Matt Tong | |
|---|---|
 Tong in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthew Chee Hung Tong |
| Born | 29 April 1979 |
| Origin | Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Member of | Algiers |
| Formerly of | Bloc Party |
Matthew Chee Hung Tong (born 29 April 1979) is a British musician from Bournemouth, England. He is best known as the drummer of Bloc Party from 2002 to 2013 and has been a member of Algiers since 2015.
Tong was born in Bournemouth, England to a British mother and a Malaysian-Chinese father. [1] [2] He is a supporter of AFC Bournemouth. [3]
Tong joined Bloc Party in 2002, the ninth drummer to perform with the band. [4] On 9 November 2006, Tong suffered a collapsed lung after opening for Panic! at the Disco in Atlanta and was admitted to the hospital, causing Bloc Party to miss the next few shows on the tour. [5] Tong said in 2009, "I wouldn't mind trying something else for a while" regarding the uncertainty of Bloc Party's future. [6]
Tong left Bloc Party during the band's summer 2013 tour, after recording four albums with the band. Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke alluded to simmering tensions that had been boiling up behind the scenes that were never verbalised, as well as disagreements over cocaine usage by someone close to the band. [7] In 2022, Okereke said "I don’t really want either of them in my life right now" of Tong and bassist Gordon Moakes, who also left Bloc Party in 2015 after 13 years. [8] In a 2024 interview, Tong called Okereke "an insurmountable obstacle", said the two have not spoken since his departure, and confirmed that he left Bloc Party via an email because Okereke wanted a member of the band's touring party removed over drug usage during a birthday celebration. [9]
Tong played the drums on No Devotion's 2015 debut album Permanence, stepping in to finish the final four songs after Luke Johnson left the band in the middle of recording. [10] Tong also drummed in a new band L'Amour Bleu under the alias "She-Tong". [11] He also formed the band Red Love with producer Alex Newport, whose debut album came out in 2017. [12]
In 2015, Tong joined the band Algiers, first as a touring member before being brought on as the band's permanent drummer. [13]
In 2022, Tong played on the song "Frankenstein" from Rina Sawayama's second album Hold the Girl . Sawayama asked producer/songwriter Paul Epworth, who had produced the Bloc Party albums Silent Alarm and Intimacy, to recruit Tong for the song. Sawayama said that Tong was an inspiration to her as a fellow Asian in the music industry. Tong's hands were covered in blood following the recording. [14]
Tong described himself as "notoriously sloppy at timekeeping". He wrote the drum parts on Silent Alarm as alternating between high and low intensity to give himself a physical break, for he became tired easily after smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. Tong said that he was not an athletic person and always struggled at sports, so drumming became too fast for his own comfort. During live performances, he becomes a "mood drummer" who changes the speed of his performance based on crowd reaction. [13]
NME 's Nick Reilly said that Silent Alarm was revered because "Okereke’s vocals are perfectly anchored by Tong’s ferocious drumming" and said that Bloc Party's 2018 shows playing the album in full would be "worthless" without the original lineup. [15]
Tong has lived in New York City since 2010. [16]
Tong married Brooke Vermillion, the touring DJ of Kindness, in 2006. [17]
Bloc Party are an English rock band that was formed in London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack. Their first four albums all featured Gordon Moakes (bass) and Matt Tong (drums), who have since left the band. Their current lineup also contains Louise Bartle and Harry Deacon. Their brand of music, whilst rooted in rock, retains elements of other genres such as electronica and house music.
Rowland Kelechukwu "Kele" Okereke, also known mononymously as Kele, is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Party. Additionally, he has released six studio albums as a solo artist.
Gordon Peter Moakes is an English musician, best known as the bassist of rock band Young Legionnaire and former member of indie rock band Bloc Party.
Silent Alarm is the debut studio album by English rock band Bloc Party. Recorded in Copenhagen and London in mid-2004 with Paul Epworth as producer, it was released on 2 February 2005, by Wichita Recordings. The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 114 and the Billboard Independent Albums at number seven. “Helicopter”, the double A-side "So Here We Are/Positive Tension", "Banquet" and "The Pioneers" were released as singles. Silent Alarm went on to achieve worldwide sales of over one million copies.
Silent Alarm Remixed is the remix album to Silent Alarm, the debut album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was released on 29 August 2005 in the British Isles on Wichita Recordings, the band's primary label, and on 13 September 2005 in the United States through Vice Records to coincide with Bloc Party's worldwide touring schedule. The record peaked at number 54 on the UK Albums Chart. In the US, it achieved a peak of number four on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums.
A Weekend in the City is the second studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath, Ireland, in mid-2006 and was produced by Jacknife Lee. The album was refined and mixed at several locations in London at the end of 2006. It was released on 24 January 2007 in Japan and in the first week of February in the rest of the world, with Wichita Recordings as the primary label. The album peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and on the Irish Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 12.
"Banquet" is a song from British band Bloc Party's debut album Silent Alarm. Originally released on a double A-side single along with "Staying Fat" in May 2004 by Moshi Moshi Records, it was re-released as a regular single in the United Kingdom by Wichita Recordings on 25 April 2005. It was their first single to chart on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks where it came in at number 34, and is often credited as their breakthrough single in North America. It was also featured in the song "Bloc Party" on the Fort Minor Mixtape: We Major. It was ranked No. 31 in NME's top 100 tracks of the decade, and was number 54 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of all time. It peaked at No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2011, NME placed it at number 20 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". The song was featured in the 2018/19 video game Life Is Strange 2.
"Flux" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party. It was released as a single on 12 November 2007 and produced by Jacknife Lee, along with several other new songs, during the band's week in the studio after their performances at the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals. The song uses mostly electronic instruments and features vocalist Kele Okereke's voice manipulated through Auto-Tune. It was first performed live on 26 September 2007 at Covington's Madison Theater.
The discography of Bloc Party, a British indie rock band, consists of six studio albums, three extended plays (EPs), and two remix albums released on primary label Wichita Recordings. Bloc Party were formed in 1999 by chief songwriter and frontman Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack. Bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong joined the band later. The first song by them that we know of is called "This Is Not A Competition" although it hasn't been officially released, it was the first song the band put on their official website. The quartet's first release was the Bloc Party EP in 2004; the first single, "She's Hearing Voices", was released and it failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The next EP, Little Thoughts was released the same year only in Japan; it included Bloc Party's first UK Top 40 entry, the double A-side "Little Thoughts/Tulips", which peaked at number 38.
Intimacy is the third studio album by English indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded in two weeks at several locations in London and Kent during 2008 and was produced by Jacknife Lee and Paul Epworth. The band members made the album available for purchase on their website as a digital download on 21 August 2008. Minimal promotion was undertaken in the UK. The record was released in compact disc form on 24 October 2008, with Wichita Recordings as the primary label. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart and entered the Billboard 200 in the United States at number 18.
Intimacy Remixed is the remix album to Intimacy, the third album by indie rock band Bloc Party. It was released on 11 May 2009 in the United Kingdom through Wichita Recordings, the band's primary label, in limited edition CD and triple LP formats to coincide with Bloc Party's worldwide touring schedule. The record entered the UK Album Chart at number 79. In the United States, it achieved a peak of number 15 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
"One More Chance" is a 2009 single by British band Bloc Party. It was released on 10 August 2009.
The Hunter is the first EP by Kele Okereke, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the British rock band Bloc Party. It was released on 7 November 2011 by Wichita Recordings in the UK, set back a week from the original release date, and 3 days earlier on 4 November 2011 by Wichita Recordings and Liberator Music in Australia. The first single released from the EP was "What Did I Do?", which features guest vocals from Lucy Taylor. The music video was released on 13 September 2011, with the song released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later.
Four is the fourth studio album by British rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded in late 2011 and early 2012 at Stratosphere Sound, New York City, with producer Alex Newport. Newport also produced Wreckonomics—the EP of bassist Gordon Moakes' side project, Young Legionnaire. It was released on 20 August 2012 on independent label Frenchkiss Records, and was made available to stream the week preceding its release. The album peaked at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart, and at number 36 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. It is the last album featuring the original line-up with Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong.
"Octopus" is a song by the British indie rock band Bloc Party, released as the lead single from the band's fourth album Four on 11 July 2012.
Trick is the second solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was released on 13 October 2014 through Lilac Records. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 99.
"Truth" is a song by the British indie rock band Bloc Party, released as the third single from the band's fourth album Four on 25 February 2013.
Hymns is the fifth studio album by English indie rock band Bloc Party. It was released worldwide in January 2016 on BMG. The album was recorded between March and August 2015 at Lynchmob Studios in London, following a hiatus during which Matt Tong and Gordon Moakes departed the band. It is the first album to feature new band member Justin Harris on bass and keyboards. The songs "The Love Within", "The Good News", and "Virtue" were released as singles.
Alpha Games is the sixth studio album by English indie rock band Bloc Party, released on 29 April 2022. It is the first studio album by the band since 2016's Hymns. It is notably the first album with drummer Louise Bartle, who joined the band after drum sessions for Hymns had been completed, and the first to feature significant songwriting input from Bartle and bassist Justin Harris with Hymns having been mostly written by lead singer Kele Okereke and guitarist Russell Lissack. This was Harris' last album with the band before departing in 2023.
The Flames Pt. 2 is the sixth studio album by English musician Kele Okereke. As its title suggests, the album serves as a companion piece to Okereke's previous album The Waves Pt. 1 (2021). It was released on 24 March 2023, through Okereke's own Kola Records.