no.260 | Breakfast in Sweetwater with Matt Bauer, Austin, TX July 2, 2026
I am excited to share a collaborative piece with the talented LA-based musician Matt Bauer! Matt and I worked on a piece together way back in August of 2020 for PSO no. 106, but we go back to the early 2000s in Brooklyn, sharing bills at Pete’s Candy Store and Cake Shop.
This piece was inspired by Matt’s recent cinematic record co-written with producer and composer Jordan Whitlock, I sent Matt a little acoustic guitar riff. He added piano and electric guitar, to which I added a bit of bass synth. My last volley to Matt was a series of field recordings, which included the radio, navigation to the ferry in Galveston, the shimmer of the tide withdrawing from the rocky shore of Maine, and a portion of a “living letter” my grandmother Jean recorded on reel-to-reel tape. Matt expertly layered those in his studio to create this filmic sound bite.
The background image is a combination of a photo I made of an album of 78 records that I found in my granddad’s trailer after his passing and a fuji instax image that Matt took overlooking Point Reyes in Northern California.
Polaroids then appear one by one and can be arranged by the viewer. These alternate between dreamy seascapes that Matt took and more domestic images my grandparents made in and around their trailer home in Magnolia, Texas.
This piece was inspired by Matt’s recent cinematic record co-written with producer and composer Jordan Whitlock, I sent Matt a little acoustic guitar riff. He added piano and electric guitar, to which I added a bit of bass synth. My last volley to Matt was a series of field recordings, which included the radio, navigation to the ferry in Galveston, the shimmer of the tide withdrawing from the rocky shore of Maine, and a portion of a “living letter” my grandmother Jean recorded on reel-to-reel tape. Matt expertly layered those in his studio to create this filmic sound bite.
The background image is a combination of a photo I made of an album of 78 records that I found in my granddad’s trailer after his passing and a fuji instax image that Matt took overlooking Point Reyes in Northern California.
Polaroids then appear one by one and can be arranged by the viewer. These alternate between dreamy seascapes that Matt took and more domestic images my grandparents made in and around their trailer home in Magnolia, Texas.
ABOUT MATT BAUER
Matt Bauer is a Los Angeles-based composer, songwriter, and producer. His primary project, Memory Spells, combines dream pop, chamber-folk, and orchestral composition into immersive recordings shaped by themes of memory, longing, and place. His latest album, This Is What It Feels Like, was written and produced entirely remotely in collaboration with producer and composer Jordan Whitlock in a years-long creative partnership developed between Los Angeles and San Diego.︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
LETS'S MAKE SOMETHING TOGETHER
I love to collaborate, remotely or in person, but if you have a piece you would like to feature on PSO (without contributions by me), by all means, please reach out!Email us at info(at)porchswingorchestra.org
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
ABOUT PSO — THE WEB PROJECT
Porch Swing Orchestra is an art project begun on the web by Barry Stone that explores the interplay between still images, sound, and place.Photographs and musical improvisations build a framework for deep listening and visual contemplation. Barry Stone plays acoustic guitar with a Fahey-inspired picking style mixed in with electronic effects, like My Bloody Valentine for a campfire. The sounds of the outside—bird calls, stray conversations, passing cars—become part of the music.
Stone scrambles the code and layers images taken on-site to channel chance operations into new imaginaries.
Most PSO pieces are made on Stone's front porch in Austin, Texas, but PSO has traveled to Spiral Jetty in Utah, the border town of Del Rio, Texas, Maine, and the San Juan Islands.
Each piece consists of a paired image and audio recording taken on site, uploaded to a standalone fullscreen homepage. Each piece is displaced by new pairs of audio and image. Past pieces can be accessed and streamed randomly via the PSO RADIO page.
Since 2018, PSO has collaborated with dozens of musicians, artists, poets, writers, and activists to publish over 240 unique combinations of images and sounds.
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
PSO PERFORMANCE
PSO performs live in unconventional venues such as Shield Ranch and the James Turrell Skyspace, The Color Inside, as a part of The University of Texas Landmarks Songs in the Skyspace Program. PSO was commissioned to create a unique set of visuals and audio compositions for the Texas Historical Commission for the Sounds of Liberty Hill Event Series at the French Legation in Austin, Texas.Original projected imagery accompanies an immersive audio experience which can comprise field recordings, acoustic guitars, e-bow, synths, piano, and singing. PSO plays solo and often with others such as Bill McCullough, Leslie Moody Castro, and longtime collaborator Paul Stautinger.
PSO also curated a series of live events, VAST IS THE SEA, at Co-Lab Projects in Austin, in which 8 artists presented works combining images and sound over four weekends.
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
PSO EXHIBITS
PSO has been the subject of many gallery presentations. PSO has exhibited in solo shows at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery in New York, ICOSA in Austin as a Soundscape artist, and the Galveston Arts Center.︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
PSO RELEASES
PSO has released two full length lathe cut vinyl records, a full length CD, a split virtual seven inch EP with The Reformers, and two Cassette EPs.Releases can be purchased on BANDCAMP or at BARRYSTONE.COM
Never miss a piece or performance by signing up for our FREE NEWSLETTER.
To experience selected past pieces, listen to the PSO RADIO, or stream us on TIDAL in the links below.
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
ALL NEW PSO RADIO
Listen and view a stream of randomly selected past PSO pieces rendered in fullscreen glory!
Exclusively here at PSO HQ.
Click on the PSO RADIO Icon to Start the Stream
Exclusively here at PSO HQ.
Click on the PSO RADIO Icon to Start the Stream
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
Orchestra Players:
Gregory Brooks, Bob Warner, Emily Scarlet Kramer, Rainey Knudson, Ryan Lauderdale, Tamara Gonzales, Katy Chrisler, Gibson + Recoder, Paul Stautinger, Sarah Hennies, Eric Zimmerman, Matt Bauer, Sandy Carson, Ryan Rhodes, Rebecca Marino, Shannon Spurgeon, Aaron Winslow, Ivy Stone, Mark Menjivar, Gavin Watts, Ryan Sprott, Brad Tucker, Caleb Churchill, John Hunt, Audra Wolowiec, Lauren Grant, Bill McCullough, Henry Smith, Anthony Francis, Xavier Gilmore, Ana Treviño, Ariana Gomez, Jessica Mallios, Thomas Hooper, SKLOSS, The Reformers, Zuriel Waters, Joe Williams, Jason Reed, Adam Henry, Saumon Oboudiyat, Hannah Spector, Leslie Moody Castro, Lauren Klotzman, Joey Fauerso, Jessica Mallios, Pete Stiles, Matt Bauer
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿