Matthew Dear

Born in Kingsville, Texas, Matthew Dear trained in Ann Arbor before emerging in the late 1990s within Detroit’s orbit, where he encountered the legacy of Chicago house and the local techno scene. A producer, singer and DJ, Dear’s music ranges from minimal techno and microhouse to a dark electronic pop marked by repetitive basslines, precise rhythms and often restrained vocals. After a string of maxis that established him on the club circuit, his main project evolved toward more melodic, vocal-driven songwriting, while the Audion alias allowed him to pursue a more directly techno-oriented thread. The albums Leave Luck to Heaven (2003), Asa Breed (2007), Black City (2010), Beams (2012), Bunny (2018) and Preacher's Sigh & Potion: Lost Album (2021) punctuate this path between dance music, synth-pop and new wave. Equally present in DJ sets and live lineups, Matthew Dear has linked Detroit’s electronic scenes, international clubs and a more experimental independent sphere since the early 2000s.