Missio

About Missio

Missio is the Austin-based electronic duo of Matthew Brue and David Butler, though calling them a duo undersells how much they sound like a complete band. They make dark, grimy alt-pop that sits somewhere between Twenty One Pilots' anxious energy and the kind of synth-heavy production you'd find on a Billie Eilish track, but with more bite.

Brue and Butler met in Texas and started making music together around 2016, quickly landing on a sound that mixed hip-hop production techniques with alternative rock attitude. Their first single "Middle Fingers" became a minor hit, reaching number five on the Billboard Alternative chart. It's exactly what it sounds like—a middle finger to expectations, industry nonsense, and pretty much everything else. The song has this infectious, bouncing bass line that somehow makes nihilism catchy.

Their debut album "Loner" dropped in 2017 and established their whole thing: beats that knock, lyrics that don't pretend everything is fine, and production that feels both polished and deliberately grimy. Songs like "Bottom of the Night" and "Everybody Gets High" became fan favorites, the latter getting used in Netflix's "13 Reasons Why," which introduced them to a wider audience whether they wanted that association or not.

What's always been interesting about Missio is how they balance accessibility with genuinely dark subject matter. Brue writes about depression, addiction, and existential dread, but packages it in songs you could hypothetically hear on alternative radio. "I Don't Even Care About You" sounds like a breakup song until you realize it's more about self-destruction than any relationship.

They followed up with "The Darker the Weather // The Better the Man" in 2018, which leaned further into electronic production while keeping the lyrical heaviness. Then came a string of EPs and singles that showed they could keep finding new ways to make sad sound like a party, or maybe make parties sound appropriately sad.

Their third full-length, "Can You Feel the Sun," arrived in 2020—perfect timing for an album about isolation and struggling with mental health during a global pandemic. The title track has this slow-building intensity that captures what it feels like when you've been inside your own head too long.

More recently, they've continued releasing music steadily without chasing trends or trying to rebrand themselves as something else. "Hallelujah" and "Loner Boogie" show they're still mining the same territory they started with, just with sharper production and more confidence in their formula.

They're one of those acts that built a dedicated fanbase without ever having a massive mainstream breakthrough. People who connect with their music really connect with it, probably because Brue and Butler don't pretend to have answers to the problems they're singing about. They just make them sound better with a good beat underneath.

Missio shows are tight and focused. Brock commands the stage with a deliberate intensity, not much banter. The crowd tends toward engaged listeners rather than casual onlookers. His synths hit hard live, and the energy builds methodically through the set rather than exploding all at once.

Known for Loverboy, Blackout, Drums Inside, Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea, The Longer I Lie

See Missio Live