25/03/2026
I won again! But this one was its own kind of special….
Back in 2009, when I was 19, I got a message on MySpace from Peter Raspler, the band manager for 311. He invited me out to Los Angeles to audition for their music video for Hey You. I made the trip with my best friend, Teddy Hale, who was also the reigning World Sign Spinning Champion at the time.
I ended up landing the lead role in the video. That moment became my introduction to a much bigger stage and my original claim to fame.
Fast forward nearly two decades. I’ve spent years competing at the World Sign Spinning Championship, eventually taking home the title myself in 2019. Throughout all those years, one question kept coming up: “When are you going to spin to ‘Hey You’?”
I never did. Not once.
Until this year.
Going into the 2026 World Sign Spinning Championship in Las Vegas, I was on the fence about my final-round song. Then my colleague and friend, Laramie Rosenfeld, pointed out something wild. The championship was happening the exact same weekend as 311’s annual festival in Vegas, built around March 11th.
That was the moment it clicked.
We decided to go all in. Laramie had a custom sign produced with the exact same artwork from the original 2009 music video and rushed it out to Vegas. The goal was simple. Recreate the moment. Bring it back to life. And if we were lucky, catch the attention of 311 fans. Or even the band themselves.
In the final round, I stepped out and performed to “Hey You” for the first time ever. Same energy. Same concept. But now, 17 years later, on the biggest stage in the sport.
And this time, it meant more than ever. For the first time, my entire family was there in the crowd watching it all happen. Not just the performance. The full-circle moment. And when it was all said and done, I took 1st place in that moment.
It wasn’t a scripted music video anymore. It was real life. A callback 17 years later, on the world stage, with my family there to see it come together.
Matthew Doolan from Fort Worth/Dallas Texas has secured his second victory since winning in 2019!