You could throw around generous descriptors and any number of genre-locking terms “electronic pop, minimal house, acid techno“ but you’d still fail to get to the center of Matthew Dear. With releases under no fewer than three aliases, including False (M_NUS), Jabberjaw (Perlon), and Audion (Spectral Sound), the Texas native has earned his international status over the course of a decade, getting his bearings on the DJ decks as a teenager to flooring sold-out crowds at venues like Fabric, and releasing universally praised original productions.
After meeting Ghostly founder Sam Valenti IV at a house party in the late 90s, Dear eventually produced the A-Side for the label’s first 12” release, Hands Up for Detroit. Since then, Dear issued his pop-infused debut album Leave Luck to Heaven and its counterpart Backstroke, which caught mainstream attention, as well as myriad releases under his club-oriented pseudonyms (including the omnipresent, chart-topping “Mouth to Mouth” as Audion). Further accomplishments include requests from the Postal Service and Hot Chip for his remix skills, and incessant touring with constantly evolving DJ sets and live performances. He’ll still tell you that his greatest pleasure is a quiet day of fishing, but with the release of his sophomore full-length, Asa Breed, and his live band US/Euro tour as Matthew Dear’s Big Hands, it”s clear that Dear has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
