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Seattle Drummer
Matthew "Ray Smith

Matthew 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.

Matthew Smith

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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