# Episode 726: Matthew S, founder of Illegal Art

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871/episode-726-matthew-s-founder-of-illegal-art
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871/episode-726-matthew-s-founder-of-illegal-art.md
Podcast: [Beginnings](https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871)
Published: 2026-07-17T07:06:00+00:00
Episode link: https://beginnings.libsyn.com/episode-726-matthew-s-founder-of-illegal-art
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/beginnings/Beginnings_-_Matthew_S.mp3?dest-id=73019
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/beginnings-712871/episodes/episode-726-matthew-s-founder-of-illegal-art
Duration seconds: 4239

## Resource

On today's episode, I talk to musician and academic Matthew S. Originally from Fresno, CA, Matthew founded the sample-based label Illegal Art in 1998 and ran it under the pseudonym Philo T. Farnsworth for 15 years. In that time, Illegal Art released music from Touch People, Junk Culture and perhaps the most acclaimed of the roster Girl Talk. In 2012, Matthew shut the label down to concentrate on his own music and work as a college professor, but this year he has decided to bring it back, and the first release is his own project Myth Math. Their debut EP Tongues just came out last week, and it is excellent! This is the website for Beginnings , subscribe on Apple Podcasts , follow me on Twitter . Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here ! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here ! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore ! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace ! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers ! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee !

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## Transcript

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