MATOM
“a culmination of our combined skills, contrasting environments, a dualism between the cosmic serenity of the vineyards of the South of France and the gritty urban cityscapes of Berlins Bohemia.”
Matom ‘Love Mistakes’ album (Planet E Communications)
Some records are birthed through countless months or even years of studio hard graft; drafts, followed by re-drafts, an eternal process of searching for that money shot musical moment. Then there are albums that simply pour out of the collective minds of its creators – more of a stream of consciousness and musical expressions that strategic beat creation.
For best friends and long time collaborators Matt Edwards (aka Radio Slave) and Thomas Gandey (aka Cagedbaby and producer). Matom began as a one off project to create an hour of music to celebrate the iconic Hansa recording studios in Berlin, a space that’s seen everyone from David Bowie and Iggy Pop to Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno.
From this auspicious beginning the project continued to pick up pace and the pair soon performed in Warsaw alongside the late revered Kosmiche figurehead Manuel Gottsching, Name festival in Lille, Miami Music Week and onto the hallowed Berghain in Berlin.
Splitting time between Gandey’s home and studio outside Bordeaux and Edward’s studio in Kreuzberg, Berlin, the pair continued to create under various aliases ‘Last Communication’ is the name for their many remixes.
Gandey describes Edwards as the “master of minimal”, building up the soundscapes and beats before Thomas filled out the compositions with various keyboards from his impressive collection utilising Rhodes, Moogs, Nords and Analogue Drum Machines interspersed with live percussion.
The entire essence of Matom’s Sounds is based around live takes and recorded snippets of conversations and ambiences from their tours, so when they joined the line up for the Pyramids of Mars label showcase at the Berghain it was a seamless transition from studio to stage. Their last gig was once again for the Red Bull Music Academy in Miami WMC 2014 to perform the finished album for the people who first inspired and supported the project.
And so Matom’s ‘Love Mistakes’ is signed sealed and delivered, a work Gandey describes as “a culmination of our combined skills and reflecting its contrasting environments, a dualism between the cosmic serenity of the vineyards in his South of France retreat and the gritty urban cityscapes of Berlins Bohemia.”
