Matt Pike’s solo album, Pike VS. The Automaton, will be released February 18 via MNRK Heavy. What makes this solo LP interesting is that it’s coming from indie rock’s undisputed renaissance man. Not only was he integral in co-founding a musical style and movement via his bands Sleep and High On Fire, he recently released his first book, Head On A Pike: The Illustrated Lyrics Of Matt Pike, to critical acclaim.
The idea to do a solo record happened while Pike was dealing with some of the biggest challenges we’ve seen in our lifetime—the Pandemic, political upheaval, and raging wildfires, all of which happened in and around his home in Oregon, which affected him in a profound way. Pike and drummer Jon Reid wrote the lyrics with contributions from family and friends . It was recorded with Billy Anderson, the producer on such titles such Surrounded by Thieves and Sleep’s Holy Mountain. Until Pike VS. The Automaton gets released, feast your eyes and ears on the track, “Alien Slut Mum.” The video is as strange as the title sounds.
Matt Pike Comments:
“I was just going bonkers during the pandemic. It was, like, really, truly miserable. And then all the riots here in Portland and all the political shit. I was trapped in my garage, which was the only place I could go and jam and do anything. I was trapped in there ‘cause I couldn’t go jam with High on Fire; I couldn’t do this; I couldn’t do that; no one could fly. I was going crazy.
“My friend Jon Reid, who was the original drummer for Lord Dying, had moved to Portland and was babysitting my dog, Crom, and he was drumming for my wife’s band, so he had his drums already set up at my place. I finally said, “Dude, do you want to come over and just start jamming? So, I just started this thing with my friend Jon. I was like, “Dude, fuck it. Let’s start a side band, and we’ll just demo this and act like we’re starting it as teenagers, you know?”
Preorder Pike VS. The Automaton here.
