Unter Strøm, the electronic duo of Alex Gonzales (Matte Blvck) and John Kunkel (The New Division, John Grand), release Transmission 003: Live at the Breathing Records Showcase, an independent live recording that runs a little over 84 minutes. The set documents a full Unter Strøm performance at a Breathing Records showcase and includes live versions of “Fragment” and “Stumbling” performed before either track had been released, along with several vocal tracks the duo were still developing.

Unlike the project’s prior singles, “Transmission 003” is not a studio release. It is a concert recording, filmed and uploaded to YouTube, capturing the duo’s first time performing an Unter Strøm set in front of an audience.

Unter Strøm test unreleased material in a live setting

The showcase gave Gonzales and Kunkel their first chance to hear the project’s unreleased catalog through a full sound system and gauge a crowd’s reaction to it in real time. Kunkel described the goal behind the set:

“We wanted the set to present a broad landscape of the Unter Strøm sound and show how many different places the project can go. After working on this music for over a year, it was exciting to finally experience it through a proper sound system and watch people respond to it in real time. What makes it even more exciting is that we still have a lot more in the tank that didn’t make it into the set.”

Gonzales, describing what the performance meant for the duo, added:

“The Breathing Records showcase was the first time we played an Unter Strøm set in front of an audience, so it felt like an important moment for us. We performed an hour and a half of entirely unreleased material, including ‘Fragment’ and ‘Stumbling’ before either song had been released, as well as several vocal tracks that we were still developing. It gave us a rare opportunity to test this body of work in a live environment and see which moments connected instinctively with the audience.”

About Unter Strøm

Unter Strøm is an electronic duo formed by Alex Gonzales and John Kunkel, based between Los Angeles and San Diego after years of the pair working together in earlier bands and studio sessions. The project mixes techno, melodic house and industrial electronics. Gonzales also records as Matte Blvck, the San Diego-based darkwave and industrial trio he leads with Bidi Cobra and Daniel Corrales, whose releases include “Vows,” “Pupula Duplex” and “Soulless.” Kunkel is the Los Angeles-based producer and songwriter behind The New Division, the synth-pop project he has led since the 2000s, is part of the Los Angeles group Trade Secrets, and also produces melodic house as John Grand, an alias that has appeared on Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance and on Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy Radio.

Unter Strøm debuted in 2025 with the two-track single “Breathing” before signing to Breathing Records, the label that launched with the “Inhale Vol. I” compilation in November 2025. The duo then released “Orynth” on May 15, 2026, “Fold” on June 12, 2026, “Fragment” on July 24, 2026 and “Stumbling” on August 28, 2026, the four singles that made up the “Between Forms” run. “Transmission 003: Live at the Breathing Records Showcase” now documents the live set where “Fragment” and “Stumbling” were first performed, ahead of their studio releases, alongside new vocal material the duo have yet to put out.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Unter Strøm, the electronic duo of Alex Gonzales (Matte Blvck) and John Kunkel (The New Division, John Grand), release the single “Stumbling” on August 28, 2026 via Breathing Records. It is the fourth and closing piece of “Between Forms”, the four-single run that also holds “Orynth”, “Fold” and “Fragment”.

The track moves through shifting arpeggios and evolving rhythms while keeping a club pulse underneath. Breathing Records describes it as the point where the duo sound “most atmospheric and emotionally exposed.”

How Unter Strøm wrote ‘Stumbling’ in a single afternoon

“Stumbling” came out of an afternoon that had not been set aside as a writing session. A new project was opened, an arpeggio arrived, a rhythm followed, and most of the record took shape within a few hours. Gonzales and Kunkel expected to return to it later and, by their own account, barely did. The session stayed as it was recorded.

Aaron Short mixed the track, continuing the working relationship that runs across the earlier “Between Forms” singles. The duo have described the four records as unlike one another rather than variations on a formula, chosen to mark out the range of the project instead of settling it. That choice put “Stumbling” last in the sequence.

About Unter Strøm

Unter Strøm is an electronic duo formed by Alex Gonzales and John Kunkel, working between Los Angeles and San Diego after years of playing together in earlier bands and studios. Gonzales also leads the San Diego darkwave and industrial project Matte Blvck, whose singles include “Pupula Duplex” and “Soulless”. Kunkel is the Los Angeles producer behind The New Division, is part of the Los Angeles group Trade Secrets, and produces melodic house as John Grand.

The duo debuted in 2025 with the two-track single “Breathing”, then moved to Breathing Records, the label that launched with the “Inhale Vol. I” compilation in November 2025. “Orynth” followed on May 15, 2026, “Fold” on June 12, 2026 and “Fragment” on July 24, 2026, all mixed by Aaron Short. “Stumbling”, out August 28, 2026, ends that sequence and, according to the duo, points toward a body of unreleased material still to come.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Unter Strøm, the electronic duo of Alex Gonzales (Matte Blvck) and John Kunkel (The New Division, John Grand), will release the single “Fragment” on July 31, 2026 via Breathing Records. The track mixes techno, melodic house and industrial electronics and is currently previewable on SoundCloud ahead of its full release.

“Fragment” is the first track Gonzales and Kunkel wrote entirely in the same room together. Their first two Unter Strøm singles were developed remotely between the two producers; “Fragment” instead came out of one of the duo’s first dedicated writing retreats, held over two uninterrupted days at Los Angeles’ Sound Factory studio, without a set schedule or deadline.

Unter Strøm wrote ‘Fragment’ together in the same room for the first time

Gonzales and Kunkel began the session with a blank project file, trading places behind the desk as ideas passed between them. Rather than fitting the track into a fixed structure, they let it keep developing, adding new sections whenever the arrangement felt finished. What was originally intended to remain an unreleased live ID gradually took shape as one of the project’s tracks over the course of the session, according to Breathing Records.

“Fragment” was mixed by Aaron Short, whose credits include The Naked and Famous and So Below, and mastered by Mike Marsh, whose mastering credits include Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers. It arrives as a digital single.

About Unter Strøm

Unter Strøm is an electronic duo formed by Alex Gonzales and John Kunkel, based between Los Angeles and San Diego, following years of the pair working together in earlier bands and studio sessions. Gonzales also records as Matte Blvck, the San Diego-based darkwave and industrial trio he leads with Bidi Cobra and Daniel Corrales, whose releases include “Vows”, “Pupula Duplex” and “Soulless”. Kunkel is the Los Angeles-based producer and songwriter behind The New Division, the synth-pop project he has led since the 2000s, is part of the Los Angeles group Trade Secrets, and also produces melodic house as John Grand.

Unter Strøm debuted in 2025 with the two-track single “Breathing”. The duo followed it with “Orynth” on May 15, 2026 and “Fold” on June 12, 2026, both issued through Breathing Records and mixed by Aaron Short. “Fragment”, out July 31, 2026, follows those two singles as the first Unter Strøm track Gonzales and Kunkel wrote and recorded together in one place rather than exchanging sessions between cities.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Unter Strøm, the new electronic duo led by Alex Gonzales of Matte Blvck and John Kunkel of The New Division and John Grand, have released their single “Orynth” today May 15, 2026 via Breathing Records. It’s actually their second release after the 2025 single “Breathing”. The project brings a mix of techno, melodic house and industrial electronic music. Breathing Records is an independent label focused on avant-garde, underground, industrial and dark electronic music.

Unter Strøm was formed between Los Angeles and San Diego after Gonzales and Kunkel had worked together in bands and studiowork.

“Orynth” began with Gonzales sketching the track’s opening movements. Kunkel then expanded the piece with time-stretched atmospheres and melodic layers. The single was mixed by Aaron Short, whose credits include The Naked and Famous, So Below and Madison Beer. Aaron Short is also listed in The Naked and Famous’ history as a former member and producer on several releases.

About Unter Strøm

Unter Strøm is an electronic duo formed by Alex Gonzales and John Kunkel. Gonzales is known for Matte Blvck, the San Diego-based darkwave and industrial trio with Bidi Cobra and Daniel Corrales.

Matte Blvck’s catalogue includes “Vows”, “Pupula Duplex”, “Proxy”, “Midnight & Angel” and “I’m Waving, Not Drowning Remixes”.

John Kunkel is the Los Angeles-based electronic musician behind The New Division.Kunkel is also part of the Los Angeles-based Trade Secrets line-up.

In 2025 the band debuted with the 2-track single “Breathing”.

Unter Strøm now brings Gonzales and Kunkel together under a new name, with “Orynth” serving as the project’s newest release.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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