Mat Devine

Mat Devine (born Matthew Devine on April 16) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor and author. He is most well known for creating and fronting the alternative rock band Kill Hannah. Most recently he has joined the cast of the Broadway production Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. Kill Hannah At 19 yrs old, while working on a project called In a Jar UK, in Normal, Illinois, Devine went through what is now an infamous break-up with a 17 year old girl named Hannah. Fueled by his first severe heartache, he wrote the vengeful song "Kill Hannah" which defined a new direction in his writing and inspired the creation, and name, of a new band-–with Devine assuming duties of singer and principle songwriter. The band, formed at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, evolved over several years, self-releasing two LPs, four EPs, and earning a substantial local following- regularly selling out Chicago’s legendary live venue The Metro - before finally signing with Atlantic Records in 2003. For the next four years, the band toured relentlessly across the US in support of two well-received albums and singles, sharing the stage with such bands as 30 Seconds to Mars, HiM, AFI, Angels and Airwaves, Chevelle, The Used, Flyleaf, My Chemical Romance, Velvet Revolver, Alice in Chains, The Sounds, and Shiny Toy Guns. Their combined albums on Atlantic sold over 200,000 copies. In 2007, the band signed to Roadrunner Records in the UK, which initiated several tours to UK, Europe and Scandinavia in support of the worldwide release of their album Until There’s Nothing Left of Us. In 2009, Kill Hannah signed with New York-based Original Signal Recordings / Universal Motown for the release of Wake Up the Sleepers. The album features guest vocals by Amanda Palmer, Chibi (The Birthday Massacre), Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden, and the Chicago Children’s Choir. In support of the album, the band toured separately with She Wants Revenge, Smashing Pumpkins, My Passion, and Lacuna Coil. The band is most-known for their modern-rock hits ‘Kennedy’ and ‘Lips Like Morphine’ – and for the unusually strong devotion of their fans, thousands of whom boast tattoos of the iconic Kill Hannah ‘sniper heart’ logo. Setting Fires In the summer of 2009, Devine met up with veteran songwriter Alain Whyte (most-known for being Morrissey’s lead guitarist and principle songwriter) and the two began to experiment with collaborations. Devine and Whyte found that they worked so well together that they decided to put together Setting Fires. They called in fellow musician Dean Butterworth (of Good Charlotte) for drums, Davey Julson-Rieley to produce, and Joe McGrath (AFI, Green Day) to mix the songs and add finishing touches. EP1 was released for digital download on September 14, 2010, and the first single “The Search” was featured in the season premier of One Tree Hill. Broadway On August 16, 2010, Devine was officially announced as having accepting the principle role of teenage comic book addict Grim Hunter in the original cast of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. He was asked to audition when a producer for the show saw a Kill Hannah CD on the desk of Devine's lawyer. The production is directed by Julie Taymor, based on the book that she co-wrote with Glen Berger. Music and lyrics are written by Bono and The Edge of U2. Devine was quoted in Kerrang! Magazine as saying, "...the music is great and I can't begin to overstate how impressive the set is. It's epic and revolutionary!" Devine has signed on for a minimum one year commitment. The Raccoon Society In 2004, Devine was commissioned by Fuse TV to write periodic blog entries for their website. Since its creation, it has become one of Fuse's leading blogs, often featured on the site's homepage. Devine uses the blog to relate personal stories, experiences of the band on tour, and to dialogue with fans in Q&A entries. His friend/guest bloggers have included: Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance), Bam Margera, Benji Madden (Good Charlotte), Tomo (30 Seconds to Mars), Jeremy Dawson (Shiny Toy Guns), We the Kings, Amanda Palmer, The Maine, and William Beckett (The Academy Is...). Personal Life Mat Devine was born on April 16, 1974 in Norwalk, Connecticut. He spent his early years in Norwalk and nearby Westport, Connecticut. Eventually his family moved to Nyack, NY, where he attended Clarkstown High School South. In his junior year, his family moved again to Lake Forest, Illinois, where he graduated from Lake Forest High School. He enrolled in Illinois State University as an English major, and after 2 years, he transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he graduated with a BFA in Film. He lived in Chicago until August 2010 when he moved to New York City, where he now lives. He has two sisters. Devine’s first studio experience was in the home of director John Hughes, where Hughes’s son, John Hughes III, recorded four of Devine’s songs. Hughes and Devine went on to record several songs together at Chicago Trax and Gravity Studios with engineer Critter. The Official Facebook page for Mat Devine