Matthew Milia
| Matthew Milia | |
|---|---|
Milia performing at Lollapalooza in 2013
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| Background information | |
| Born |
November 6, 1985 Royal Oak, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | Folk Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, musician, poet |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, pedal steel guitar, harmonica, piano |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Quite Scientific Records, Ramseur Records, Loose Music |
| Associated acts | Frontier Ruckus |
| Website | Official site, Frontier Ruckus site |
Matthew Milia (born November 6, 1985) is an American songwriter, musician, poet, and visual artist. He is best known as the leader of the band Frontier Ruckus.
Milia was raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan, where he attended Catholic school for 13 years. While in high school at Brother Rice he met David Jones, with whom he formed Frontier Ruckus. He then studied Creative Writing at Michigan State University, where he was mentored by poet Diane Wakoski. At Michigan State, Milia met bandmates Zachary Nichols, Anna Burch, and Ryan Etzcorn. In 2007 he and Burch studied at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin.
As an undergraduate at Michigan State, Milia began writing the songs that would become The Orion Songbook, Frontier Ruckus' 2008 debut. Allmusic hailed the album as being "about as good a debut as a band can hope for" and Milia's lyrics as "hypnotic." In 2009 Milia was contacted by The Avett Brothers' manager Dolphus Ramseur, with whom Frontier Ruckus subsequently signed for both management and label representation. Frontier Ruckus began heavily touring the United States at this time.
Deadmalls and Nightfalls, Frontier Ruckus' 2nd LP, was released in 2010 to critical acclaim. PopMatters wrote that it "not only outdoes its predecessor, it reaches a level of top-notch songwriting most groups never attain on a greatest hits compilation." The band performed at Bonnaroo that year, with Rolling Stone listing the band as one of the festival's "Essential Sets" due in part to Milia's "haunting voice." At this point Frontier Ruckus began touring Europe regularly as well.
In 2013 Frontier Ruckus' 3rd LP, a sprawling double-album of 20 songs titled Eternity of Dimming, was released. The apex of Milia's obsessive nostalgia and verbose lyricism, the record received significant critical attention. CMJ wrote that the album "veritably overflows with images of middle-class American youth in the 1990s." Frontier Ruckus performed at Lollapalooza that summer and at the UK's End of the Road Festival that fall in support of the release. The band released a follow-up soon thereafter with 2014's Sitcom Afterlife, which detailed a breakup in Milia's life with "lyrics as dense as a Faulkner novel," according to Paste Magazine.
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