♥ Gator

Following the successful Music For Modern Living Vol.1 (feat. Pizzicato 5, Jimi Tenor, Howie B a.m.o.) Lounge Records introduces an exciting new artist. GATOR were already included on the above mentioned compilation with the track No Haze, now they present their debut album Matrix.

GATOR is Stefan Mertin from Hamburg. Musician at daytime and DJ at nighttime, Mertin crosses stilistic boundaries from jazzy listening to electric clubbing. He has been creating music for more than ten years now - working with digital as well analogue sounds, with computers as well as instruments. His collaborations with Hamburg’s renowned independent dubrock-fusionists Kastrierte Philosophen and rapper Eric IQ Gray, his musical illustration of theatre plays as well as various compositions for film soundtracks spread his name.

With Matrix Mertin embarks on a musical journey through contemporary club culture. „Cooperation“ and „synthesis“ are the journey’s recurrent themes, computer programming and handmade sounds are its tools. Most of the tracks on Matrix are instrumentals, occasional vocals create atmospheric soundscapes. Listen to Centrifugal Thinking, a 20th century soul track with guest vocalist Claudia Kröther. With Sarah Seidel’s voice, on the other hand, Ye Ye and Common Stories travel from airport lounges of the sixties to the clubs of the nineties. No Haze, featured on Music For Modern Living Vol.1, fits perfectly into this context: it is soulful, intelligent drum’n’bass with a relaxed vibe. L’Autre Jour (available as a remix 12“ remixed by Colin Thorpe of Guy Called Gerald and Chapter & The Verse producer fame from Manchester/UK) with its haunting accordeon is a nostalgic, yet futuristic and immensly melodic trip. There’s no denying: GATOR breathes soul into beats, bytes and drum’n’bass.