Melodic techno is on the rise and Mathame are at the spearhead of a rapidly growing movement. The Italian brother duo has garnered plenty of well-deserved attention in the techno space. Having recently sold out headline shows in Zurich, Beirut, and Belgrade—Mathame is finally ready to take their talents to the American festival circuit. Making their Ultra Miami debut, Mathame will take over the RESISTANCE megastructure in a loaded Sunday lineup. Having released a plethora of singles on Dancing Astronaut’sLabel of 2023—Afterlife—Mathame has recently turned their attention to American powerhouse label, Astralwerks. With four chilling singles already gaining plenty of traction, Mathame is revving up for their soon-to-arrive debut album.
After Ultra Miami, Mathame will make the trek to California where the duo will make their inaugural appearance at one of the largest music festivals in the US, Coachella. Slated for day two in the Yuma tent, Mathame will once again have the opportunity to share their proprietary blend of psychedelic melodic techno, this time on the opposite coast. With so much to look forward to, Dancing Astronaut had an opportunity to sit down with Mathame for a wide-spanning conversation of what’s to come.
2023 marks your debut at Ultra Miami. While you have been veterans to the RESISTANCE lineups across the world, what makes playing the birthplace of Ultra Music Festival different?
Mathame: “We are very excited. It really is a legendary stage. We live in a smaller city near Milan and when the lineup was announced, all of our old friends told us, ‘Wow you’re playing Ultra Miami, now you made it,’ It is really special.”
What can we expect from your Ultra set? Playing during the middle of the day, why should those unfamiliar with melodic techno venture over to the RESISTANCE stage?
Mathame: “We are always trying to synthesize our sound to the environment, not necessarily meaning that we adapt or change, but we try to synthesize the environment. You can definitely expect to hear the punchier tracks from our upcoming album and some new tunes from newer artists that are working very well with this kind of stage. In our opinion, this is one of the best occasions to discover great artists that maybe are not very well known in the US. This is definitely the right moment for techno and melodic genres. The sound is mature as it’s been around for more than a decade, but the people are still hungry for it so it can definitely open the doors to a crowd for a new experience.”
Your last three singles have been an impressive run for you both. While “Believe” with CamelPhat fits the traditional melodic techno style, “So What” and “Come For You” are quite unique. How did you switch things up on these two tracks in particular?
Mathame: “It is never a conscious decision to change the sound or a methodical process. We start from a vision. For example, for ‘Believe,’ we wanted to have a powerful old school sound working with this kind of bass. [On] ‘Come For You,’ the vision was praying in the night to the sky alone. ‘So What’ was to express our idea of strict techno. We always start from a vision that we then try to express through sound.”
Some describe your music as the most psychedelic on Afterlife’s roster. “So What” has dark but dreamy synths that give it a sort of experimental framework. Has this been one of your favorites tracks thus far?
Mathame: “We are fans and very inspired by the sounds of 60-70s psychedelic genres, so thank you for that description! ‘So What’ is one of our favorites. We wanted to find a balance between our strict sound and something psychedelic [and] eerie, which is why the track is minimalistic with only [four] stems. In our opinion, this is a good balance.”
After planting deep roots with Afterlife, what drew you to Astralwerks, an American record label, for your next venture?
Mathame: “It was a hard choice but we had made three EPs on one label, so it felt like time for our story to move on. It was a strategic decision to enter the US market more. Throughout the history of music, connection too much with one party, [or] label, unless you’re the leader, doesn’t work. The only thing that drove us to make this shift was this: Mathame will be Mathame. We are not tied to just one label. Astralwerks has a great vision, they have understood the potential of melodic techno before many others. They have a great, competent team working for them and great resources, so why not? In the end, the label is a platform and a checkpoint. Sometimes when producing, people will make certain choices to fit a certain label, but ultimately the label is just a platform.”
How do you plan to connect with American crowds differently, as Astralwerks boosts your stateside presence?
Mathame: “Our music is very yin and yang, a matter of balance between two elements a lot of times—melody and power, or love and hate, for example. The US is the land of contrast, so we think our music can definitely resonate [there]. This is one of the reasons we love Astralwerks, because of its connection to the US market. We have played many great stages in the US, such as EDC, and we receive lots of messages from the US people.”
Outside of Ultra, where can we expect to see you the rest of Music Week, and beyond?
Mathame: “During Music Week, we are playing Afterlife on March 22 and Ultra on March 26. We are also very excited about Coachella.”
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