About Autonomuse

Autonomuse is the solo music and visual art project of Bret Salvatore, a non-binary and autistic, composer, producer, guitarist, and illustrator. Drawing from over a decade of live performance and six years of independent recording, Bret creates instrumental music combining atmospheric sound design, syncopated and distorted rhythms, and expressive lead guitar work.

Before launching Autonomuse, Bret worked professionally as an illustrator for over sixteen years, featuring in gallery exhibitions in the tri-state area, album artwork for local musicians like NJ band Monitor, and private commissions after studying at the Joe Kubert School in Dover NJ. Alongside their visual art practice, they performed and wrote music in projects including The Sunset Limited, Wizard Lizard Scissors, Primal Thesis, and Spirit Bloom, developing a personal approach to composition shaped by improvisation, texture, harmonic and melodic structure.

Following an autism diagnosis later in life, Bret began reevaluating a lifetime of masking, sensory overwhelm, and depression leading to skill regression and increased support needs. As live performance, galleries, and disconnected creative output became increasingly difficult to sustain, they chose to focus their energy on a single independent project. Autonomuse became a way to unite years of musical and visual experience while creating at a pace that honors disability, authenticity, and personal healing.

As a conceptual project, Autonomuse is not only music but is also an ongoing narrative mythos. Set within the world of Aetharia, Autonomuse explores how systems of power separate people from themselves, each other, and the creative spirit. The story follows Autonomuse, a construct whose mechanical body is animated by a seed-like heart taken from a divine tree, in a world dominated by empire, illusion and exploitation. Through this world, Bret explores alienation, identity, spirituality, and the search for reconnection.

Professional Memberships

• PRO: ASCAP