Modern Tango World N° 9 (Rome, Italy) | Page 32

Mariano Mattone — Tangothic interview by Raymond Lauzzana Tangothic is an electrotango music project of Mariano Mattone, the founder and producer, who teamed up with bandoneonist, Adolfo Trepiana, to produce several CDs. Mariano Djd at some clubs, events and and on the radio before producing his first CD. His musical background had ranged from hip-hop to electronica before forming the Tangothic ptoject. I discussed his past, present and future projects, with a view to the future tango. .MTW — Thank you for the oportunity! I would like to begin by asking you and the beginning of the Tan- gothic Project. What led to the idea for this project? Mariano Mattone — A manager for a record label wanted to produce an electronic tango album, and con- tacted me to help him. I went to several flea markets and record stores to listen and collect old tango vinyls and CDs. At that time, I had already listened the Gotan Project and I really liked what they did and how they fu- sion tango with electronica. Tangothic was born in 2005 with our first album Debut wich is more electronic and experimental than tango. I used mostly old tango sam- ples arranged, pitched and sliced into electronic beats. We did very little nre recording for this album. MTW — Has your music always been close to the tango? Has your music has been changed over the course of your career? Mariano Mattone — Not really. I do like the sad melancholic tone that some tangos have, I love Astor Piazzolla of course, among others. MTW — What makes Tangothic different from the other electrotango bands? How would you define Tan- gothic in a musical way? Mariano Mattone — I think Tangothic`s approach is more electronic and sampler based. It is less or- chestral and less traditional tango — more for home listening than club playing or festival music. MTW — Most of Tangothic’s pieces are original com- positions. Who is the primary composer? Is there some special approach to writing songs for Tangothic? Do you have a personal favorite? Mariano Mattone — Usually, I start by browsing the sample library that I built for Tangothic — vinyls, cd`s, audio files etc, until something clicks and I try to add a beat on that sample part. Sometimes, it takes a lot of tries. Other times, the song makes itself. Adolfo Trepiana brings in his bandoneon for recording and musical arrangements. Once it is recorded, we start adding some strings, pianos, etc. I have lot of favorite songs, usually I can’t listen to an album for months, even years, and then I say Wow! We made this track, its nice! Si yo tuviera, Sin tregua, La Porteña, Default, Triumph are among my favorite tracks! MTW — Do you perform at milongas or festivals. Do you play for concerts? — 32 — TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE