Matthew Wolfgang Garstka (born April 27, 1989) is an American drummer, best known for his work with
instrumental progressive metal band
Animals as Leaders.
Biography
Garstka, son of professional guitar player Greg Garstka, was born in
Hopewell, Virginia, and raised in
Westfield, Massachusetts. He started playing drums at the age of 8. At the age of 12 he started gigging with his father, playing
rock,
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and
reggae music. At 14 Garstka met Jo Sallins, who introduced him to
fusion,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
,
Latin and
jazz drumming. At the age of 14 Matt appeared in Sallins DVD ''Mr. Cool''.
In 2006 he released an EP with punk band Backstab and in 2007 released his first solo album ''Heavy Volume'', featuring
Joel Stroetzel
Joel Michael Stroetzel (born July 24, 1980) is best known as the rhythm guitarist from the Massachusetts metalcore band Killswitch Engage.
Background
Stroetzel attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston but did not graduate. Stroetzel's ...
from
Killswitch Engage, Chis Regan from FNB and Jo Sallins.
After finishing high school, Garstka attended
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
.
In the same year he was featured in GospelChops.com DVD ''Shed Sessionz Vol. 3''. Soon after moving to Los Angeles Garstka met
Tosin Abasi
Oluwatosin Ayoyinka Olumide Abasi (born January 7, 1983), is an American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He has recorded and released five albums with Animal ...
and joined his band
Animals as Leaders following the departure of
Navene Koperweis.
In 2012 Garstka programmed drums for Mestis debut EP ''Basal Ganglia''. In March 2015 Garstka was featured as ''
Modern Drummer'' magazine cover artist.
During his career Garstka has performed with artists such as Rohn Lawrence, David Stolz, Tony Smith, Doug Johns,
Toni Blackman, Derek Jordon and Evan Marien.
In 2021, he was voted the "Best Progressive Drummer" by ''
MusicRadar
MusicRadar is a music website that offers information pertaining to artists and their music. The site features music gear news and reviews, artist interviews and online music and production tutorials. It is owned by British media company Future ...
''.
Discography
Animals as Leaders
*''
The Joy of Motion'' (2014)
*''Animals as Leaders Encore Edition'' (2015)
*''
The Madness of Many'' (2016)
*''
Parrhesia'' (2022)
Victoria
*''Modern Value'' (2018)
*''Kepler'' (2019)
*''Iris'' (2019)
*''Perennial'' (2020)
Louis De Mieulle
*''Defense Mechanisms'' (2014)
Casimir Liberski
*''Cosmic Liberty'' (2019)
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garstka, Matt
1989 births
Living people
American drummers
Berklee College of Music alumni
21st-century American drummers
Animals as Leaders members
People from Hopewell, Virginia
People from Westfield, Massachusetts