Peekaboo

Matthew Austin Lucas (born October 26, 1995), better known by his alias Peekaboo (stylized in all caps), is an American dubstep producer.

Although he began as a multi-genre electronic music artist, he is mostly now known for his particular style of dubstep, also known as freeform bass and space bass.

Dani of Nest HQ described the song as having a "nostalgic heaviness to it, reminiscent of the Hudson Mowhawke, Sinjin Hawke era of trap records from the mid-2000s and focuses on spartan percussion, chippy synth slots, and a genuinely massive 808."

He later abandoned his studies and moved to Los Angeles in 2017.

In April 2017, Lucas self-released his debut 3-track extended play titled Revenge alongside the single titled "Wobbly", which was well received by American DJ and record producer Bassnectar, who contacted Lucas to express his love for the song.

Bassnectar later went on to play "Wobbly" in his set at Electric Forest Festival.

In an interview with River Beats, he spoke about the effect Bassnectar had on the song, with the song sharply gained plays, surpassing over 10,000 plays on SoundCloud and eventually gaining over 120,000 plays.

Lucas later went on to collaborate with Bassnectar to release the song "Disrupt The System" (featuring Azeem) as part of Bassnectar album Reflective, Pt. 2.

On April 9, 2018, Lucas collaborated with G-Rex for their remix of the song "Witch Doctor" by Atlanta-based duo ATLiens via Space Cult.

The remix was featured on the remix album Invasion Remixes.

Michael Placencia of Trillvo described the remix as a seemingly "silent banger" until "that bass and high screech hit you it hits hard!"

On April 11, 2018, Lucas self-released "U Don't Know Me", a collaboration with bass and trap music producer Wevor Trill, via the record label Jadū Dala.

On May 4, 2018, Lucas released his third extended play titled Imposters.

The 4-track extended play was released as a free download by Swedish electronic musician Liquid Stranger's record label Wakaan.

It was well received by most critics, with Ryan Castillo of Dancing Astronaut praising the extended play, calling it an "otherworldly masterpiece" and describing the composition as an "entirely new take on the experimental bass genre, layering warped bass lines and eerie sonics upon a deliciously left field landscape."

Nest HQ's Jordan Mafi commended the extended play by calling it a "mixture of jaw-dropping bass and a frightening setting", finalising his review by calling it "a wild ride straight to Mars."

Writing for Bassrush, Chris Muniz judged the extended play by its tracklist, describing it as giving "a sense of the kind of otherworldly vibrations you’re bound to conjure up in your chakras as bits like "Aliens", "Arrival", "Invasion", and the title cut "Imposters" craft a body-snatching scenario sure to have you and the squad wilding out in the forest and howling at the moon."

On June 22, 2018, Lucas released his remix of Liquid Stranger's song "Hotbox" via Wakaan, a record label owned by the latter.

On release, Lucas commented on how he got the opportunity to the song, stating "I was really honoured when [Liquid Stranger] handed over the stems," further writing "He said only do this if you can 100% smash it, so obviously a lot of pressure. I went through three versions of it and finally came out with this one."

On July 13, 2018 (also known as Friday the 13th), a little over two months since the release of the Imposters extended play, Lucas released his fourth extended play titled Maniac.

The 4-track extended play was released as a free download by Wakaan, marking the second extended play to be released on the label by Lucas.

The four songs were premiered on various electronic music-focused websites, with "Maniac" being premiered by UKF, "Motion" by ThisSongSlaps, "Step It Up" by Dancing Astronaut, and "Work of the Devil" by Insomniac.

Jordan Mafi of Nest HQ described the lead track as "channelling the sounds of a society demolished by aliens into a barren wasteland", finalising his review by summarising the extended play up as "a beautifully breakneck EP for the true bass fanatics."

Noiseporn's Jeanette praised the extended play and wrote that because Peekaboo had proved that he was "one of the most exciting artists to be coming out of the bass music scene this year" because of the extended play.

Ryan Romana of Magnetic Magazine listed the song "Maniac" as one of the "15 Best Bass Music Tracks of July 2018", Later adding the song to the "15 Best Bass Music Tracks of 2018", describing it as "underpinned by growling basslines and sprinkled with neatly cut chops and samples, his track "Maniac" is a slice of heaven for those who like their beats off-centre and wild."

On September 7, 2018, Lucas collaborated with G-Rex once again for their song "Babatunde", released as a free download by Liquid Stranger's record label Wakaan.

It was marked as the third release by Lucas to appear on the label and the first by G-Rex.

The song was featured in multiple mixes by various disk Jockeys such as Zeds Dead, Jauz, Space Jesus and Liquid Stranger and was featured on various popular dubstep-oriented YouTube channels like UKF Dubstep and The Dub Rebellion, with the song gaining 40,000 plays on SoundCloud in its first weekend of being released.

On October 29, 2018, Lucas released a 40-minute mix for Halloween titled Hide and Seek on SoundCloud.

The mix features released and unreleased music from himself, Bro Safari, G-Rex and Dmvu, as well as several other producers.

In the description of the release, Lucas wrote: "I went around and hand-selected some underground tracks from producers who deserve the spotlight, as well as picked some IDs of mine and put them into the mix."

His sixth extended play Wrecking Ball debuted at #10 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Album Sales chart in early 2019.

Lucas was born into a musical family, with his dad being a professional trumpet player for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and eventually learning to play trumpet and guitar himself.

Getting inspiration from the song "Kill Everybody" by Skrillex while a freshman in high school, he originally began producing a variety of genres from progressive house.

He studied at Western Michigan University to become an audio engineer for horror films, later incorporating horror elements into his music.

As of February 22, 2019, the song has gained around 485,000 plays on SoundCloud and over 160,000 views on the UKF Dubstep YouTube channel.

The song was heavily praised for its minimalist yet heavy structure and became a landmark in the 'freeform bass' subgenre scene.

Writing for Run the Trap, Omar Serrano noted the two collaborators distinct styles, calling it a mix of "Peekaboo's raw and distinctive style combined with G-Rex's innovative sound design."

Your EDM's Matthew Meadow called it a combination of "old school wubs with modern-day trap aesthetics and wonky production", further stating that the two collaborators had released a truly "terrifying and original tune that would work well in any set."

Brian Bonavolglia of ThisSongSlaps used the song as a prime example for why the two artists "have quickly become two producers on every 'must-watch' list when it comes to the realm of bass music", describing the song as an "eerie soundscape" composed of "tantalising chops and mind-numbing wobbles that will rattle your core"