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Matthew "Ray Smith
Matthew "Ray" Smith was born on May 27th 1986 in Everett Washington. And
lived in Renton Washington. He was Introduced to the Drums Shortly
after his birth, as his father played drums in various rock bands. His
dad encouraged him to play the drums at an early age, mainly letting
ray sit on his lap and let would beat the drums and cymbals with his
fathers drum sticks. The early 90's Came by and He continued to Mimic
His father (as he could reach the pedals now!) and watch him as he
played live and practiced with his band 'Tempting Fate'. Having
practiced drum set at an early age Matt had a head start in his music
program through Middle school and High school, Playing Snare drum and
the Drum Set In the schools Jazz Band. Always Keeping 1st chair in his
instrument and winning various awards including the "directors choice
award' for best musicianship, things were looking good......
Matthew's First band formed in 1998. In 7th Grade Matt and a couple of
buddies decided to get together and jam. This experience is what
sparked his passion for the Drums and Music. Always having a 'rock'
background He started to branch out at his high school to find other
musicians that were willing to start a band. Having looked for
musicians around his high school Matt was very doubtful that he could
find anybody that was good enough to play with him. With his luck he
could not find any musicians that were up to starting a band, so he
continued to lock him self up in his practice room and play the drums
for hours on end.
As 2000 rolled by a lot of things happened in his family and he was
forced to move to Black Diamond, with his mother. Changing schools and
Friends was a tough thing but this opened up more doors for him to find
new musicians to start a band. Ray discovered that his neighbor (Ross
Heidi) played the guitar, and was very talented. He decided to go over
one day while Ross was playing and introduce himself. They became
friends instantly and started to jam out a lot of cover songs, of
anything ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Tool.
After Playing In many Small cover bands through out High School, he met
up with guitarist Dale Le Claire And decided to start a band with him
(Audio Warfare). After many shows and many members being filtered
through the band, through out the years, they decided to stay as an
instrumental 3 piece.
2002 held a lot for Audio Warfare. A full length Demo Was recorded and
large amounts were sold at shows. Throughout 2002 Matt was going
through a lot of set up changes (and still is:) To enhance his
performance and playing, many pictures were taken of Matt playing old
Ludwigs, to Shinny Slingerland Drums (with Audio Warfare). Eventually
these drum kits setups evolved into the Alien Drums. A setup that is
utilized for both playing performance, easy setup, creative drum tones,
and to top it off with a unique look. His alien drums are truly a one
of a kind setup, built though experience in the field over the last 5
years.
2003-2004 Matt has recorded the new drum tracks for Audio Warfare's New
Debut Album 'a passage over bounds'. And has acquired a new set
especially for drum recording. And he is currently working on His First
Solo Album Release under the name Anti Matter.
Matt is influenced by many drummers of all styles. Though he has always
played heavy music, Matt has developed himself as a drummer of many
genera's. He enjoys playing and listening and playing to all kinds of
music.
Although Matt is mainly a Performance Drummer/Soloist, He has also been
teaching his art to local drummers who wish to improve in their art.
As of right now, he is working full time and saving his money to attend
PIT's 2005 fall quarter to start his career in music.
You can find more info at: www.aliendrums.com
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