Electronic Press Kit
Please contact us at portsidedive@gmail.com with any questions.
Latest Music
"Figure It Out" is the newest single from Portside Dive: a song about pretending you've got it together long enough that someone believes you.
Credits:
Written by Matt Reed
Produced and engineered by Tommy Rehbein
Performed by Matt Reed (guitar, bass, background vocals)
Press Photos
Short Bio
Portside Dive: your favorite band’s favorite band. Based in Minneapolis, this trio brings a stellar, high-energy live show not seen in the Midwest for a generation. Their blend and balance of fast, poppy, distorted riffs and singable, chorus hooks will stay in your brain well past the last downbeat. This band gets sticks with you, whether you’re a fan from day one or joined them somewhere along the ride.
Long Bio
Minneapolis based songwriter Matt Reed had spent the COVID lockdown writing away, and wishing for more than the local music scene had offered him so far. Using momentum from other projects, he spent the first half of that year writing and tracking five songs which would become the first EP, with the song “Save Me” leading the bunch.
Reed had been active in music since 2006, preforming in bands such as Random Change and Live Love Learn. He has always had a knack from writing catchy, singable songs with bouncy melodies and sugary-sweet hooks. His biggest musical influences were bands like Green Day and Motion City Soundtrack, which you can hear elements of in much of Portside Dive’s catalog.
Reed released all five songs from the first EP that summer, one per week, and began to play shows to support it. Joined by various friends and other local musicians, Portside Dive was becoming more of a fun hobby than a serious musical project. Then, in 2023, Reed was joined by friends in the band Linus to work on the second EP - Closure. The single “January” was inspired by the death of Reed’s mother, who died of in January of 2015. Reed released “January” on January 26, 2024, almost 9-years to the day after his mom’s passing, making the EP’s title more than just that: closure.
During the writing process, Reed connected with Spencer Sterling, a longtime friend, over a shared love of music and guitars. Sterling grew up in Chicago, playing in bands in high school before relocating to the Twin Cities for college. Reed offered Sterling to sit in as lead guitarist for Portside Dive, if he ever wanted to. Sterling met this invitation with surprise, but the two worked so well together, that Sterling joined the band after his very first show! Sterling joined the band in the spring of 2025.
Portside Dive continued to release popular singles; “Figure It Out” and “Different Kind of Me”; which have been growing in popularity on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
In the winter of 2025, Dan Miglets-Nelson reached out to Portside Dive online, after hearing the band on his “for you page”. Miglets-Nelson noticed that the band was missing a bass player, and he and had cut his teeth in DFW punk/ska scene in the mid 2000s. In July, Miglets-Nelson was offered a chance to audition, and play with Portside Dive at their sold-out show at Pilllar Forum on July 24, 2026. Reed and Sterling invited him to join the band that night.
Portside Dive is joined live on the drums by the talents of Shawn Kraft (Halfway Down), a longtime friend of the band.
Portside Dive is entering into their next season: writing new music, playing more shows, and distinguishing themselves as the next band coming out of Minneapolis. Look for new music in early 2027.