[dropcap size=small]F[/dropcap]ollowing two chart-breaking releases from Martin Garrix & collaborators Matisse & Sadko, there is no denying that the latter duo have absolutely since skyrocketed in popularity. Lucky enough for us, we were about to sit down with the Russian brothers to discuss their past, present, future & interests.
The most interesting bits from this interview revolve around the insight it gives into Garrix, Matisse & Sadko’s respective creative processes and personal interests. As you will soon discover, there may very well be more collaborations in the future between the three artists and Matisse & Sadko are very into fashion. Check out “Dragon” below and the full interview after the jump.
You currently have two songs, both collaborations with Martin Garrix, in the top 5 for Beatport’s overall chart. What lead to this double release?
When we first met with Martin, we were pleasantly surprised by his story: he has been familiar to our music for a long time and always wanted to make a collaborative track. He inspired us much with his light energy, showed us all his demo tracks, some of which were written when he was 13 years old. It turned out that Martin enjoyed to play guitar just like we did and one day we even arranged a music battle on Skype. Perhaps that’s why working with him was a very easy thing and both collabs were filled with a positive mood. We often perform and during our joint touring we managed to create several interesting ideas, so maybe someday in the future you could wait for more new collaborations.
How long have ‘Dragon’ and ‘Break Through The Silence’ been finished?
Each of these tracks has its own history. Dragon was made from the beginning to end just in 2-3 days. Thanks to Martin, we just caught the right mood and the work was carried out “in one breath.”
This happened in October, we were sitting at home all day long, chatting with Martin on Skype and exchanging with the MIDI files. As a result, four days later “Dragon” has been already played in the set of Martin on ULTRA JAPAN. We planned vocals to be added, but never make it in the end, but fans can now add their favorite acapellas to the track (if they wish).
Later in March, at Miami Music Conference, we met with Martin in the studio to share the ideas again and try to create something new. Actually we were able to modify one of our older ideas, pick up the vocals and make the correct shape for the track. The first demo had been presented by Martin soon after – at Ultra Music Festival and this inspired us very much because it is always difficult to release the finished track: it always seems that you could tweak and improve some elements. Perhaps, this is a common disease of all producers. We are pleased that both of our collab works with Martin Garrix combine bright and cheerful mood, we can say that we’ve been creating them exactly in the same frame of mind.
What’s next for Matisse & Sadko? Is it going to be even bigger and better than this double release?
When we make every new track we never think about its future success or potential. This year we experimented a lot, so all subsequent releases will sound very different from each other. We will not disclose all the secrets, but let’s say that every month you’re going to hear something new from us. The next release is scheduled for early August on Spinnin’ Deep label. It’s a track that you might have heard in the shows of Danny Howard, Avicii, Don Diablo and other worldwide known DJs.
What do you think about the current state of EDM and music as a whole?
We really enjoy what is happening now in the world of EDM. People are finally fed up with hackneyed musical patterns and annoying marketing. It’s becoming more difficult to sell people a product that they do not like. Everybody are open to the emergence of something entirely new and original. We’re very pleased with the return to the basics of house music and melodies.
We want to believe that it’s the right time for the young producers to attract the attention of the entire music industry with their fresh ideas, talent and sincerity.
Be sure to follow Matisse & Sadko on Facebook / Twitter / SoundCloud.
When you play, what brands are you representing? Are you into fashion at all?
Of course we are following the fashion world, we like to go shopping, especially when we manage to be in Tokyo or New York. We really like HBA, Marcelo Burlon, Neil Barrett, Givenchy and some other brands. Although we often take more practical clothes in the long tours, we have a lot of young Russian designers as friends, and they send us their stuff. Also, we would like to highlight the brand of our great friend from Los Angeles — DOSES. We have a large collection of those caps, which is replenished every 2 months.
What consists of a day in the life of Matisse & Sadko – from waking up to going to sleep?
When you begin regular touring, you can forget about the normal daily routine. If there’s some spare time, we try to spend it on music-writing. We always take a working laptop, a small midi keyboard and a card with Universal Audio plugins to each trip. We like this kind of life, and the most positive emotions we get from these frequent travels. The only thing is that sometimes we get very tired of each other, being together 24 hours a day, we sometimes can even have fights before going on a stage. But no one knows about that, and everyone thinks that we’re the most friendly brothers in the world. 🙂
