The post-hardcore and punk community is mourning a significant loss this weekend. Matt Krupanski, the co-founding drummer of the highly influential Delaware-based band Boysetsfire, has passed away.
The tragic news was officially confirmed by his former bandmates on Saturday, March 28. In a deeply emotional statement shared across their social media platforms, the group paid tribute to their fallen brother, reflecting on decades of shared memories, early tours, and the indelible mark he left on their lives and music.
The band’s full statement reads as follows:
“We hate to write this. Today the BSF family lost one of our founding members, our drummer Matt Krupanski.
Words are failing us. Snapshots of memories skitter through our mind.
Picking him up for our first tour from high school which his parents had to give permission to leave early.Writing ATE and Rookie in his parents’ basement.
Smoking cigars on the beach in North Carolina after playing a very misleading Bed and Breakfast (no bed no breakfast).His weird a** drummer gang with Tucker from Thursday, Mike from the Souls and Brandon from Rise Against.
Ab*sing Tony Victorys open bar tab in Chicago
Our intense madden games which often led to near violence (not even kidding).Matt playing guitar in Pu**y Tim and the Mother F**kers; a side project that wasn’t real at what we thought was a sparsely attending festival but when the lights came up there were 25000 people there.
There is so much more.We are so f**king sorry George. We are so sorry Carla. We are so sorry Marc and Melissa. And our heart breaks for his daughter Georgie. We are so sorry.
We are gutted. Our hearts are shredded. We lost a brother today.
We are planning on a fund raiser for Georgie maybe for college or whatever the family decides.
Matt you are missed and we love you.–BSF“
Matt Krupanski was an integral architect of Boysetsfire‘s heavy, politically charged sound from their very inception in Newark, Delaware, in October 1994. Driving the rhythm section, he helped pioneer the melodic hardcore and emo-infused punk rock movements of the late 90s and early 2000s.
He performed on the group’s most defining and beloved releases, including their 1997 debut full-length The Day the Sun Went Out and the widely celebrated 2000 breakthrough album After the Eulogy. He remained a constant presence behind the drum kit through their major-label transition with Wind-Up Records for 2003’s Tomorrow Come Today, and their subsequent return to independent labels for 2006’s The Misery Index: Notes from the Plague Years, anchoring the band until their initial breakup in 2007.
When Boysetsfire announced their official reunion in late 2010, the drummer returned to his rightful place in the lineup. During this highly successful reunion era, he had the unique opportunity to perform alongside his brother, bassist Marc Krupanski, before both siblings officially departed the band in December 2012.
