Episode 116: The The

Matt Johnson  is an English singer-songwriter best known as the vocalist and only constant member of his band The The. He is also a film soundtrack composer (Cineola), publisher (Fifty First State Press),^[2] broadcaster (Radio Cineola), and conservationist/local activist.

In 1979, Johnson placed an advert in NME looking for like-minded fans of the Velvet Underground, the Residents and Throbbing Gristle to form a band with him. The The began as a duo, then a four-piece, then a singular entity with a rotating cast of musicians that has included Johnny Marr, Simon Fisher Turner and Sinéad O'Connor. "I like to think of The The as a fluid thing", Johnson said in a 1993 Melody Maker interview. "People can work with me, then stop for a bit, then work again."