Matthew McDonough (born March 12, 1969) is an American drummer best known as a member of the heavy metal band Mudvayne. He is the band's original drummer and has appeared and performed on every release by Mudvayne. He was also the original drummer of Audiotopsy since 2015 until his departure in 2021. He holds a respected place in the world of drumming for his signature drumming style.[1][2]
Within Mudvayne, McDonough was said to be the most influential person in setting the direction for the concept themes on the band's first two albums. He is also known for composing, recording, mixing, and mastering the electronic interludes on both L.D. 50 (2000) and The End of All Things to Come (2002).[3] Mudvayne, who were enjoying immense popularity, released three more albums—Lost and Found (2005), The New Game (2008) and Mudvayne (2009)—before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2010. They announced their reunion in April 2021.[4]
In 2015, McDonough formed the band Audiotopsy with former Skrape lead vocalist Billy Keeton, former Mudvayne lead guitarist Greg Tribbett, and bassist Perry Stern. They released their debut studio album Natural Causes on October 2, 2015. In 2021, he and guitarist Greg Tribbett left Audiotopsy due to the reformation of Mudvayne.
For his solo work, in 2008 McDonough released his first album under the alias "MjDawn" with his cousin David W. McDonough,[5] called Frequency Response.[6] On the album, he experiments with acoustic drumming and electronica. McDonough, as MjDawn, also has several side projects both with ambient/electronica artist Vir Unis under the band name MiKroNaught and with guitarist RFSans under the band name ultrAtheist.[citation needed]
On the production side of the music industry, he is co-owner of the label AtmoWorks together with Vir Unis.
