Boy Harsher is an American
electronic music group formed in 2013 in
Savannah, Georgia. Currently based in
Northampton, Massachusetts, the band consists of vocalist Jae Matthews and producer Augustus Muller. The band has amassed a
cult following since their formation,[1] and their song "Pain" has become an
undergroundhit.[2][3] Matthews and Muller own and run the label Nude Club, which is exclusively devoted to Boy Harsher and related artists.[1]
History
Knowing each other from
film school in Savannah,[4] Muller and Matthews started the project Teen Dreamz in 2013, which acted as a precursor to Boy Harsher. The project consisted of Matthews performing her
spoken word pieces and Muller providing a musical backing. Throughout the year, Teen Dreamz's sound became more danceable, as Matthews's vocals developed into a more expressive singing style. The band renamed their project as Boy Harsher in 2014.[1]
Boy Harsher released its
home-recorded debut EP Lesser Man in the same year. Following their relocation to Massachusetts, the band recorded and released its debut album, Yr Body Is Nothing in 2016 on DKA Records. After the release of 2017's Country Girl EP, the band formed their Nude Club imprint in 2018, re-issuing their catalog. One of the first releases on Nude Club, "Pain II", is a reissue of their 2014 single with a remix by
The Soft Moon.[1] Their sophomore studio album, 2019's Careful,[1] was backed by an extended reissue of Country Girl EP as Country Girl Uncut.[5] In that year, a
remix album of Careful, titled Careful Remixes, etc., was also released; it featured remixes from
techno producers such as
Marcel Dettmann and
Silent Servant.[2]
On April 10, 2020, Muller released his debut
soundtrack album, Machine Learning Experiments (Original Soundtrack), which featured original
scores composed for two short adult films, Orgone Theory and Hydra. The album was issued on Nude Club.[6] In 2021, the band remixed the
Perfume Genius song "Your Body Changes Everything." The remix was featured on the album Immediately Remixes.[7] In January 2022, the band's directorial debut film, The Runner, was released with an accompanying soundtrack. The short film starred
Kristina Esfandiari.[8]
Boy Harsher is often labeled as a
dark wave group,[2][13] with influences ranging from early forms of
industrial to
electronic body music.[14] Paul Simpson of
AllMusic referred to the band's music as "dark, danceable
electro pop" that references
synth pop and EBM. He has characterized Boy Harsher's music by its minimal beats and
synth textures, as well as by Matthews's dynamic vocals that depict "desire, fantasy, and loneliness."[1] On his review for Careful, Kevin Lozano of
Pitchfork listed the band as one of the acts that spearhead the
minimal synth scene along with
Essaie pas, noting the "brisk
drum machineloops,
oscillating synths, and Matthews’ haunting incantations" that permeate the album's sound.[15] Lozano has previously described the band as "making
coldwave that could turn any space in that quiet town into a seedy nightclub."[16] Michael Lawson of The Skinny thought that the band "straddled the middle ground between melancholic cold wave and regimented synth workouts."[3]
Boy Harsher draws heavily from
cinema, theatrics and graphic design to tailor the band's visual imagery;[2][14][17] Matthews and Muller both have a background in
filmmaking.[1] They have likened the band to the movies Body Heat and Lost Highway,[18] the latter of which was directed by
David Lynch, a professed influence on the band.[17] Matthews has expressed appreciation for various female vocalists, including
Nico, Circuit des Yeux, Alison Lewis of
Linea Aspera,
Chelsea Wolfe and
Zola Jesus, whereas Muller named
Sleep Chamber,
Suicide,
DAF and
Yello as early musical influences on Boy Harsher.[4] Gearwise, Muller mostly employs synthesizers and
samplers, stating that he "tries and borrows as much [instruments] as he can for recording."[4] On the band's
minimal instrumentation, he said: "I'm obsessed with how successful the minimalism is with
80s music. It’s really a masterclass of what can be done with a drum machine and a couple of synths."[17] A "half-functioning"
Roland Juno-106 was used extensively on the Lesser Man EP; their live set features synth lines sampled into an
Akai MPC, as well as
backing tracks.[4]
The 2022 indie horror film Terrifier 2 directed by
Damien Leone features the track "Pain" from the 2014 EP Lesser Man. It appears at 1h24'42", during the party scene. [28]