Mathew Jonson

Mathew Jonson

Mathew Jonson is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ associated with minimal techno, techno, minimal, electro and electronic dance music. His work combines dancefloor-focused house and techno with more intricate musical detail, and his tracks are known for a distinctive sound that is recognisable while still varying from release to release. He also works with analog equipment and real-time performance in both the studio and live setting.

Background and training

Jonson studies classical piano as a child, along with jazz drumming, and also plays drums in a marching band. His father works with sound technology, which gives him early access to synthesizers at the age of nine. As a teenager, he discovers hip-hop and begins recreating its electro-based rhythms on a home setup. He later returns to piano study.

Early career

He grows up in Victoria, where at 19 he meets Tyger Dhula, Danuel Tate and Colin de la Plante, who are already DJing and playing parties in the area. The four begin performing together in clubs, forming the early version of Cobblestone Jazz and the Modern Deep Left Quartet.

His first record appears in 2001 and is the first release on the British Columbia label Itiswhatitis, under the title New Identity. Further releases follow in 2002 and 2003. In 2003 he also makes his first appearance on Perlon with Alpine Rocket, recorded with Luciano during his first trip to Europe.

Labels, collaborations and groups

Jonson releases music on Itiswhatitis, Sub Static, Arbutus, Kompakt and M_nus. In 2005 he co-founds the Wagon Repair label with Jesse Fisk, Graham and Adam Boothby, Frank Meyerhofer and Konrad Black. He is also active in Cobblestone Jazz and the Modern Deep Left Quartet, and he supports these projects alongside his solo work.

He later moves to Berlin, where he and Colin de la Plante establish a European base for Cobblestone Jazz. The Berlin studio is set up around an array of hardware, including the Roland 808, 909 and SH-101, as well as Cwejman gear and a Roland System 100m modular system. Danuel Tate’s Rhodes piano is also part of the setup, and tracks are mixed and recorded in real time.

Style and recording approach

Jonson’s music often uses gnarled bass sequences and extended melodic lines. He is closely associated with analog hardware and live manipulation rather than playback-based production, and his approach draws on electro and drum and bass elements inside minimal club settings. His attention to sound and presentation is a central part of his work.

Notable recordings

Among his best-known tracks are Marionette, Return of the Zombie Bikers and Symphony for the Apocalypse. His album Agents of Time includes club-oriented tracks such as Girls Got Rhythm and Thieves in Digital Land, while also moving into darker and slower material.

Later collaboration

He also works with his brother Nathan Jonson, who records as Hrdvsion, in a project called Midnight Operator. Both are based in Berlin, and they build on a 2007 Wagon Repair EP as they work toward an album.