If there was a way to describe what Blue Frog, Mumbai experienced on 9th October, we’d probably put it as “extraordinary”. Matan Zohar better known as Mat Zo returned to the land of butter chicken for his four legged tour. What made it extraordinary, however, was the beautifully curated set he’d put together for every audience member at a packed venue on a Thursday night.
Musically gifted from the start, it all started for Zohar at the age of 8, when his father gifted him a guitar which began Matan’s musical odyssey. Initially starting off as a bassist and drummer, Matan drew influences from the sounds of legends such as The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. By his teenage years, his inclinations switched a tad electronic and by 16, he was already DJing. Gaining steady recognition from prominent producers, 2007 was his huge break. This was the year Dutch heavyweight Tiesto hired him to officially remix, “Driving To Heaven”. This remix was featured on Tiesto’s “In Search of Sunrise 7” compilation, and the rest as they say, is history. As the years passed by, Mat Zo has gained top notch support from the likes of Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Above & Beyond, Airwave, Markus Schulz and more. Numerous originals and countless remixes later, Mat continues to keep things evolving, never failing to surprise us with his crossover genre mashing in any given track. For a 24 year old Londoner, Mat’s repertoire of music would gladly blow over any competition out of the water.
Continuing his annual trend of visiting India, Mat had clearly slaughtered the audience when he dropped by Bangalore for TATW450/ABGT 001. This time, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Indore would pay host to the, how do we put it best, Matness.
Co-hosted by Submerge and Decibel, the nights started young as the domestic acts of Zed& Em neatly put together a sparkling tech set. The dance floor was still filling up, as people made their way to the venue at their own pace. Homegrown favourite, DJ Nawed’s techno alias Brown Coat warmed us up to all the Matness to follow. Starting off with Mario Basanov’s remix of “Hiding In Darkness” and then switching to Michelle Owen, Kruse & Nuernberg’s “We Find Deep”, Brown Coat had each member of the audience grooving as they entered. Next up were Coyu’s “Profound Pleasure” and Dousk’s remix of “Roots”, that upped the tempo and that’s when we’d realized- this musical soundscape had begun to flourish. As the initial bits of Jay Lumen’s “Dusty Memories” came on, the audience was gradually shifting to the dance floor.
Leave a Reply