Drew Daniel
[b]Drew Daniel[/b] (b. 17 July 1971) is an American experimental musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known as ½ of the acclaimed electronic duo [a=Matmos] and solo as [a=The Soft Pink Truth]. Daniel is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Before joining the JHU English Department, Drew Daniel taught Renaissance literature, critical theory, and aesthetics at [l=San Francisco Art Institute] and [l614635]. He also held seminars at [l=Tate Modern], [url=https://discogs.com/label/156314]CalArts[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/label/289773]Princeton[/url], and [l=Harvard University]. Born and raised in Kentucky, Daniel grew interested in punk rock as a teenager, publishing "The Conqueror Worm" DIY punk fanzine at sixteen and later participating in local bands, including [a=Crain (2)] and [a=Cerebellum (4)]. Drew performed his early solo noise gigs as [url=https://discogs.com/artist/11015195]Western Blot[/url] while attending [url=https://discogs.com/label/614635]U.C. Berkeley[/url] in California. From 1992 to '94, Drew Daniel studied English literature at the [url=https://discogs.com/label/494155]University of Oxford[/url] in Britain, receiving his Bachelor's from Brasenose College. In 2007, Drew earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley with a doctoral thesis [i]“I Know Not Why I Am So Sad:” Melancholy and Knowledge in Early Modern English Portraiture, Drama, and Prose[/i].
Around 1992, Daniel formed [b][a=Matmos][/b] with his partner [a=Martin Schmidt]. The duo gained prominence and numerous accolades, with international tours and 12 full-length studio albums released on their private imprint [l=Vague Terrain], [l=Matador] (1999–2008) and [l=Thrill Jockey] (since 2012) — and numerous EPs, collaborations, and side projects on other prominent independent labels. Drew and Martin played together in "occult avantgarde" band [url=https://discogs.com/artist/150990]IAO Core[/url] and released several records as [a10119] with [a=Miguel Depedro]/[a=Kid606] and [a=Lesser]. In 2001, Drew Daniel started [b][a=The Soft Pink Truth][/b] solo project dedicated to techno, house, and other "club music" genres, which often records electronic covers of notable British/American hardcore, crust punk, and black metal bands. Under the SPT moniker, Daniel released several EPs and two full-length albums on [a=Matthew Herbert]'s [l=Soundslike] label and is currently on Thrill Jockey's roster. The Soft Pink Truth also self-published two digital "name-your-price" releases via Bandcamp.
In May 2018, Daniel's first-ever album under his real name came out, [i][r=11869460][/i] LP recorded with [a=John Wiese] and released by Arizona-based [l83974]. Their second collaboration followed in July 2021, with a limited edition [i][r=19471264][/i] 7" on John's label [l2798]. As a solo artist, Drew Daniel produced remixes for a wide range of artists and bands across genres, from [a1373], [a=Roots Manuva] and [a=Grizzly Bear] to [a10814] and [a5611]. He collaborated with [a=Horse Lords], [a=Negativland], [a=Steven Stapleton]/[a=Nurse With Wound] and many other renowned musicians and composers.
Drew Daniel wrote three books: "20 Jazz Funk Greats" (2008) for Continuum's 33 ⅓ series (an essay on [a=Throbbing Gristle]'s [url=https://discogs.com/master/6814]eponymous album[/url]), followed by "The Melancholy Assemblage: Affect and Epistemology in the English Renaissance" (2012) at Fordham University Press and his latest manuscript, "Joy of the Worm: Suicide and Pleasure in Early Modern English Literature" (2022) published by [l1673330]. Daniel was also a contributing writer to [l=Pitchfork Media] and authored liner notes on multiple records, from [a=People Like Us], [a=Patrick Cowley] and [a=Zeena Parkins] albums to 30th-anniversary reissue of [i][url=https://www.discogs.com/master/21323-Coil-Loves-Secret-Domain?format=Reissue&country=US&query=30th+Anniversary+Edition]Love's Secret Domain[/url][/i] by [a=Coil].