Welcome to the EPK page for the new EP – A Stream Becomes A River. Here you will find a bio, answers to common interview questions, links to social media and images. If you require anything else, please email matt@bitetheboxer.com
About A Stream Becomes A River
The 4 songs on the EP started life on Twitch, being written and composed on live streams in a ‘build a song from scratch in under 2.5 hours’ format, taking feedback from viewers and incorporating challenges (for example only using one instrument plugin). The songs were then worked on, and finalised, behind the scenes. The EP is another step forward in terms of sound for Bite The Boxer and is the most challenging, yet rewarding, piece of work to date.
A Stream Becomes A River was released on 15th October across all major digital platforms.
Tracklist:
1 – Kohaku
2 – Underwater
3 – Summer of Everything
4 – Time Stands Still
Available on the following streaming services:
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Deezer
Apple Music
Reference Points and Artists That Influenced This EP:
The XX
Portishead
French 79
Film School
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Ramin Djawadi
Short Bio
Bite The Boxer is a musician and producer on the South Coast of the UK. Born out of a ‘love at first listen’ love affair with synthwave and outrun artists, Bite The Boxer (real name, Matt Park) started working on the BTB project in the spring of 2020. Although he considers synthwave to be his ‘home genre’ Bite The Boxer likes to keep his audience guessing what his next release will sound like, having covered synthwave, EBM (Battleship) , ambient (A Tough Night), cyberpunk (The Pilot Sleeps Alone) and trip-hop (Human Atmosphere) all within a year, alongside hints of industrial, indie and post-punk.
Discography
The ’86 Sound (album) – September 2020
The Throw Down (single) – December 2020
Battleship (single) – February 2021
Half Awake in the Half Light (EP) – April 2021
Human Atmosphere (single) – May 2021
Down in the Park (Single – Gary Numan cover) – July 2021
What inspired you to get into music?
I had a very good and eclectic musical upbringing as a kid, my mum loved T-Rex, David Bowie and the glam rock scene, and there was always a revolving door of 80s classics on the stereo from Phil Collins to Kate Bush and Dire Straits. I started playing guitar in bands when I was about 15. Between then and now I have been in various bands from punk, metal, indie and a short stint on the acoustic singer/songwriter scene. So, when lockdown came into force, I took the opportunity to teach myself electronic music production at home and it grew, very quickly, into this collection of songs that I labelled as ‘Bite The Boxer’.
How would you describe your music?
When I started making music as Bite The Boxer, I wanted it to be chilled but upbeat so I could listen to it whilst doing my day job, working from home. As I made more, I developed a style that is heavily influenced by the soundtrack to Tron Legacy (by Daft Punk), as well as the dark and gritty side of 80’s electronic music (such as Gary Numan).
I also like to change things up every so often. For example, The ’86 Sound had a classic synthwave/synth-pop vibe to it. The follow up singles, The Throw Down and Battleship were more edgy, and the latter bordered into EBM. The singles I released around April 2021 (which formed the Half Awake in the Half Light EP) were very much in the cinematic/ambient genre (influenced by Hans Zimmer and Ramin Djawadi).
The new EP A Stream Becomes A River still has elements from synthwave and cinematic ambient, but blended with a lo-fi and dream-pop twist.
What would you say is your recording and song writing style?
I love the blossoming synthwave genre that is so prevalent on YouTube and Instagram and I have learnt a lot from that scene. However, I am trying to approach it as a rock musician, so I try to imagine the dynamics and interaction between the instruments as if it was a band performing the songs. I am also in a new position that I have never been before where I am the sole writer and performer so if I am not 100% happy with a song, or a part, then I can easily mould and shape it to suit how I want the song to sound. This can also be a limitation because I don’t have anyone else to bounce ideas off of but for now, I am enjoying the challenge.
Where did the name Bite The Boxer come from?
The words themselves came, almost directly, from the lyrics of Under The Air Pt 2 (the final song on The ’86 Sound), which is about the consequences of allowing feelings and emotions to be bottled up, rather than talking about how you feel. It can all come back to bite you.
One of the things that drew me to using the name was that it didn’t sound like it was of any particular genre. When I started to put music out as Bite The Boxer it was on the pop side of synthwave but I didn’t want to use any of the usual synthwave norms (references to night time, neon etc). Having a name that didn’t sound like a particular genre allows me to blend and morph through different genres. I like lots of types of music so this will be a very varied project.
Where can music fans listen to your music?
It is available on all the major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube etc as well as posting regularly on Facebook and Instagram.