Barely Alive is an American electronic music production and DJ duo composed of Matthew Meier and William "Watt" Watkins founded in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S. The duo is well known for their songs on British-American and Los Angeles based electronic music record label: Disciple Records.
Similar to some EDM groups such as Bassjackers and Dash Berlin, William's primary role is the headliner (as Watt) for the duo's tours whereas Matthew's primary role is the music production and "behind-the-scenes".
Meier and Watkins both attended Monument Mountain Regional High School and participated in its music program. The duo, each, grew up with parents with a rock music background.
The duo began producing in 2013, releasing digital singles on Dirty Duck Audio and Adapted Records, and remixing other artists such as Getter, Virtual Riot, Astronaut and others. In 2014, Barely Alive signed to Disciple Recordings, releasing the four-song EP, Lost In The Internet, early in the year. The release was an immediate success on dance music retail site, Beatport (where the duo were eventually named the second best-selling dubstep artist of 2014), and they began touring the U.S and Europe along with artists such as Datsik and Trolley Snatcha.
Numerous singles and EPs followed, including collaborations with Zomboy & Splitbreed, and the duo's full-length debut album, We Are Barely Alive, surfaced on Disciple Recordings in October 2015. Since then, the duo released their OWSLA debut single, "Back To Back", a remix to SKisMâÂÂs "Experts", and their remix album, We Are Barely Alive: The Remixes.
Their OWSLA debut EP, Domain EP, was released in early February 2017. In late July, Disciple Recordings released a teaser for the duo's second album, Odyssey, which was released on August 13, 2018.
The duo released their seventh EP on Disciple Recordings, Lost In Time on February 13, 2019. After collaborating with 12th Planet & PhaseOne for the single Bubzstep on May 13, 2019, Barely Alive released their eighth EP on Disciple Recordings entitled Multiplayer on 03 Jul 2019.
The name 'Barely Alive' came from a "random movie quote", and the logo was inspired by a test card.