MISSIO

SHORT BIO

Texas duo MISSIO — Matthew Brue and David Butler — tune into various emotions and channel bursts of energy into anthems across a sonic spectrum of alternative, electronic, rock, indie, and hip-hop. Feelings of sadness, numbness, and happiness correspond to subsets of songs as the entire body of work replicates the complete breadth of existence. The Gold-certified, prolific pair explore life in all of its glory with the upcoming EP I Am High [Nettwerk Music Group].

MISSIO materialized in 2015 evolving their indefinable sound across albums such as Loner [2017], The Darker the Weather // The Better the Man [2019], Can You Feel The Sun [2020], and VILLAIN [2022]. They accumulated over 1 billion streams, powered by bangers such as the Gold-certified "Everybody Gets High," "Twisted," "Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea," "Sing To Me," and "I See You." They've sold out headline tours and graced the bills of festivals such as ACL & Lollapalooza, while earning acclaim from Atwood, Billboard, Rolling Stone, New Noise, Substream, and more.

Following VILLAIN, Matthew and David simply never stopped writing, recording in their home base of Austin and in Mexico City in March of 2023, resulting in their most recent EP I Am Sad, forthcoming EP I AM High and upcoming album.

"With this music, I'd love to make people think a little bit," Matthew leaves off. "People find it scary to talk about their feelings, but we hope we can get you to look inward a little bit. It's okay to get high. It's okay to be human."

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FULL BIO

Austin, TX duo MISSIO — Matthew Brue and David Butler — tune into various wavelengths of emotion and channel bursts of energy into anthems across a sonic spectrum of alternative, electronic, rock, indie, and hip-hop. Feelings of sadness, numbness, and happiness correspond to subsets of songs as the entire body of work replicates the complete breadth of existence. The Gold-certified, ever-prolific pair explore life in all of its glory with the 2023-2024 Cinco EP series, comprising the six EPs I Am Sad, I Am High, I Am Awesome, I Am Angry, I Am Crazy, and I Am Cinco [Nettwerk Music Group].

"We experience different emotions and complexities throughout the day," Matthew explains. "It's everything from being pissed off to feeling sad to wanting to get high. Every single day, we have all of the above. So, each EP represents a complexity we face. At the end, we'll hopefully have a really beautiful body of work consisting of all of these emotions that make up the human experience."

"It's a cycle," David goes on. "Cinco wraps up all of these states of being. We bounced back and forth each state in our personal lives as we coped with what we were going through."

MISSIO materialized out of Texas with an indefinable, yet irresistible musical vision in 2015. Irreverent of boundaries, their signature style evolved in real-time across albums such as Loner [2017], The Darker the Weather // The Better the Man [2019], Can You Feel The Sun [2020], and VILLAIN [2022]. They accumulated over 1 billion streams, powered by bangers such as the Gold-certified "Everybody Gets High." Among many highlights, "Twisted" gathered over 100 million Spotify streams followed by "Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea" with 61 million, "Sing To Me" with 46 million, and "I See You" with 38 million. Along the way, they sold out headline tours and graced the bills of festivals such as ACL & Lollapalooza, while earning acclaim from Atwood Magazine, Billboard, Rollingstone, The Boston Globe, New Noise Magazine, Substream Magazine, and more. In one respect, MISSIO quietly emerged as "the biggest band you've never heard of," while their enthusiastic MISSIO MAFIA vocalized their adoration as loudly as possible at every turn.

Following VILLAIN, Matthew and David simply never stopped writing, recording in their home base of Austin and during a particularly formative trip to Mexico City in March of 2023.

"We wanted to separate it into smaller, digestible pieces that are diverse from one another and group them into subcategories, if you will, to maintain an emotional target for each EP," explains David.

"We were able to experiment with new things we hadn't dabbled in as far as the instrumentation and arrangements go, " Matthew elaborates. "Everything is fresh. There was a lot of freedom."

This season commenced with I Am Sad at the top of 2023 followed by I Am High. The guys introduced the latter with the single "Easy." Bass thumps through a glitchy beat as warbling keys underline the hypnotic hook, "You're making me feel easy, easy, easy."

"It can mean a lot of things," David observes. "To me, it's about somebody or something that makes you feel good. When they're around, life is better. It makes you feel easy. Some of the worries melt away. I think about my wife. Since it's on I Am High, there could be some smoking vibes too," he smiles.

"I always take things in a little darker direction," Matthew admits. "It plays into my relationship with certain addictions. Addiction can feel like the sexual mistress in your life. There's a similar vibe to 'Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea.' You're coming out of I Am Sad, and you need a mood filler or something to lift you up. Marijuana can do that as a way of brightening our day."

Elsewhere, "Good Vibrations" hinges on head-nodding drums punctuated by neon synths and claps. It culminates on a chantable chorus, "What you need is my love, and some good vibrations."

"I'll wake up and lack confidence or have incredible anxiety," Matthew confesses. "Certain songs will turn the mood around. In a world with so much technology and communication, it's good to be reminded to go relax in a park. Put some headphones on, skateboard, and let the good vibes roll for a second."

On the other end of the spectrum, UK hip-hop upstart Jelani Blackman rips head-spinning bars through the haze of "Big Stacks."

"It speaks to the hip-hop side of MISSIO," says David. "I love it when Matthew writes rap lyrics, because they end up being the opposite of what a lot of the genre is about. It's about how much of a struggle it is to go get your money. We can all agree it's hard out there to pay those bills. By the way, Jelani killed it."

Ultimately, MISSIO aren't just there to soundtrack your ride through life; they're right next to you fighting just as hard.

"With this music, I'd love to make people think a little bit," Matthew leaves off. "It's a complex drop in regards to the amount of EP's and emotional standpoint we're coming from. People find it scary to talk about their feelings, but we hope we can get you to look inward a little bit. It's okay to be angry. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to get high. It's okay to be human."

"When you hear MISSIO songs, they're going to be different," David concludes. "We're going to put all of our hearts, thoughts, and everything we have into what we're doing."