With over 1000 songs to his name and dozens independently produced tapes and CDs over the past two decades, Matt Kjeldsen is a veteran of the music industry. Recording on a simple Roland VS-1680 in his home studio, Matt creates sophisticated mixes of introspective pop rock with his band, the Runes. He produces his own solo recordings and diversions such as Exploding Brains. He is always recording with his pal and fellow non-stop music warrior Mac McNabb. He also designs music specifically for media usage. His sound ranges in tone from irreverent to sublime, from angry to resigned. Matt's musicality is familiar: grown from the roots of John Lennon, The Eagles, Queen, Pink Floyd ... a rare musical hybrid producing rich yields of social commentary and supple orchestration.
Kjeldsen was born in Oklahoma, 1962, raised in Texas, the second son of a Shell Oil executive, and educated in the suburbs of Houston. He enrolled at the University of Texas in 1980 and had already written over 100 hard driving rock songs and headed two bands. By the time he’d graduated in 1984, he’d penned a 100 more, produced a few full length cassettes and played in all the marquee clubs of Austin as lead singer/ songwriter for Hudley
Stungwell. After graduation with his bands’ The Name and Gravity Jacket he continued to perform and chase success.
"I could have gone on playing the club scene and hit the road", says Matt.
"But when you’re on the road, you’re not writing, not recording, not doing something
new". Over the next decade he continued to perfect his sound and develop new songs. He raised a son, worked odd jobs and found just enough time to complete one project and to move onto the next.
In 1994 he joined forces with Brian Collins and Jimmy Holloway to form The Runes. They were playing acoustic sets in Austin coffee houses and songwriter showcases when they met Carrie Miller, a cellist finishing her Master¹s degree in Performance. With the addition of the cello, The Runes achieved a unique sound featuring deep rich tones to accompany Matt’s savvy lyrics and familiar rock vocals. In 1995, they added Julie Carlton as their permanent bass player and started playing regularly at Steamboat and The Austin Outhouse.
Once again, however, Matt opted to be a recording artist rather than performer. The band’s first CD, Lost Songs, came out in 1998 on
Matt's own label, Risky Records. Independent reviewers from MuzikMan, Pure and Simple, and Zine of the Times were impressed by the sheer musicality of the works (they all referenced the layers, the number of instruments) and touted the Runes as a band to watch.
"Intelligent, witty, thought provoking", said Gary Vollono of
IndepenDisc. "There’s plenty here to justify finding these Lost Songs".
It took four years of production to complete the band’s next release, Dancing with Ghosts on the Knotrilly Records label. (Matt simultaneously compiled Infiltrate -- Music for Media. Its dark, loop-driven electronic grooves were featured in the quirky documentary Crime Scene Cleaners.) In Ghosts the band has achieved a new level of sophistication. Drawing again on personal experience and innovative rock orchestration, the Runes prove they’re no ordinary band.
"Give me something that I ain’t seen before", Matt challenges in the CD’s last track. That’s exactly what he’s done.
The Runes have been featured on Austin's KTBC’s The Breakfast Club and KXAN’s Out on the Porch with Jim Swift. Their sarcastic ditty, Shitty Little Tune, was also used in the motion picture Equinox Knocks.
When Matt’s not recording, he plays water polo and brews his own beer. He recently completed compiling 120 CDs of original recordings and
has recently released the last Runes CDs, created from material the band had
previously recorded, including Radio Banned, a compilation of his social satires (songs with titles like Big Wanker Blues, Party of God, and Brain Dead), along with
thirteen music for media CDs, four solo projects, two Exploding Brains CDs and
the sublime, Gravity Jacket release, Hangin' On The Edge.
Matt's other accomplishments have been providing music for the independent film, Patriot's Dream and the entire soundtrack for the documentary, Crime Scene Cleaners, as well as a myriad of background music for all sorts of TV programs. Matt Kjeldsen is currently working on more music for media and remains an independent artist in Austin and on the music scene the world over.
Complete Discography:
Matt Kjeldsen: High School Hopes 2 1976-1980
Matt Kjeldsen: High School Hopes 3 1976-1980
Spurt: Come and Get It 1979-1980
Matt Kjeldsen: College Daze 1 1980-1984
Matt Kjeldsen: College Daze 2 1980-1984
Matt Kjeldsen: College Daze 3 1980-1984
Matt Kjeldsen: College Daze 4 1980-1984
Matt Kjeldsen: College Daze 5 1980-1984
Hudley Stungwell: Beaver On A Leash 1981
Hudley Stungwell: Unleashed 1982
Hudley Stungwell: Rebel Beaver 1983
Hudley Stungwell: A Cat is no Match for a Monkey in a Tree 1984
Hudley Stungwell: UT Studio Recordings 1984
Hudley Stungwell and the Name: Collected
Studio Recordings 1984
Hudley Stungwell: Steeple Studs (Live) 1983
Hudley Stungwell: Experience Live 1984
The Short Quartet: Live at the Beach 1984
Hudley Stungwell: Live at the Beach 1984
The Name: Live at the Beach 1985
The Name: Four Track Cassette Recordings 1985
Matt Kjeldsen: Thinkin’ About You 1985
Matt Kjeldsen: Time in the City 1985
Matt Kjeldsen: Progress 1985
Matt Kjeldsen: Fame and Fortune, Power, Girls 1985
Matt Kjeldsen: (The Accident) Lost in
Matt Kjeldsen: The Accident 1987
Matt Kjeldsen: Last of ’86, 1986
Matt Kjeldsen: F Songs 1987
Matt Kjeldsen: Dampened Spirits 1988
Gravity Jacket: I 1988-1990
Gravity Jacket: II 1988-1990
Gravity Jacket: III 1988-1990
Gravity Jacket: IV 1988-1990
Gravity Jacket: V 1988-1990
Gravity Jacket: Live at the Backroom 1988
Gravity Jacket: Gravitunes 1989
Gravity Jacket: Recorded at Arlyn 1990
Matt Kjeldsen: July ’88 1988
Matt Kjeldsen: To the Sunlight 1988
Matt Kjeldsen: Abu 1989
Matt Kjeldsen: Abu tu Gabah 1990
Matt Kjeldsen: Livin’ in the Town of
Matt Kjeldsen and Mac McNabb: The Cattle Trail Sessions 1991
Matt Kjeldsen: It’s About Time 1992
Matt Kjeldsen and Mac McNabb: The
Matt Kjeldsen: New Music Special 1992
Matt Kjeldsen: MK ’93 1993
Matt Kjeldsen: ’93 Shake/’94 Buds 1993-1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Resurrection I 1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Resurrection II 1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Resurrection III 1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Resurrection IV 1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Resurrection V 1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Resurrection VI 1994
Matt Kjeldsen: Songs and Ideas 1995
The Runes: Coffee House Versions 1995
The Runes: Live at Steamboat 1996
The Runes: Live at Steamboat 1997
The Runes: Lost Songs 1998
Matt Kjeldsen: A Patriot’s Dream 1998
Matt Kjeldsen: Kool Music For Media Folk/Pop/Rock 1 1999
The Runes: Infiltrate- Music for Media 1
The Runes: Dancing with Ghosts 2001
Gravity Jacket: Hangin’ on the Edge 2002
The Runes: Reinfiltrate- Music for Media 2 2003
The Runes: Assimilate- Music for Media 3 2003
The Runes: Radio Banned 2003
The Runes: Total Assimilation- Music for Media 4 2003
The Runes: Assimilation Complete- Music for Media 5 2003
Matt Kjeldsen: Stone Soup 2004
The Runes: Specters in the Mist 2004
Matt Kjeldsen: Cool Street Beats 2004
Matt Kjeldsen: The Beats of
Matt Kjeldsen: Other World Grooves- Music for Media 2 2005
The Runes: What Remains 2005
The Runes: Last Songs 2005
Matt Kjeldsen: Z-Sides 2005
Matt Kjeldsen: Visceral Textures- Music for Media 3 2006
Matt Kjeldsen: Spirits from a Dying World- Music for Media 4 2006
Matt Kjeldsen: Dig Sound Collection 1 2006
Matt Kjeldsen: KnotrillyRecords.com Music for Media 10 2007
Matt Kjeldsen: Zero Hour 2007
Matt Kjeldsen: Dynamic Tension Volume 1- Music for Media 2007
Matt Kjeldsen: Dynamic Tension Volume 2- Music for Media 2007
Matt Kjeldsen: Tales of Darkness and Suspense- Music for Media 2007
Exploding Brains: Bite Me 2008
Exploding Brains 2: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques in America 2008
Matt Kjeldsen: Symphony of the House 2008
Matt Kjeldsen: Trash Can Eggs 2008