vs-them approach to dealing with other countries and people groups within our borders.
I also feel like it’s a natural result of getting older and having doors and opportunities close over time. Not in a bad way. Good, normal things like buying a house, having kids, and starting/owning a business all contribute to the reality that my responsibilities prevent me from just going on an international adventure like Matt did over 20 years ago.
For now.
*Someone skilled at dancing might hesitate to actually call what he was doing dancing, which might best be described as running in place with some extra movements mixed in. But as a fellow white guy, I can assure you this is definitely a dance that I might even be able to do if I practice
About Matt Slotemaker
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