Biography
Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller craft shadowy, groove-oriented electro-pop as Boy Harsher, where stripped-down rhythms and layered synthesizer tones support Matthews’ expressive, seductive voice along with themes of longing, imagination, and isolation. Since forming in 2014, the pair has steadily cultivated a loyal underground audience that routinely packs their live shows and exhausts limited vinyl editions. Originally featured on their first EP, the track “Pain” gained traction as a cult favorite, prompting further output such as the hook-driven, rhythm-focused Careful in 2019. The duo also conceived, produced, and composed the score for the 2022 short film The Runner.
Both members share prior experience in filmmaking. While living in Savannah, Georgia, they launched the 2013 endeavor Teen Dreamz, during which Matthews recited her own short fiction as Muller supplied real-time accompaniment. Throughout that year the music shifted toward greater dancefloor energy and Matthews’ singing grew bolder and more theatrical. In early 2014 they adopted the Boy Harsher moniker and soon issued the self-recorded debut EP Lesser Man.
Following a relocation to Northampton, Massachusetts, the group tracked its first album, Yr Body Is Nothing, which DKA Records released in 2016; the Country Girl EP appeared on Ascetic House the next year. In 2018 they established the Nude Club label, repressing their sought-after earlier material and issuing the single Pain II, which included a Soft Moon remix. They promptly returned to the studio for the 2019 follow-up Careful, an album shaped by personal grief and psychological struggles that again drew from synth-pop and EBM traditions. Unable to tour or stage virtual performances during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Boy Harsher began developing a short film that blends meta-documentary elements with fictional horror; both the movie The Runner and its accompanying soundtrack emerged in early 2022.
Both members share prior experience in filmmaking. While living in Savannah, Georgia, they launched the 2013 endeavor Teen Dreamz, during which Matthews recited her own short fiction as Muller supplied real-time accompaniment. Throughout that year the music shifted toward greater dancefloor energy and Matthews’ singing grew bolder and more theatrical. In early 2014 they adopted the Boy Harsher moniker and soon issued the self-recorded debut EP Lesser Man.
Following a relocation to Northampton, Massachusetts, the group tracked its first album, Yr Body Is Nothing, which DKA Records released in 2016; the Country Girl EP appeared on Ascetic House the next year. In 2018 they established the Nude Club label, repressing their sought-after earlier material and issuing the single Pain II, which included a Soft Moon remix. They promptly returned to the studio for the 2019 follow-up Careful, an album shaped by personal grief and psychological struggles that again drew from synth-pop and EBM traditions. Unable to tour or stage virtual performances during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Boy Harsher began developing a short film that blends meta-documentary elements with fictional horror; both the movie The Runner and its accompanying soundtrack emerged in early 2022.
Albums
The Runner
2022
Country Girl Uncut
2019
Careful Remixes, etc.
2019
Careful
2019
Yr Body Is Nothing
2016
Lesser Man
2014
Singles
