For almost 15 years, Matthew S (a.k.a. Matthew Smith) was best known as the founder of Illegal Art, the label whose catalog challenged conventional wisdom on sampling, copyright parameters and authorship. Launched in 1998, Illegal Art went on to release Girl Talk’s landmark mashup LPs, a retrospective of pioneering cut-and-paste artist Steinski and music by People Like Us, Yea Big and others.
Dormant since 2012, Illegal Art is back, with new releases planned from the acts mentioned above—not to mention Matthew’s own project, Myth Math. On Tongues, he takes the techniques integral to the Illegal Art esthetic and aligns them with the more conventional songwriting he pursued during the label’s hiatus. Meticulously constructed samples coexist with more organic elements like synths, live drums and found sounds, driving themes of communication, family, faith and the institutions that shape (and constrain) personal identity.
A professor in the School of Creative Technologies at Illinois State University, Matthew offers his decidedly unacademic take on Tongues, which features input from his former student, Mitch Baker Martin.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “Deep Down”
“An artistic arrival of sorts and an introduction to the world of Myth Math. I initially created a sample-based track and had my main collaborator, Mitch, compose chords that matched the sequence. I then wrote a song over the top. My wife sings the even verses, and it’s the closest we’ve come to realizing our dream of becoming a family band. I think of ‘Deep Down’ as a musical manifesto and an invitation to connect with the world on a deeper level. Kellii Scott of the band Failure plays drums on the track, and I love the energy he brings.The first verse introduces the struggle for expression with, ‘My lungs are full of silent words.’ It quickly transforms into the refrain, ‘Our tongues untied.’ The chorus proclaims, ‘I found, I found, I found a secret sound.’ But it ultimately steps back a bit with the ending sample: ‘I’m nearly, nearly blue sky.’”
2) “Lift”
“One of two non-romantic love songs on Tongues, ‘Lift’ recalls the memory of driving around Fresno with my uncle in a white Toyota pickup truck, with heavy-metal music blasting from his hyped-up sound system. As a grade-schooler, it was my first experience immersing myself in audio and a musical subculture. Heavy metal transformed me, and I felt empowered by the music, iconic personas and my uncle’s chill demeanor. I remember how meticulously he recorded his vinyl records onto high-quality cassettes to play in the truck.”
3) “Infinity”
“This is dedicated to my son. It begins with a moment of hearing his voice on the phone—and despite the usual parental worries, I realize how profoundly his life is filled with goodness. The song touches on themes of familial love, our journey away from a multi-generational religion and tragic death. The homemade video we made captures our home and family photos, along with a labyrinth, moon art and videogames made by family members. The delicate, personal verses give way to a faster middle section driven by rapid drums and vocoder-enhanced vocals. This shifts the mood from communal acceptance to metaphors of escaping boundaries and dogmas in search of a more vibrant, colorful world.”
4) “Our Lips”
“This one begins with vocal samples layered over a sludge-metal improvisation by local musicians Grill Billyenz (guitar) and SonOfKarl (drums). As it alternates between sampled voices intoning ‘oh, oh, oh,’ ‘our lips are moving’ and ‘diamond earrings,’ it builds to a point where I interpolate lyrics from Echo & The Bunnymen’s ‘Lips Like Sugar,’ using 10 layers of my voice. While the earlier half of the EP focused on aspirations of self-expression, ‘Our Lips’ fulfills that promise with a pointed critique of the wealthy religious institution I grew up in. This accusation could be equally applied to others who amass billions while attempting to sweet-talk the rest of us.”
