Bio

Thanks checking out the site.  My name is Matt, AKA The Synthesizer Sympathizer.  I've grown up in the suburbs of Philadelphia my whole life.  My earliest memories of electronic music were my oldest brother playing Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim, and Ken Ishii when I was in the 5th grade.  I poo-pood most non-pop music from my childhood until I started high school, when I first got into Ben Folds-- specifically two tracks created my awakening, 'Not the Same' and 'Give Judy My Notice' from Rockin' The Suburbs and Speed Graphic, respectively (for the record, 'Judy' on Songs for Silverman is not half as good as the original).  After a year long binge of Folds' music, I found myself getting into other piano artists like Keane and Coldplay, and later into bands like Say Anything and Death Cab for Cutie, who of which led me to The Postal Service, another electronic influence.  When I was about 16, I got my first synth, an Alesis Micron, which is incredibly cheap for a synth but incredibly difficult to program.  As a freshman in college, I was introduced to '3 Little Words' and 'In Step' by Frankmusik, at which point I got into vintage synthesizers.  Around this point I came full circle, reconnecting with Daft Punk, and getting into new artists like Ellie Goulding.

After countless hours of boring my brother Drew to death on the topic of what synths and gear an artist was using, I decided to make this blog to help learn about the artists we love and how they work, and of course, educating those who know less about synthesizers in the simplest and clearest way possible.