Spotlight - BTMFDR

GetMusic's artist spotlight features BTMFDR, sharing the story behind the music, the latest work, and what comes next.

Introduction & Background

Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background.

I am a musician and producer in Portland, OR, USA. I have been making predominantly electronic music for the past fifteen years, and making music in general for more than twenty.

Beyond my solo work, my most significant musical output was as a founding member of heavy music band MAKE. I played drums with this group from around 2008 to 2015, and released several albums with them.

What's your musical origin story?

I was interested in music from a young age, but it wasn't until I was fifteen that I began learning to play drums. Music had become such a big part of my life and identity, so I was eager to become a part of that world. I am originally from North Carolina, so once I graduated highschool I moved to Chapel Hill to become a part of its well-known music scene.

What were the driving forces or pivotal moments that inspired you to pursue music?

I have never experienced anything as interesting or rewarding as the practice of making music. Since my first highschool band to now, the genuine magic of conjuring sounds into songs has always captivated me.

Musical Identity

How would you describe your style of music?

My music ranges from warehouse-ready techno to ambient explorations. I often favor off-kilter rhythms and texture-rich soundscapes. A lot of my work is darker in tone as well.

How is your personality reflected in your work?

Introspection and self-reflection are a big part of how I try to operate as a person; I think this comes through in my music, which is often pensive, abstract, and reflective of emotions or ideological concepts that I am working through. I also have had some periods of struggle in my life, and for much of my youth I had a fairly bleak outlook on life; I think the darker tones and harsher textures found in some of my tracks derive from this perspective. Yet I always have had a streak of optimism lurking below the surface, which definitely shines through on some of my work as well. I also love dancing to techno in dark foggy rooms, the joy and catharsis of it, and this also comes through in a number of my tracks.

Describe your creative process when you write new music.

My process is constantly changing - I incorporate field recordings, synths, live drums, guitar, but all work eventually flows into Ableton. I love the ability to endlessly create new saves from an Ableton project; a lot of my work is organized around a kind of seed project, where I create a new workflow or assembly of instruments and effects, and then I iterate off of that initial setup. Over time, these seeds grow into sprawling branches of related projects which share DNA but have developed into distinct entities.

Current Work

What is the name of your latest release?

Time Was

What was the inspiration for that release?

The five tracks on Time Was were recorded in North Carolina over a period of six years or so, starting from around 2012. Each song sprung to life in a void, dissimilar from whatever else I was working on at the time, and as such, was set aside. Over the years I would revisit these tracks, trying to see if they would work with one release or another, but they never fit in.

It wasn't until more than a decade later that these tracks finally found a home; they had not changed over the years, but with the passing of time and a new setting, I could see how these disparate songs, so distant from one another temporally, were all cut from the same cloth. I thought they were orphans, but they were actually long-lost siblings.

Making a place for these tracks after so many years felt like something shifting loose inside me, coming unstuck. I found it so cathartic to call these works complete and to place them into a shared context, and it was especially satisfying given how long these tracks have been quietly simmering in the background of my life.

What challenges or unexpected moments did you encounter during the writing/recording process?

Hard to recall after so long! But at least some of the tracks are the result of happy accidents or using tools outside of their intended parameters.

Promotion & Engagement

What strategies do you find most effective for promoting your music?

Being an active participant in and supporter of musical communities. Otherwise, places like Bandcamp and Subvert.fm are a necessity. Strongly anti-Spotify. Code sites like GetMusic have also been great for connecting with new people.

How do you engage with your fans online and offline?

I don't use social media with a recent exception for bluesky - though I am ambivalent about that. Bandcamp's follow feature is currently the best way for me to directly connect with people interested in my music.

What upcoming promotional activities or releases are you most excited about?

The limited edition tape for my latest release Time Was will be available Oct 2, 2026. The first edition will only be 10 hand-numbered copies, with each tape recorded in real time at my production studio. Each cassette will also feature hand-painted art, making each one a truly unique artifact.

I am also well underway on my next album - I have been working with several collaborators, and I think it is some of my most interesting work to date.

How can folks contact you?

https://mattstevenson.bandcamp.com/album/time-was
https://www.subvert.fm/btmfdr
https://bsky.app/profile/btmfdr-music.bsky.social
https://www.mattstevensonmusic.com