The new kid on the music supervision block doesn't invite writers to the coolest new nightspot. Or the buzziest new restaurant. He requests hang time at a candy store. But given his age (he recently celebrated his 19th birthday), that's probably better than flashing a fake ID and sneaking into a bar.

Playlist: MTV 'Skins' Music Supervisor Matt F.X. Picks Season 1 Favorites

Matthew "Matt F.X." Feldman minds his manners more than the teenagers portrayed on his show, MTV's new sex-drugs-and-alcohol prime-time drama, "Skins." He's nice -- he hails cabs for girls and pats arms at good-bye. And he also asks if saying something is "off the record" makes a difference -- after he's already said the something.

But while his own peers are stumbling home from keggers, Feldman has been trying to grow up. He dropped out of music school in Glasgow, Scotland, after just a month. He's back in his hometown of New York, living with his parents. He was working at a West Village mailbox store. He made the most important mixtape of his life. Then got his gig at MTV's "Skins."

How did you get involved?

I was approached by an old friend of mine who was ["Skins" co-creator/writer/producer] Bryan Elsley's intern. I'd actually shown the U.K. "Skins" to this friend two-and-a-half years earlier, so it was kind of funny that she wanted to bring me on for the writers' group.

[The writers' group is] basically a revolving group of teenagers from around the city who come in every week to work with the writers and Bryan. The functions [of the group] are limited, but definitely very heard and seen throughout the show. A lot of the authenticity wouldn't have come out if it hadn't been for this group.

Maybe the first or second time I did the writers' group, I started asking about the music, and if I could submit a song to the show. Bryan told me he had a 19-year-old choose all the music for the first and second seasons [of the U.K. "Skins" series], and a second, different 19-year-old choosing for the third and fourth seasons. He told me to make him a mixtape. So I made him a playlist and I pretty much got the job three or four days later. I quit my day job. And it just all started from there.

What was on that playlist for Elsley?

The first thing Bryan asked me when he brought me in after that mix was, "Is this your taste?" And I said, "Yeah, it's just the stuff I like listening to." I remember including Freddie Gibbs, who I think is the greatest gangster rapper. I put Jai Paul, who is on XL [Recordings] and coming out this year. A bunch of unsigned bands that my friends are in. Overall, I edged on the electronic side of things that are happening around the world right now.

Feldman is more than aware of what's happening in the world, particularly in youth culture. Certainly it helps that he's a teenager. But he also has a background as a "cool hunter" for global youth marketing firm Ruby Pseudo. His worldwide awareness could serve him well, given the legacy of "Skins" across the pond-and its strength as a platform for breaking indie bands like the Gossip, Grizzly Bear and Bloc Party in the United Kingdom. "Bryan [Elsley] takes credit for introducing Grizzly Bear to the country of England," Feldman says. "I definitely think this is a really incredible opportunity for America to be exposed, at large, to a wide range of music."

NEXT: MTV Pushes "Skins," F.X. Reveals What's Next