Dante Matas is a singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Toronto with a unique brand of new wave bedroom pop, psychedelic folk, and lo-fi electronic music. His latest EP, Avoid Discipline (out Jan 21), brings hyper-melodic synth pop with a new wave twist. The title suggests letting go of perfectionism to allow things to take shape naturally. 

Dante’s songs tend to have contemplative and introspective character to them, but never at the expense of a catchy melody. “Catching Up With You” is about the kind of person that gets away with mistreating and harming others just because of wealth or undeserved status. Optimistically, they will eventually have to deal with the consequences of their actions. 

We sat down with Dante Matas for an exclusive Video Voyageur, below!

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

I chose to visualize “Catching Up With You” specifically because I really wanted to emphasize the lyrics, as they were the catalyst for the whole song. It’s not about any one person in particular, but more about a type of person that seems to get away with treating others as means to an end without ever facing any consequences. I’m not pointing any fingers but I’m sure everyone knows someone like that. I wanted to write a song that singled that person out and told them that everyone knows what they’re doing and sooner or later it’s going to catch up with them.

What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

I recently bought a chalkboard and wanted to try writing out the lyrics to the song and animating them throughout. I made a video for each single off of my Avoid Discipline EP and the other ones all featured me playing the different parts of the song so I figured I’d throw in some of that too. I really wanted the text to get crazier and more eccentric as the song progressed so I got more adventurous with the writing as I went. I also have synaesthesia so this was a great excuse to colour code all the letters the way I see them anyway!

What was the process of making this video?

I came home from work each day and wrote a line from the song on my chalkboard starting with the first chorus and making my way through the song. After each line, I’d take a picture and then erase one word and take another picture until all the words were gone with the idea that I’d play it all back in reverse order. Then I’d move to the next line. It took weeks. I also wrote the entire thing vertically because I don’t have a wall wide enough to hang the chalkboard horizontally as it appears in the video! It was a bit painstaking but also kind of fun. I had no idea what it would look like the entire time I was making it but I’m happy with how it turned out!

Please check out the video on YouTube and the rest of Avoid Discipline EP on Bandcamp or any streaming service! I’ll have more new music coming out this year!