The Undercover Dream Lovers is the new project from Brooklyn based artist/producer Matt Koenig. “When You Know Its Alright” is the first single taken from Matt’s upcoming EP While It’s In Style. The song is indie rock gold featuring lush melodies, layered over a progressive synth driven production. LYFSTYL had a chance to speak with TUDL about his early years, his inspiration behind the record, and his upcoming EP.
How did you get started making music?
I’ve played guitar since I was 12. I started making my own music when I was 19. I lived in Pittsburgh at the time, which is where I grew up. It was my first real experience with recording and production. It was all bedroom stuff like I do now. I put out about 5 of the songs I made with my band at the time, IKE. It was very lo-fi indie rock and it was pretty underground for Pittsburgh. We played a lot in 2010-2012.. or something like that. I look at those days as just having a good time with some friends. Most of our energy went into playing DIY shows and house party’s. It was a blast.
What was your inspiration behind the record?
I had a lot of changes going on at the time. I ended a relationship. Moved twice. I quit the job I had worked at since moving to New York in 2013. I tried a few others jobs but I wasn’t into them. So I hopped around for a bit. I had actually pent up most of my musical inspiration for a while. I was working a lot and didn’t put much time into any new ideas. I wanted to get back to music for a while. I finally decided I was going to start a project and I set aside some time to focus on it. My songs generally come together on the spot and are affected by how I feel that day, in the moment. When I add lyrics to a song, it’s all improvisation and if I like what I am coming up with, I just keep it. There is rarely a prewriting process. There were also a lot of new people in my life when I started working on the EP. They gave me a lot of good energy. Having good people around who were enthusiastic about what I was doing really inspired me to push myself more.
Tell us a little about your upcoming EP?
The EP is called While It’s In Style. Besides getting back into creating music, it was more specifically about figuring out a good workflow and attempting to better understand arrangement. My process was mostly about keeping the momentum rolling and not getting too stuck on a single idea. Working quickly was a really great way to jump back into things for me. Since I was between jobs I was able to make most of the EP within two weeks and finish things up within a month. It wasn’t until after the songs were done that I started thinking more about what I want to express and how I wanted everything to look and feel. Coming up with the band name, EP title, and album art have gotten me to think more about what I want to do, and it’s helped me to see the project in a whole new light. It’s all been extremely inspiring. I am eager to get back to recording, after having learned so much.
