Matmos

Matmos is an experimental electronic duo formed by Drew Daniel and Martin C. Schmidt. The group is based between San Francisco and Baltimore and has been active since 1995. Their sound is associated with ambient techno, avant-garde, electroacoustic music, electronic music, electronica and experimental music.

Formation and name

Schmidt and Daniel are the core members, and the group often works with other artists on records and in performance, including J Lesser. The name Matmos comes from the fictional lake of slime beneath the city of Sogo in the film Barbarella.

Releases and collaborations

Matmos releases seven full-length studio albums and a number of collaborative works. The duo gains attention for its use of unusual source material in composition, including freshly cut hair, the amplified neural activity of crayfish, and recorded sounds from surgical procedures. One of its best-known albums is A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure, which uses sounds captured from medical procedures and turns them into melodic experimental techno pieces.

The group also has a close association with Björk. In 1998, Matmos remixes her single “Alarm Call”, and later works with her on the albums Vespertine and Medúlla, as well as on the Vespertine and Greatest Hits tours.

Residencies and live work

In November 2004, Matmos spends 97 hours as artists in residence at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, performing with friends, guest musicians and audience members. The live album Work, Work, Work is drawn from that session and is released as a free download from the group’s website.

Other projects and associations

The duo signs to Matador Records for nine years before moving to Thrill Jockey in 2012. Matmos also participates in a programmed evening of events with the visual arts organisation Auto Italia South East in 2011, produced with Upset The Rhythm and featuring Jon Wiese and Birds of Delay. The group goes on to collaborate with a range of visual artists and arts organisations, including Cafe Oto and Metal.

Outside the group, Drew Daniel runs the dance music project The Soft Pink Truth, writes for Pitchfork Media and contributes an essay on Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats to the 33 1/3 book series. He teaches in the Department of English at Johns Hopkins University. Martin C. Schmidt previously teaches in the New Genres Department at the San Francisco Art Institute. Schmidt and Daniel are also a couple, and both appear in the film Unseen Forces by Ryan Junell.