Matt Thiessen

Lead single "Fireflies" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in late October. Thiessen continues to work with Owl City's Adam Young and contributes vocals to "Plant Life", a song on the newest album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful". He also co-wrote "Good Time" with Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen. Thiessen has also made guest contributions on a number of releases with other artists, including John Reuben, tobyMac and The Fold.

Thiessen has received piano lessons since he was seven years old, with early interests in ragtime and Scott Joplin, specifically the soundtrack from The Sting. He taught himself guitar as a teenager by learning to play songs by grunge bands like Silverchair and Nirvana. Since Relient K's early days, Thiessen's main influences have been in the pop punk genre, specifically NOFX, Less Than Jake, Ghoti Hook, MxPx, and Goldfinger. He later introduced influences from Simon & Garfunkel, Ben Folds, and The Beach Boys, who he has named as his favorite band. Thiessen has claimed that after years of writing and performing pop-punk songs, he now finds writing slower music more enjoyable. He has described his Matt Thiessen and the Earthquakes side project as being influenced by Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds. Read Less