Our story begins in 2005. Matt Wixson, who had been recording ska, punk, and other such crap in his bedroom for a couple of years, walked on a stage for the first time. The show was abominable, but the experience was valuable. A few months later he played his second show and it was better, but still pretty bad. His third show, however, was in support of Bomb The Music Industry! (their first time in Michigan) and actually went pretty good. From then on, our hero was hooked on this shit.

In the summer of 2006 he embarked on his first tour. Future famous people We Are The Union joined him, also their first time on the road, and things went… pretty good. By the end of the year, the Connecticut-based skacore band The Flaming Tsunamis had asked Matt to join their ranks. It didn’t take much convincing.

Throughout the entirety of 2007, Matt played keyboards for the band, touring regionally, nationally, and internationally in support of the band’s recently released Fear Everything album. Between tours, Matt wrote and released God Hates Babylon Party Machine, under his electronic ska side project Babylon Party Machine. It was the queer songwriter’s “coming out” album. It was also nominated for a Detroit Music Award, which it appropriately lost. His last two tours as a Tsunami were Mustard Plug’s CD release tour for their album In Black and White, and a three-week tour of the UK supporting Sonic Boom Six. Ultimately, money became a problem and he had to depart from the band. They are still the best of friends.

Also between tours, Matt and fellow Tsunami John layed down keyboards and saxaphones, respectively, and gang vocals for the Fad’s album Kill Punk Rock Stars. As of the time of this writing, it is the best ska-punk record of the new millenium. Believe it. He also put down some accordion on the song “These Colors Flee the Scene” on We Are The Union’s album Who We Are. It is appropriately low in the mix, and you’d never notice it if you didn’t know it was there. You still might not.

Throughout 2008 and 2009 Matt did several small tours, but spent most of his time working and making some cash. He also wrote 50 songs in that time, releasing them on Open Hand Records and Community Records, homes to the top ska-punk-and-related bands in the country. His music turned decidedly more acoustic, more political, and more emotional. Since all of his fans only liked his silly songs, he lost all of his fans. Babylon Party Machine also put together a remix of a Big D and the Kids Table song, which ended up being selected by the band to be included on their album Rude Remix Revolution.

It was in 2009 that Babylon Party Machine began releasing collections of ska and reggae mashups, further splintering Matt’s identity as an artist. People seemed to like ‘em, and victims of the mashups such as Deal’s Gone Bad and the Ratazanas were rather excited to be used for rap songs. The Forthrights were so enthusiastic that they insisted Matt perform one live with them, so a few lucky audiences have experienced their “Other People” with Matt singing Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” on top of it.

In 2010 Matt Wixson’s Flying Circus was formed. The three-piece band focused more on the folky and punky songs from Matt’s repertoire, which again lost him all of his fans. They did a short tour in the summer, playing many dates as part of the Community Records tour, with Stuck Lucky, A Billion Ernies, and Fatter Than Albert. On a particularly exhausting and productive day off they tracked an entire full-length album at Version City Studios, with the legendary King Django at the controls. Django even tricked some notable musicians to contribute their talents to their recording. It should be released soon.

Just a few bands Matt Wixson has shared the stage with:
Mustard Plug, Deal’s Gone Bad, Pilfers, Sonic Boom Six, Chris Murray, Vic Ruggiero, Westbound Train, Dr. Ring Ding, King Django, Hub City Stompers, Bomb Town, Big D and the Kids Table, the Fad, the Toasters, Stuck Lucky, A Billion Ernies, the Flaming Tsunamis, the Scofflaws, Royal City Riot, Green Room Rockers, the Pinstripes, Voodoo Glow Skuls, Gangster Fun, the Parka Kings, Bomb the Music Industry!, Fatter Than Albert, We Are The Union, and maybe like one or two more.

Matt Wixson’s Flying Circus is:
Matt Wixson – guitars, vocals, keys
Mike Land – drums, vocals, percussion
Josh Young[,bandmember] – bass guitar, vocals Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.