Carmen Matarazzo: Age, Band, Family and Bio

Carmen Matarazzo is an American musician, drummer, and stage actor born on November 10, 2003, in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Now 22 years old, he is best known as the younger brother of Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson in Netflix’s Stranger Things, and as the drummer in Work In Progress (WIP), the seven-piece band he formed with his siblings Gaten and Sabrina and several friends from their New Jersey hometown. He also pursued a parallel career in regional theatre, playing the role of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd at the Levoy Theatre in Millville, New Jersey, in 2023. His estimated net worth is approximately $100,000, derived from his music and performance work.

Quick Bio

Who is Carmen Matarazzo?

Carmen Matarazzo is an American musician and regional theatre actor who grew up in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, the youngest of three creatively active siblings in the Matarazzo family. His brother Gaten Matarazzo rose to international fame playing Dustin Henderson in Netflix’s Stranger Things from 2016, and his sister Sabrina Matarazzo established herself as an actress and social media personality. Carmen’s own career has developed along a different axis, centred on drumming in a live band and performing on the regional theatrical stage.

The band he plays in, Work In Progress, gained its most high-profile moment in 2018 when the three Matarazzo siblings performed with Paramore at Barclays Center in New York, with the band’s frontwoman Hayley Williams publicly praising their harmonies on Twitter. Carmen’s stage career reached a notable moment in February 2023 when he played Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd at Millville’s Levoy Theatre, the same role his brother Gaten was simultaneously preparing to play in the Broadway revival at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Other profiles of rising musicians from entertainment families appear across xxbrits.uk’s latest coverage.

Carmen maintains a lower public profile than his brother, and the search interest his name attracts comes primarily from fans of Gaten and Stranger Things who want to learn about the family behind the show. His drumming career, theatre work, and the YouTube channel he runs with Gaten, The M&M Bros, give him a genuine creative identity that has grown independently of the Stranger Things connection.

Early Life and Background

Childhood and Family

Carmen Matarazzo was born on November 10, 2003, in Little Egg Harbor, Ocean County, New Jersey, the youngest of three children born to Gaetano “Gaten” Matarazzo Sr. and Heather McLaughlin Matarazzo. He grew up in a household where creativity was actively encouraged alongside the practical values of discipline and education.

His father Gaetano Sr. works for the U.S. government and has been described as the family member who introduced the children to Pearl Jam and other classic rock bands that would later influence WIP’s repertoire. His mother Heather is a teacher. A common point of confusion in public biographical sources is that another actress named Heather Matarazzo exists, creating mistaken associations between Carmen’s mother and the actress of the same name, who has no family connection to the Matarazzos.

The family’s Italian-American heritage is central to their identity. Gaten Sr.’s name, Gaetano, is the Italian form of Cajetan, and his son Gaten was named after him, maintaining a multi-generational naming tradition. Carmen’s own name has Italian-Hispanic cultural roots. Growing up in Little Egg Harbor, a township in southern New Jersey’s shore region, gave the siblings access to both the local music scene and the New Jersey theatre circuit, both of which proved formative.

Gaten, the middle sibling, was born on September 8, 2002, and was born with cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD), a rare genetic condition affecting the development of bones and teeth. His condition was written into the Stranger Things character of Dustin Henderson after he was cast, and Gaten has used his platform to raise awareness and funds for CCD Smiles, the organisation that helps cover oral surgery costs for those affected. Carmen and Sabrina have been consistently supportive of Gaten’s advocacy work alongside their shared creative endeavours.

Education

Carmen Matarazzo attended Pinelands Regional High School in Tuckerton, New Jersey, alongside his siblings, and has since graduated. The school served as the social and creative hub where WIP’s membership first came together, with several band members either attending or having graduated from Pinelands Regional.

Pinelands Regional High School drew him and his siblings into theatre productions and performance opportunities that gave them early practical experience in live performance. Carmen’s stage debut at the Bellarine Theatre Company in 2015, performing in Into the Woods at the age of 12, predated the band’s formation and established his comfort with live performance from an early age.

Career Journey

Stage Debut and Early Theatre

Carmen Matarazzo made his stage debut in 2015 at the age of 12, performing in Into the Woods at the Bellarine Theatre Company, launching a regional theatre career that subsequently included productions of Mary Poppins, Clue: On Stage, Spring Awakening, The Addams Family, and The Sound of Music at theatres across New Jersey.

Growing up watching his brother Gaten prepare for Broadway roles from childhood, including Gavroche in the 2014 Les Misérables revival and Benjamin in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, gave Carmen an unusual proximity to serious theatrical craft from an early age. His own theatre work has remained in the regional circuit rather than pursuing Broadway, reflecting a distinct creative path that values community performance over the commercial stage.

Work In Progress: Band Formation and Breakthrough

Work In Progress, known as WIP, is a seven-piece band from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, that formed when Carmen, along with guitarist Chad Miller, guitarist Griffin Schriever, bassist Matt Grayson, and keyboardist AJ Grayson, brought Sabrina and Gaten on as vocalists, creating the band’s final lineup around 2017.

Carmen plays drums for the band. Gaten is one of the lead vocalists alongside Sabrina, who also sings lead. The band’s sound leans into classic rock, pop, and alternative influences, with their father Gaetano Sr.’s love of Pearl Jam and Green Day informing some of the earliest covers the group performed. WIP also began developing original material, including the track “Dream Eater,” as they expanded beyond covers into their own songwriting.

Their big public breakthrough came in December 2017, when WIP played The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, one of the most iconic music venues in American rock history. Their cover of Paramore’s “Misery Business” at the Stone Pony was filmed and shared widely, eventually reaching Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams on Twitter. Williams responded with an open invitation to join Paramore on stage, which led directly to the band’s most celebrated moment.

Paramore at Barclays Center (2018)

In 2018, Gaten, Sabrina, and Carmen Matarazzo joined Paramore on stage at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, performing with the alt-rock band in front of a major arena crowd, the highest-profile live performance of Carmen’s career to that point.

The collaboration came directly from Hayley Williams’s Twitter engagement with WIP’s Stone Pony cover. Williams had written that she was extending “an open invite to crash a pmore stage and thrash those luscious locks around (and harmonize, obv) whenever the spirit of rock leads you,” and Gaten had accepted enthusiastically. After the Barclays appearance, Williams tweeted: “the harmonies were so right. was NOT expecting that level of right-ness. thanks for hangin with us and our friends.” The Matarazzo siblings posted a photo with Paramore on WIP’s Instagram captioned “Meeting some true icons.” Carmen’s role as drummer in this performance placed him on the stage of one of New York’s largest arenas as a fifteen-year-old, a significant early career milestone within the context of live music.

WIP also performed at The Troubadour in Los Angeles and Gas Monkey in Dallas, establishing a venue footprint that moved well beyond New Jersey and demonstrated the band’s ability to draw audiences in major markets on the back of Gaten’s Stranger Things profile and their own genuine musical energy. The band also performed at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in New Jersey in September 2019. Profiles of others who built music careers alongside famous siblings appear at Tay Strathairn and other entries on this site.

Sweeney Todd: Levoy Theatre (2023)

In February 2023, Carmen Matarazzo played the role of Tobias Ragg in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Levoy Theatre in Millville, New Jersey, a production that ran through February 19, 2023.

The casting carried a particular resonance because, simultaneously, his brother Gaten was preparing to play the same role, Tobias, in the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, with Josh Groban in the title role and preview performances beginning February 26, 2023. Carmen and Gaten shared ideas about the character while preparing their respective productions, with Carmen performing regionally at the Levoy while Gaten prepared for Broadway. Gaten attended the Levoy production to see his brother perform, and Carmen planned to see Gaten’s Broadway opening shortly after. The parallel casting was reported by local New Jersey media as a genuinely unusual family synchronicity in theatrical history.

Carmen’s regional theatre credits, including Spring Awakening, The Sound of Music, The Addams Family, and Mary Poppins, demonstrate a commitment to the stage that goes beyond occasional appearances and reflects genuine theatrical training and ambition.

The M&M Bros YouTube Channel

Carmen and Gaten co-run a YouTube channel called The M&M Bros Gaten and Carmen Matarazzo, which features casual content giving fans a more personal view of the brothers’ dynamic outside their professional work.

The channel name references the M in Matarazzo and reflects the brothers’ close personal relationship, which is frequently referenced by both in public contexts. The channel content includes video clips, casual interactions, and behind-the-scenes glimpses that supplement rather than replace their professional profiles.

Social Media Presence

Carmen Matarazzo maintains an Instagram account at @carmen_matarazzo, which had over 110,000 followers at its documented peak, giving him a social media presence modest relative to his brother’s but significant for a young regional performer without major television credits.

Net Worth and Income Streams

Carmen Matarazzo’s estimated net worth is approximately $100,000, reflecting his music performance income, regional theatre work, and social media presence. His primary earnings come from band performances and theatre productions rather than from major television or film roles.

Physical Appearance

Height and Body Stats

Carmen Matarazzo stands approximately 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) tall, with curly blonde hair and an athletic build, as described across multiple published sources.

Personal Life

Relationships

Carmen Matarazzo’s personal romantic life has not been publicly confirmed as of 2026. Published biographical sources from his teenage years referenced a close friendship with a girl named Summer, but no confirmed relationship has been documented in public sources.

Family Connections

Carmen is the youngest of three siblings. His sister Sabrina Matarazzo is the eldest, followed by Gaten, and Carmen is the youngest. All three attended Pinelands Regional High School and have been members of WIP.

Gaten Matarazzo, born September 8, 2002, achieved international recognition from 2016 onward for his role as Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things, earning a Golden Globe nomination as part of the ensemble cast and using his platform extensively for CCD Smiles advocacy. He also appeared on Broadway in the 2023 Sweeney Todd revival and in the musical Be More Chill. Sabrina Matarazzo is an actress and social media influencer who has built her own public following. Their father Gaetano Sr. has been visibly supportive at band events, and the family unit appears in photographs from concerts and award appearances across multiple years. Stories of other musicians who developed careers within creatively active families appear across xxbrits voices.

Achievements and Milestones

Carmen Matarazzo’s key milestone is being a founding member and drummer of WIP, a band that achieved national touring, major festival appearances, and a high-profile on-stage collaboration with Paramore before he was eighteen years old.

• Made his stage debut at age 12 in Into the Woods at Bellarine Theatre Company (2015).
• Co-founded Work In Progress (WIP) with siblings Gaten and Sabrina and New Jersey friends, launching in late 2017.
• Performed at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in December 2017, with the band’s Paramore cover video going viral and reaching Hayley Williams.
• Performed on stage at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, with Paramore in 2018, earning public praise from Hayley Williams via Twitter.
• Played at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, Gas Monkey in Dallas, and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in New Jersey (2019).
• Graduated from Pinelands Regional High School, Tuckerton, New Jersey.
• Played Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd at Levoy Theatre, Millville, NJ (February 2023), simultaneously with his brother Gaten’s Broadway preparation for the same role.
• Stage credits include Mary Poppins, Clue: On Stage, Spring Awakening, The Addams Family, and The Sound of Music at theatres across New Jersey.

Interesting Facts About Carmen Matarazzo

Carmen and Gaten Matarazzo both played the role of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd in the same month of February 2023, Carmen regionally at Millville’s Levoy Theatre and Gaten in the Broadway revival at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, a family theatrical coincidence that generated media coverage in New Jersey arts circles.

• Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams’s original open invitation for WIP to join Paramore on stage came through Twitter after she discovered their Stone Pony cover of “Misery Business” in early 2018, an example of a social media discovery directly translating into a major live performance opportunity.
• WIP’s band name, Work In Progress, was chosen at the group’s formation to reflect the members’ awareness that they were still developing as musicians, a self-aware choice that resonated with audiences who watched them grow publicly.
• His father Gaetano Sr. introduced the family to Pearl Jam, and WIP played Pearl Jam songs multiple times as one of their regular covers, creating a family musical connection that spans three generations of Matarazzo listening.
• Carmen’s stage debut at age 12 in Into the Woods predated Stranger Things’ Netflix premiere by approximately one year, meaning he began his performing career at roughly the same time his brother’s global profile was about to explode.
• A common online misconception identifies Carmen’s mother Heather Matarazzo as the actress Heather Matarazzo, known for Thirteen and The Princess Diaries. The two Heather Matarazzos share a name but have no family connection.
• Carmen plays drums rather than singing, a division of labour within WIP that positions him as the rhythm engine of the band rather than a visible frontperson, a choice that reflects his preference for musical craft over public exposure.