Matthew Wagner, an electronic artist based in Brooklyn, melds his American roots with a distinctly European flair in his music. His album We Could Stay.
is marked by crisp, tactile surfaces that provoke ASMR responses, while being imbued with a glacial ambience reminiscent of Scandinavian artists like Vladislav Delay and Biosphere. It pulses with a minimalist techno essence, echoing the style of Cologne’s electronic innovator Wolfgang Voigt.
Wagner’s debut album acts as a wandering journal, drawing from his personal journeys. It features atmospheres captured through field recordings, which are then creatively reshaped on his laptop. These vignettes range from significant life changes, like his 2021 move from Chicago to New York, to everyday moments, such as the omnipresent hum of a generator captured while staying in Rome, as described in his track “Rome Generator.”
While Wagner’s music showcases an electronic facade, at its core is a profound appreciation for classical music. He integrates modernist composers like Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky into his tracks, transforming their works with a My Bloody Valentine-esque layer of distortion, blending them into a new postmodern soundscape. This fusion blurs the lines between centuries, recontextualizing classical symphonies within his own innovative soundscapes.
Matthew explains, “My classical music background has profoundly shaped me from the beginning. Embracing these influences, which often feel both alienating and uncool, has helped forge a sound that’s uniquely mine. These samples are deeply personal and sentimental, steering clear of merely imitating another artist.”
Wagner’s eclectic approach to music includes a mix of field recordings from his travels and samples from his own previous works. In 2016, he and his wife Carrie formed Silver Liz in Chicago, a duo whose influences range from shoegaze to acoustic pop. They are currently working on a third album, which is set to explore new electronic territories.