Matan "Mat Zo" Zohar was born in London, England in 1990.
His mother is a professional violinist, and his father is very much in touch with music.
So a life spent within the scene of serious tuneage seemed somehow inevitable.
"At five I wanted to be a musician, particularly a conductor. I loved orchestra," he says laughing, "maybe now [that's] something for the senior years!" Retelling the tales, Mat gloats, "I could control any orchestra, as long as it was on TV. I'd be banging on stuff for the drums, I was all in one". But from being a conductor at five years of age, he admits to "downscaling" to play guitar, "I was then in a band, then another band," he laughs, "most of my teenage years I was in a band."
When he was younger (please note, at this point the author requested that Mat stop saying 'younger' due to the fact he's only twenty-one years old), "Ok, 'really little', I grew up with Daft Punk and the Chemical Brothers, I was eight when I first heard One More Time," ...and so, the seed of electronic music was planted. "A DJ came... to teach a one-day course at school for the whole class," said Mat, sewing the last piece of the puzzle on. "From that day, I was hooked."
It's not just the DJing that got into Mat's veins, "I was composing tunes on midi when I was ten or eleven. When I was thirteen a friend gave me copy of Logic 5, so I started making tunes on that, then that moved to Fruity Loops and it all snowballed," he admits, "instead of going out, I was making music as it was the most fun thing I could do.... it became my passion." These days, Mat is now "using Ableton Live, as it gives me more flexibility and is easier to work with." Reviewing his decision of the change of software, Mat advises "Logic (Cubase) is like the iPhone vs Blackberry, that supporting one brand thing, its a new religion." This one just seems to work for him.
For now and for the future, music will always be in Mat's life, as he admits "I know I can't do one [style] your whole life. Music is so complex, dance music is rewarding although not the only thing. When I'm washed up it wont be about the drinks and chicks," he laughs, signalling that the end of his music production (within dance) is for "When I am not inspired as its all about music."
Before anyone fears the worst for Mat's employment direction, rest assured dear Zo'ians (Yes, I've invented his own religion), we are safe. Mind blowing tunes like 'Fractal Universe', 'Exodus' and 'Nuclear Fusion' are not to be his only ones. "It's tragic," as Mat opens up about his 'day job'; "People feed you alcohol and you have to run around with crazy people and have a good time all the time," he bursts, "It's hard work!" The unfortunate situation for him seems to only be its impact on his other loves in life; "Sleeping and eating, they are essential for me." he jokes, "I cook the best Thai green curry, I can safely say..."
"I wish I was in a day job," for if it wasn't for his music, "I'd be begging for money or working at McDonalds," he admits. Music and 'work' appears to be the only path for Mat, as he admits it's his meaning of life, "Doing what makes you satisfied," he starts, "I would love to be a film score writer, it's a big passion of mine. I wish I'd written the Gladiator sound track,", all the while aiming for a day in the future of 'doing' "a 'Daft Punk' score for Tron, making that electronic score, a little psy, giving different genres more mainstream recognition," discussing that it's the added element of "the different (sounds) and the visuals for people" to be able to relate to it.
This relationship with the sound and visual may translate into the experience Mat plans to bring to Australia while supporting Above & Beyond, "No matter what I do, its going to be a good time. Play gigs, have a great time and that's what this job is about," he says. But as for the tour? "My plan in Australia is to not have one. It will be wherever the tour takes me, I'll see what happens," he says cheekily, "You're just going to have to come and see cause I don't know what I'm going to play," suggesting that he might start with something polite "...at 128 bmp, or end up at 140 – we won't know till the night."
Mat is supporting Above & Beyond:
Friday 9th September – Metro City, Perth
Doors open: 9pm – 4am
Tickets: http://Moshtix.com.au
$63.95 (including bf)
Saturday 10 Sep – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Doors open: 8pm – 3am
Tickets: http://Ticketek.com.au
$83.95 (including bf)
Thu 15 Sep – HQ Complex, Adelaide
Doors open: 8pm – 3am
Tickets: http://Venuetix.com.au and http://Moshtix.com.au
$49.00 (including bf) – moshtix
Fri 16 Sep – The Family, Brisbane
Doors open: 10pm – 5am
Tickets: http://Moshtix.com.au
$34.10 (including bf)
Sat 17 Sep – Festival Hall, Melbourne
Doors open: 8pm – 2am
Tickets: http://Ticketmaster.com.au
Tickets: $83.95 (including bf)
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