Matthew Milia

Early life

Milia was raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan, where he attended Catholic school for 13 years. While in high school at Brother Rice he met David Jones, with whom he formed Frontier Ruckus. He then studied Creative Writing at Michigan State University, where he was mentored by poet Diane Wakoski. At Michigan State, Milia met bandmates Zachary Nichols, Anna Burch, and Ryan Etzcorn. In 2007 he and Burch studied at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin.

Frontier Ruckus

As an undergraduate at Michigan State, Milia began writing the songs that would become The Orion Songbook, Frontier Ruckus' 2008 debut. Allmusic hailed the album as being "about as good a debut as a band can hope for" and Milia's lyrics as "hypnotic." In 2009 Milia was contacted by The Avett Brothers' manager Dolphus Ramseur, with whom Frontier Ruckus subsequently signed for both management and label representation. Frontier Ruckus began heavily touring the United States at this time.

Deadmalls and Nightfalls, Frontier Ruckus' 2nd LP, was released in 2010 to critical acclaim. PopMatters wrote that it "not only outdoes its predecessor, it reaches a level of top-notch songwriting most groups never attain on a greatest hits compilation." The band performed at Bonnaroo that year, with Rolling Stone listing the band as one of the festival's "Essential Sets" due in part to Milia's "haunting voice." At this point Frontier Ruckus began touring Europe regularly as well.

In 2013 Frontier Ruckus' 3rd LP, a sprawling double-album of 20 songs titled Eternity of Dimming, was released. The apex of Milia's obsessive nostalgia and verbose lyricism, the record received significant critical attention. CMJ wrote that the album "veritably overflows with images of middle-class American youth in the 1990s." Frontier Ruckus performed at Lollapalooza that summer and at the UK's End of the Road Festival that fall in support of the release. The band released a follow-up soon thereafter with 2014's Sitcom Afterlife, which detailed a breakup in Milia's life with "lyrics as dense as a Faulkner novel," according to Paste Magazine.

In the summer of 2015, Milia and Frontier Ruckus recorded their 5th LP Enter the Kingdom in Nashville with Ken Coomer, founding member of Wilco and final drummer for Uncle Tupelo. Coomer co-produced and played drums on the album. In December 2016 Milia spoke with Rolling Stone, who announced the album was due out in February 2017 and premiered a music video for the single "27 Dollars."

Fellow songwriters such as Ryan Adams have been vocal fans of Milia's work, with Adams tweeting: "...this is what I want to get back to. Those tunes go forever..."

Milia sang a duet with Samantha Crain on her song "Santa Fe", also appearing in the music video shot in Santa Fe.

As a pedal steel guitarist, Milia has performed or recorded with Cotton Jones, Chris Bathgate, and others.

Milia lives in Detroit where he regularly produces poetry and visual art, typically released directly to fans over the internet.

In 2015, Milia's Detroit home which he shares with bandmate Anna Burch was featured on the interior design website Apartment Therapy.