In their near-decade together since forming MISSIO in 2015, the Austin, TX genre-defying duo of Matthew Brue and David Butler have been building up their audience and their distinctive brand of interplay with an incredibly distinctive sound.
This fusion of maximum pop and minimal electronica that’s as much Post Malone as it is Black Midi only comes from the union of two longtime friends in music. A pair of guys who’ve bonded together by sharing decades’ worth of albums and experiences with one another, united in their intent to break the rules of conventional radio formula by turning it on its ear.
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“We have both grown up listening to artists from every genre and inspired by a multitude of sounds over the decades,” the band wrote via email. “Our personal sound as a band really comes from how eclectic our taste in music is, and also not being afraid to explore something that may sound different or unusual to the everyday listener. We gravitate towards tones that are gritty and fucked up or out of tune and in ways that pull the ear in a different direction than expected. There are no rules in creating art and that’s the best part about what we do.”
I Am Cinco, the duo’s fifth full-length album, is in actuality five emotion-driven EPs —- 2023’s I Am Sad, I Am High and I Am Awesome missives with this year’s I Am
Angry and the brand new I Am Crazy —- which have been combined together to create a Voltron of a double LP that stands as their most ambitious work to date.
“We’ve been to multiple countries and had 10 different sessions to write and record these 28 songs,” the pair explain. “It’s an epic inspired by some of the great old-school double LPs like [Pink Floyd’s] The Wall or [the Smashing Pumpkins’] Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. We’re not just here to check a box; we’re here to be prolific. It puts our creativity out there in a way no other album has.”
They have a point, there. Nothing out there in the modern pop sphere sounds quite like I Am Cinco, which seamlessly collates the quintet of emotions these EP’s express — sorrow, elation, confidence, rage and lunacy — into a continuous narrative that spells out the fabric of the human condition.
“We’ve been thinking of how we’ve matured inside and outside of music, and it feels like we’ve morphed into this new version of MISSIO,” observes Matthew. “As we experience more life, we rely less and less on other collaborators. We just do our own thing, which is new territory for us.
It definitely feels like there’s a transformation. That’s the purpose of life, learning from mistakes and growing. It’s beautiful.”
“We are still both searching,” David adds. “We have widely different emotions. The way we live our lives is the way we created I Am Cinco. This is a picture of humanity and a collection of our experiences.”
Yet while the duo’s dependence on collaborative partners has dwindled in recent years, Brue and Butler do celebrate one keynote convergence that transpired in the form of their latest single, a reimagining of the I Am High opening track “Good Vibrations.” Remixed by Diamond-certified producer Mark Needham, the track, which drops tomorrow Aug. 30, features sleek, Fripp-like guitar accents by Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland, adding even more of a New Wave element to the tune.
“When we first found out that Wes was willing to work with us, we both freaked out,” the band admits. “He’s been a huge influence for us both growing up. After hearing his additions to the song, we sat back, and it felt surreal realizing that we got the opportunity to collaborate with someone as legendary as him. He took the song to a slightly darker place, and we instantly resonated.”
To celebrate the release of I Am Cinco, MISSIO will be heading out on the road opening for Los Angeles alt-rockers Badflower, which kicks off on Sept. 3 at the House of Blues in Dallas, TX. Needless to say, they are amped to embark on this adventure.
“We’re excited to be opening up for Badflower on this U.S.A. run this upcoming fall,” they proclaim. “We’ve known about them for several years because we’ve shared the same festival stages a few times, and they’ve always killed it live. We’re looking forward to great shows, great fans and amazing nights being able to play music together!”
And with I Am Cinco, MISSIO comes strapped with a true studio epic that will no doubt help propel these two talents to the top of the concert poster sooner than later. With their fusion of maximum pop and minimal electronica, accented by elements of calculated guitar skronk, dynamic choral bursts and skittery trap grooves, this act has tapped a new vein into the exquisite corpse of rock ‘n’ roll here in the United States.
“We’ve captured the sound of the band we created,” David admits. “On tour over the years, we’ve had a live drummer on stage and started to have electric guitars and bass in our hands. We started to hear the band in a new way, and it came out in the writing.”
Tour Dates w/Badflowers
Sept 3 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Sept 4 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
Sept 6 – Birmingham, AL – Iron City
Sept 7 – Lake Buena Vista, FL – House of Blues
Sept 8 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live
Sept 10 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
Sept 11 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Sept 13 – McKees Rocks, PA – Roxian Theatre
Sept 14 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
Sept 15 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
Sept 16 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
Sept 18 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
Sept 20 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore
Sept 21 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee
Sept 22 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live
Sept 24 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
Sept 27 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
Sept 28 – Columbia, MO The Blue Note
Sept 29 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Oct 1 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Oct 3 – Garden City, ID – Revolution Concert House
Oct 5 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theater
Oct 6 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
Oct 7 – Seattle, WA – Neptune
Oct 9 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
Oct 10 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
Oct 11 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
Oct 16 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater
Oct 18 – San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theatre
Oct 19 – Fort Worth, TX – Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
Oct 22 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
Good Vibrations:
I Am Cinco:
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