Biography

Marc Matatya, born in Germany in 1982, is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and poet based in Montreal, Quebec. His work focuses on the inner journey within improvised music, with sounds ranging from ambient, contemplative and post-apocalyptic to future bass, acid house, and tropical techno. His poetry is a window into his experiences as a hybrid being, bridging the gap between human and mushroom identities. Recently he has been playing live electronic music using synthesizers and drum machines, solo as Likwid Trees or collaborating with audio producer Charles Bicari / Vieux Néant and with visual artists and live coders Jason Levine and Rodrigo Velasco. He studied classical piano at the Mcgill Conservatory with Bella Pugachevsky, and is self-taught at guitar and drums. Between the year 2000 and 2005, he learned beatboxing, freestyle rap, throat singing and extended vocal technique. He co-founded the Montreal Experimental Choir with Eleuthera Diconca-Lippert and Meghan Riley, that started as a spontaneous appreciation of the reverberation in domes and staircases and that developed into workshops and games that encourage listening and playing in a group setting. Soon after he began fusing jungle and metal with live drums and keyboard in a duo with Coriander Golden, and exploring noise and textures. He believes in the healing touch of sound, in visionary communities, in the celebration of life and the ritual of dance. He has also worked with children, people with autism, and is also a dedicated massotherapist. His early influences including classical, jazz, slavic and middle eastern folklore, followed by hiphop and progressive metal, have inspired his study of polyrhythms and styles of music from around the world.


“Marc’s music is original, nuanced, captivating and yet accessible, groovy and uplifting”
                                         -Navid Navab


Workshops & master classes

Attended:
-Zakir Hussain: Explore, Create, and Express through Classical Indian Music April 13–19, 2009
(Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall, New York)
-Bobby Mcferrin’s Vocal Improvisation Instant Opera!, New York, April 28–May 2, 2008
-Chilgirchin’s Throat singing and Central Asian Instruments, Harbin Hot Springs, California, 2006
-McGill Music Conservatory: Piano, 1990-1998