Exotic brew of 80s meets 90s beats
Who He?
Half-Spanish, half-German and born in Madrid, AKA Matador grew up “in the streets and bull rings of the city”. Now he’s based in London and is serving up rather delightful 80s electronics with a good lick of 90s techno.
Why AKA Matador?
His recently-released ‘You Never Felt’ EP is out on 26 May and is influenced, he says, by artists like Bon Iver and D’Angelo. He’s been playing music since he was 11 years old, and while he has no formal training, he’s done pretty well as a multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer and sound designer. He likes experimenting in sampling organic elements from field recordings, as well as dabbling in a bit of 360 atmosphere design. New geographical locations provide him new ways to create sounds.
Tell Us More…
In contrast to our more analogue pals, AKA Matador is a big fan of digital workstations; of the computer as a “digital recording studio” and as an “instrument to create work”. He believes that “digital workstations will define contemporary sound like other key musical equipment as in the past” and that “the computer is the centre of the work”. His focus on soundscapes emerges from an R&B aesthetic, which can be heard on tracks like ‘Virgins’. While it’s still early days for AKA Matador, his curious mix of techniques and genres is enough to hook you in. Once you’re there, you’ll be hard pushed to stop listening. This may be just the start for him, but he won’t be disappearing anytime soon.
‘You Never Felt’ is out on 1-2-3-4
