Me_8_06

M. Sommers


Matt Sommers Everything  


Active: 1968 - present
Location: Indianapolis, IN


Notes: I make compositions using any instrument I can get my hands on, samples and found sounds. Once I have a group of songs on my hard drive, I give them a collective title, burn them to disc and move on. These albums contain everything I was working on at that particular time. Film scores, bits of interesting noises, sound collages, complete techno songs, pop, punk and folk music, etc.

Fact is, I just love sounds. Even if they’re not organized, or actual songs, or even pleasant. I like the contrast of textures, the impact of dynamics, the sweetness of melody and the vibrational math of harmonies. I like to break sounds down and reconstruct them into something new.

Album

Space

Space

Year: 2008

Notes: The space that fills our lives. The space between us all. The space I need to breathe. The space that separates us. The spaces we fill. The space beyond this planet. The space between our bodies. The space where I escape. The space that's left in my heart after you've gone.

The view fr...  More >>

Tracks: 14

Album

Pieces

Pieces

Year: 2007

Notes: Pieces, shreds, fragments & particles. These tracks are bits of ideas and sounds I had laying about. I gave them each a name a kicked them out of the nest. Some are nervous, some are lazy. Some are awkward, some are enjoying themselves a little too much. Lots of different textures and styles comb...  More >>

Tracks: 17

Album

Mutated

Mutated

Year: 2007

Notes: I've always enjoyed doing cover songs, especially when I can put my own twist on them. In the summer of 2007 I started dissecting tunes for a cover album. What makes a song memorable? It's hook? It's delivery or lyrics? The point of experiment was to take compositions by some of my favorite artis...  More >>

Tracks: 12

Album

Tiny Sounds 2

Tiny Sounds 2

Year: 2007

Notes: This was fun to build. Between found-object jingles (The mystery) and playing with my own voice (Grant, Breathe), this album started to spark the same joy I felt making Tiny Sounds. I was learning banjo (Rock star, Let it go), ukulele (Rembrant) and having a blast with science fiction themes (For...  More >>

Tracks: 21

Album

Protein

Protein

Year: 2007

Notes: Protein is about sustenance and strength. It's about being honest and direct with a composition and letting it speak as it wants. It's about efficiency, confidence and muscle. This album felt like meat & potatoes; easy to make and filling. Beginning with the creepy "Arctic" (the only vocal song),...  More >>

Tracks: 17

Album

Legal

Legal

Year: 2006

Notes: My 18th Solo Album. A reference to some government paperwork? A stance on pot? Quitting smoking? Starting a business, suing people, paying taxes? Maybe a validation of realness. It's also 21, if you're drinking, and 18, if you're doin' it. As usual, I sing on a couple of these and a few compositi...  More >>

Tracks: 16

Album

Microphone

Microphone

Year: 2006

Notes: I started messing around with Apple's Garageband™ recording product. Playing with amp modeling and real drums. Melding acoustic and synthetic sounds. Layers of tones. Controlling depth, scale, pitch and time. These songs just fell out of my head like too many clowns in the closet. In an alt count...  More >>

Tracks: 19

Album

Groan

Groan

Year: 2006

Notes: Groan is a reference to prying off the parameters of the previous album, Grid. There was still much residual after glow to shrug off and initial efforts started to sound electronic. To get some "grit" back into the music, I began weaving in more acoustic, analog & human sounds (The eyes have it)....  More >>

Tracks: 16

Album

Grid

Grid

Year: 2006

Notes: I wanted to see if I could create an entire concept album using only electronic sounds and no outside analog noises. No guitars, amplifiers, microphones, vocals or acoustic percussion, only electronic waveforms. Can a song have "heart" if it's artificially generated? At first, I thought those par...  More >>

Tracks: 22

Album

Distortion

Distortion

Year: 2005

Notes: The end of 2005 was rough. Every word seemed twisted and every relationship was strained. My artistic reaction was to turn everything up to 11 and let the ugliness stand out. Dark songs and deep textures revealed many warts. Hiss, hum and buzz were allowed to exist. With very little editing and a...  More >>

Tracks: 18

Album

Empty

Empty

Year: 2005

Notes: Opening with the title track (a reference to our need for fulfillment) setting the mood, this collection contains the a cappella epic "Nana", the rocker "Destroy all art!" and the Tin Lounge cover "Times r now". A couple of of ditties (Pokeeno, Stick of butter) provide some fun movement. An ancie...  More >>

Tracks: 24

Album

Japan

Japan

Year: 2005

Notes: I've never been to Japan. This album is a response to the Japanese fascination with american culture. Imaginary TV theme songs ("The beast"), social behavior films ("A shocking fact") and post-modern sound sculptures ("Thin" and "Plink the pig") litter the landscape. I learned to scratch during t...  More >>

Tracks: 21

Album

Tiny Sounds

Tiny Sounds

Year: 2005

Notes: A true breakthrough. A dawning realization that I could make music with almost anything inspired this creative effort. I started making compositions that raised the bar of what I thought I could do. Each song came quickly and was drastically different from the previous. Complete rock songs organi...  More >>

Tracks: 25

Album

Migration

Migration

Year: 2004

Notes: Clocking in at 39 minutes for 22 tracks, this is perhaps my least favorite effort. The cover reflects the monotone feel of the whole thing. To be completely honest, this album is comprised of various commercial soundtrack background music, ambient effects and half-assed guitar wanking. Some speci...  More >>

Tracks: 22

Album

Cinema

Cinema

Year: 2003

Notes: I was thinking about soundtracks, surveillance and situations. I had spent time making short videos and wanted to apply what I learned to sonic endeavors. Perspective, setting and mood were on my mind. Some of this music is a study of the relationships between sounds. The opening track explores t...  More >>

Tracks: 15

Album

Real

Real

Year: 2003

Notes: As the title suggests, for this album I migrated almost completely away from any sampled sounds and started to fully produce multi-layer songs, playing every instrument. "Real" is looser and more organic than previous works. Ironically, the opening song ("A demonstration") is one of only 2 tracks...  More >>

Tracks: 18

Album

Rewind

Rewind

Year: 2002

Notes: More experiments combining samples with recorded sounds. More efforts to blur the line between composing "songs" and creating "art". Bits of pop sensability percolating up through the noise. I became more interested in the "feel" of a piece, having the work tell me what it wants to be. For exampl...  More >>

Tracks: 19

Album

Enough

Enough

Year: 2001

Notes: I started integrating other artists into my solo work. "I can see the light" features Dan Niswander. "U were the 1" was written with Jeff Sample. "Minotaur" was written with Lisa Ruth for a short film. "Sky Dome" used an old cassette LonPaul Ellrich gave me years ago (That's his friend's voice o...  More >>

Tracks: 17

Album

Close

Close

Year: 2001

Notes: Continuing towards structured songs with real instruments, this album represents various recordings that happened quickly. I was building steam and learning about studio effeciency. Three Serum 114 songs ("Big man", "If I could be with you" and "The prime") were tracked, as I was also working on ...  More >>

Tracks: 12

Album

Creep

Creep

Year: 2000

Notes: Another evolution in audio. I got excited again about the prospect of manipulating soundwaves. Acoustic recordings start figuring more promenantly in the recipie. Snippets of noises start creeping in. Sound becomes composition becomes art. This album contains my first stab at a vocal-based pop so...  More >>

Tracks: 13

Album

Ritual

Ritual

Year: 1999

Notes: As the title reflects, I was starting to get bored with the whole loop & sample way of making music. As a response, I began integrating acoustic sounds into the mix. Electronic sounds are paired with acoustic guitars, real drums and percussion is combined with drum machines and found sounds. Beac...  More >>

Tracks: 15

Album

Colony

Colony

Year: 1998

Notes: Venturing out into mixing samples, converting wave forms and tweaking electronics. Most of these tracks are experiments with overlays, beats and textures, relating as pop hooks and groove. I wanted to play bits of audio like a musician plays instrument. Samples and recorded sounds became notes in...  More >>

Tracks: 13

Album

God is a Virus

God is a Virus

Year: 1997

Notes: Early work containing many large samples and found sounds, woven together. Some fun mash ups and sonic journeys. Many of my favorite songs are on this one. The computer gave me such freedom to create and manipulate textures. This is where I really got the bug to persue sound as an artform.  More >>

Tracks: 14

Album

Amagotharythm

Amagotharythm

Year: 1996

Notes: Presented here as percussion sculptures, these beats and loop tracks were written as rhythm beds for Booty's recordings and performances. I learned about manipulating digital sound while making these recordings, leaving the world of tape editing behind.  More >>

Tracks: 38

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