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Syd Matters, born Jonathan Morali in Paris on May 22, 1980, took his name by twisting the names of Pink Floyd founding members Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. After studying music at Sarah Lawrence, Morali built up his live chops playing in small venues. He scored his big break winning a magazine contest that led to him being signed to a record contract. His debut EP, 2002’s Fever In Winter, Shiver in June, established his stage name as well as his sound which combined sensitive singer/songwriter musings on love and life with modern electronic flourishes that reminded critics of Nick Drake and Radiohead. He put a band together, dubbed them Syd Matters, and recorded 2006’s Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles with them. That album did better, leading to their breakthrough with 2008’s Ghost Days, which benefitted from the exposure of his songs in various TV shows and video games, particularly the inclusion of “To All of You” in the teen drama The O.C. 2011’s Brotherocean, featured the song “Ocean Soul”, and displayed a further expansion of his signature sound by including prog rock flourishes as well as occasionally employing modern dance beats. Matters turned his attention to composing songs for other media, including his award-winning soundtrack for the video game Life Is Strange and the animated film Long Way North. In 2020 the band released work inspired by the work of author Franz Kafka.
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