Matthew Dear is the producer behind the Audion techno hit ‘Mouth 2 Mouth’. The track has helped cement his reputation as an ace knob twiddler. He’s since toured the world, and remixed Hot Chip and Black Strobe. Now he’s about to release his second solo album, Asa Breed.
“I had an average suburban upbringing,” says Dear. “I played by the rules and stayed under the radar, but I always had a fascination with the odd side of life.”
As a teenager he dreamed of becoming a rock star.
“But I remember thinking to myself: ‘I have two parents who love me, I have a roof over my head and I don’t have bipolar depression like Kurt Cobain – so I’ll never make it’.”
Soon afterwards, he discovered techno in nearby Detroit. Still only in his 20s, Dear next came into contact with two people who helped jump-start his career.
“I got to know Sam Valenti (the owner of US label Ghostly) and Richie (Hawtin) from early on. They were very supportive of my work,” he explains.
Appropriately, his 2004 debut album for Ghostly was called Leave Luck To Heaven. He’s also due to release an album for Hawtin’s Minus label later this year. For now, his focus is on Asa Breed.
"It’s experimental pop music if you want to call it that,” Matthew says. "I like sweet melodies and I produce in an observational way."
Listening to Asa Breed you might be reminded of Talking Heads and Eno. Matthew is happy to acknowledge their influence: “Just because the decade when they released their greatest work is over, it doesn’t mean that their music should end. It’s the same with Audion – it’s classic techno and it’s all about evolving the music.
“I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I get paid to play in clubs,” he concludes. “I'd feel vindicated if people liked the album, but I’m not asking for it to be huge. Put it this way: I'd feel worse if I'd signed to a major and they insisted that I changed parts of it.”