Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, co-founder and guitarist of black midi until his departure in 2021, has died according to a statement from his family via Rough Trade, black midi's label. He was 26.

The statement notes his "long battle with his mental health," which was also the reason cited when he stepped away from the band. In 2021, he posted “I have been taking some time off from the band as I have been mentally unwell,” and that he hoped to be back soon. black midi stated at the time that “we’re all fully behind our best mate in his recovery,” and added “you’d be surprised at the lengths people will go to help you.”

Kwasniewski-Kelvin's family called him "a talented musician and a kind, loving man [who] finally succumbed; despite all efforts…" They went on to say, "Please take a moment to check in with your loved ones so we can stop this happening to our young men." You can read their full statement down below.

black midi went on an indefinite hiatus in 2024 after three full-lengths, but Kwasniewski-Kelvin played on the band's debut, Schlagenheim, which was their breakthrough album and fiercely beloved among fans and critics in 2019 after they signed to Rough Trade. He also had writing credits on the follow-up Cavalcade even though he didn't play on it.

Kwasniewski-Kelvin took up guitar as a kid, and at 12 years old was invited to rehearsals with his father's band. He would go on to meet his future black midi bandmates at the BRIT School for performing arts in London, where frontman Geordie Greep acclimated him to noisier influences such as Merzbow, which shaped the guitarist's own playing style into something more experimental.

After leaving black midi, Kwasniewski-Kelvin played on Wu-Lu's Loggerhead, and in 2024, released an incendiary solo track on Bandcamp protesting some of the ugliest injustices in the world today, entitled "Paedophile Ring [Free Palestine] [End the holocaust] [End the war now]".

Listen to that song below and watch the band's truly uncompromising performance of "bmbmbm" at the 2019 Mercury Prize ceremony.

Paedophile Ring [Free Palestine] [End the holocaust] [End the war now], by Matt Kwasniewski

track by Matt Kwasniewski

Matt KwasniewskiKostas_Shoegaze