We’ve been keeping in close footing with MatAre‘s journey ever since this Atlanta-based musician first appeared in early 2025 with his hazy dream-pop release ‘Attach Your Memories’. Since then, this artist has continued to expand his sonic world with nostalgia-leaning experiments, shoegaze confessionals and upbeat indie gems. These tracks have operated like postcards from MatAre‘s life, as they’ve been written in different cities, at various times of year and with altering mindsets. Throughout all of the change, his songs have shared a particular texture and feel, which is something you can really hear in his latest EP release. Titled Brevity, this four-track collection combines pastel-toned guitars, soft-edged distortion, authentic ’80s/’90s elements and undeniably direct songwriting. Every note feels intentional here as MatAre seeks clarity over confusion, and so he has created an aural island of solace amongst the world’s unpredictability. Somehow this is our first time interviewing this regularly featured musician, and so for On The Record, we asked MatAre all about his new EP, including what shaped the sound and what else it to come in the future.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with MatAre, can you introduce yourself?
Yes, of course. My name is Matt and I am a songwriter and music producer based in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. I travel for my day job in renewable energy construction and I have been writing songs and making music based on the places I go and the people I meet. Also, I am perpetually homesick and my songs reflect this also.
Congratulations on the recent release of your new EP! The title brings to mind simplicity, cohesion and intention, so how is that concept reflected in your songs?
Brevity is an EP where I begin my journey of focusing on my core sound and letting fans know that they will get a consistent and emotionally grounded artist when they listen to me. After the roller coaster of the stuff going on in my country last year (still ongoing even) I had to make an angry and pissed off album to reflect the chaos I felt. That was my album, Extinction Burst, that released in 2025 and releasing that energy was something I just had to do. I feel like I am finally settled into my home base zone of a postpunk/dreampop/shoegazish hybrid.
If you had to assign a specific color or visual texture to Brevity, what would it be and why?
Pastel, soft colors, text lower case with spacing to let the letters breathe, fuzzy ocean scenery, brilliant sunsets of orange. distorted guitars that are soft still and fuzzy and cuddly like with my cat
As with all of your songs, the EP leans into an ‘80s and ’90s new wave and shoegaze aesthetic. What specific textures or production techniques helped you achieve that nostalgic atmosphere?
Without getting too technical, stuff like the amps and heads that are characteristic of that sound like the Roland JC amps, a lot of delay and a lot of reverb. But my new weapons of choice are my StingRay Bass guitar and Jaguar guitar. These are iconic in my mind and help me get a sound that is nostalgic but still modern.
Did recording in different places also impact the feel and direction of the record?
It always does. Sarasota Florida is a sunny beach town. I spend evenings skimboarding and enjoying the sunset with a beer. When I was in North Dakota or Denver, it was quite different. Many days it was frigid and cold and that puts a different state of mind when I would go into songwriting.
Do you think that your musical background with saxophone has shaped the way you write guitar or bass lines?
Yes, I think of instruments, by default, as monophonic like the saxophone is. Meaning only: possible for one note at a time… whereas the piano and guitar are amazing because they play entire chords while sneaking the melody in. I think the way I am used to playing sax has helped me because I now am ultra-focused on the melody alone and what it is doing in relation to the chord sequence.
Closing track ‘When The Sun Falls’ leaves the EP on an upbeat note, so why did you choose this more optimistic sound to end with?
It’s hard to imagine what the listeners will enjoy or not but the thinking was that When The Sun Falls is the emotional reward and pay off to those who stay and listen to the entire EP. My album, Extinction Burst, featured the title track as the last song, a whopping 5 plus minute album type song. I would never consider that to be a single contender yet it ended up being the fan favorite during the release period getting the most streams. I realized that fans will like what they like regardless of the song placement.
What else do you hope that listeners will take away from Brevity?
Life is short but incredible. We are so lucky so don’t throw away your opportunity. Try to live life thinking about you want people to say about you once you are gone.
Following the release of the EP, what will be next on the horizon for you?
I have two albums planned. In 2018, I made an album that is on Bandcamp called Second Language. I am proud of the songwriting and they are important to me but the production is from an earlier period when I was learning my craft. I am going to reproduce those songs from scratch into an exciting and current MarAre album. A second album is all new music. I have the songs written already and have demos ready to go. It’s a lot of work to release two albums so one may fall into 2027. I’m excited though.
You can listen to title-track ‘Brevity’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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