If there’s one thing Austin Gordon cares about in his music, it’s the narrative. The singer-songwriter and Dallas-native’s blend of fiercely-sung indie rock and contemplative folk ride the line between storytelling and confession, seeking to avoid the common pitfalls of inauthenticity for the sake of an accessible tune.

Beginning as a singer in the Dallas metal and post-hardcore scenes, he shouted and emphatically performed throughout the 2010’s in bands such as Feintlove and Machines of Our Own, trading angst for experience on their debut releases, Feintlove’s 2014 EP Foxhole and Machines of Our Own’s 2012 EP Blueprint. These featured writing about everything from mankind’s affinity for self-sabotage to the loss of one’s identity in the age of social media.

Shortly after, he began to develop his softer and more introspective songwriting ability – such as with the 2012 Alleviate EP under the moniker Bedside Manor, and by joining up with musicians Gino Dal Cin and Matt Boldt under the name Joycamp to create moody and ethereal electronic-pop for 2015’s Vol. 1. While certainly not polished, and more raw and unrefined in their deliveries, all of these releases began to cement Austin’s ability to write something honest that could connect with an audience.

While Feintlove ultimately became inactive around 2018, in the time leading up to it he began to again start crafting a newer set of songs that would end up leading to his debut eponymous release, 2018’s Growing Pains. Delicate, more refined in presentation, but still strikingly naked in delivery; these offerings showed that Austin was capable of further exploration on more complicated and painful topics despite the consequences. Songs such as Forgotten Joy and Little Victories are unflinching in their descriptions of love and loss while existing in limbo, while closing track Twenty-Something is about resigning oneself to the state of impermanence when it comes to having something meaningful to contribute to the world, despite its constant changes.

Around the time of Growing Pains release, he began working with newer artists and singer-songwriters such as Brigitte Mena for her 2018 release Maslow and 2020’s Element, contributing his voice and bass guitar duties to them, as well as Machines of Our Own for a one-time reunion EP, 2021’s punishing and critical White Noise.

Now, in an increasingly strange and challenging post-pandemic world, Austin had to consider what came next for him in terms of the music scene he had come to love and how he could help it grow. A longtime audio engineer also, he decided to launch Commonwealth Mastering in March 2022 as a way to fill a void he found in the Dallas/Fort Worth music community and beyond, for audio mastering that is at its core inclusive, collaborative, and personal.

Presently, he has been diligently working on what will be the follow-up to Growing Pains, an as-of-yet untitled full-length record slated for a 2024 release that only has one objective, to present honest stories with self-awareness. He’s not the only singer-songwriter in the world with something to say, but if he’s going to say something, he needs it to be true to himself and to the people whose experiences helped shape it.

Photo Credit: Wyld Cosmia