The Specimen | en

In a world full of imitators and camera-ready posers, The Specimen follows his own musical path, blending styles while jumping fences to avoid trends, labels and the overblown industry hype machine. He creates a stirring, quixotic soundtrack fusing 60's psychedelia, 70's soft rock, 80's new wave and 90's brit-rock into one intoxicating brew.

The Specimen is the brainchild of songwriter/singer/and multi-instrumentalist Matt Gorny, who spent his childhood in Poland, under the protection of the communist bloc. When he was eleven, Gorny’s family moved to New York City's multicultural oasis – Brooklyn, which provided the creative environment and inspiration he needed to make music.

He eventually found his way into the clutches of Grammy Award winning production team GoodandEvil (aka Danny Blume and Chris Castagno) that has worked with an array of diverse artists such as Felix Da Housecat, B-52’s, Kelis, Naty Botero, Beyonce and Ludacris.

Gorny constructs infectious narratives against a throbbing backdrop of incendiary indie-rock dance grooves. It’s a synthesis of edgy electronic rock that kicks you in the ass and compels you to dance while tugging at the heartstrings. The set echoes artists like Love and Rockets, LCD Soundsystem, Beck, Stone Roses, Killers and The Clash mixed with Gorny’s own sly bravado, swagger and pop panache. With themes about life and personal experiences (from broken relationships, nihilistic fetishes and biting social commentaries), The Specimen exorcises his demons through infectious songs that celebrate life's grand illusions, imperfections and ironies. In the bouncy "Do U Damage," a cocky Gorny sneers "I'm gonna prove it to your mother that I'm not like all the others you've had…I wanna get close to you" against a funky and driving cock-rock dance groove; "Trigger a Bomb" – a raw and propulsive "Stone Roses meets Oasis, Fischerspooner and The Faint" scorcher, The Specimen spits pure, inviting venom: "If I had triggered a bomb, would you come and save everyone."

The Specimen has collaborated as guest vocalist on various projects scheduled for release in 2008 including Risqué, Solitaire and Craig C. and has been writing songs with Zoned Out for a Jill Jones release. The Specimen has won multiple songwriting awards including The John Lennon Songwriting Contest and Billboard Song Contest and the group will perform at the 15th Annual Billboard Song Contest Awards Show.

The video for Do U Damage has been selected for the 2008 SXSW Film Festival and has already won the top prize in the New Music Video Awards. His songs are featured in two films at the Tribeca Film Festival, and in a reality TV show on the Bravo Channel. A remix done with GoodandEvil won first place in a competition and was released in the spring of 2007 on SLSK Records on the album by the Spanish artist Saskia.

As a live unit, The Specimen has evolved into a potent musical force reinventing the psychedelic mutant pop into an energetic and cathartic musical experience. With the help of a few friends; Jesse McGrath on guitar, Giovanni Palacios on bass, Coleman on drums and with Gorny doing the singing and general body shakes the group confidently transforms the inventive studio sound into a captivating and seismic live performance of superstar dimensions.

Call it: Dance, Rock, Pop, Punk... all and none of the above. Always with an ear for catchy hooks and a mind for clever lyrics, The Specimen makes music you can dance, fuck and crash cars to.

In December 2008 The Specimens 'Wish It Would Snow' was released on the festive compilation 'An Indiecater Christmas' which was put out by Indiecater Records.
.