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A DC Event You’d Be Crazy to Miss: Matoma at A.i. [Event Preview]

April 22, 2016 By Alisha Wieckmann

matoma-a.i. DC

A.i., Nu Android’s pop up event, has been killing the game in music since its inception at the No Xcuses vs Enormous Tunes tour. They’ve brought us Nora En Pure, EDX, STWO, Branchez, Vices, Jailo, John Digweed and many more. Added to this ever growing list, Nu Androids and Closed Sessions brings us Matoma, who is set to appear Friday, April 29th with support from Alex Noize and Kids Want Techno.

These A.i. events have the ability to take a typical club setting and flip it into something that feels intimate and almost exclusive. Fans can practically touch the artist playing, the sound is on point and there’s plenty of space to dance or stand depending on what you’re feeling. An upstairs area comprised of VIP tables and general standing area gives a birds eye view of the excitement below and even sold out shows don’t feel over crowded or too packed. The best aspect, their ability to book artists ranging within so many sub genres.

Matoma, a DJ and producer hailing from Norway, started out on piano before making his move into electronic music. His remix of The Notorious B.I.G’s “Old Thing Back” hit #2 on VG-Lista, the Norweigen Singles Chart and #1 on Hype Machine. Matoma’s dance-y tropical house sounds have been added to Cold Play’s “Adventure of a Lifetime” remix and his recent project Hakuna Matoma which is a mix between an album and playlist. The idea of this hybrid album is that he constantly updates it with new music; most recently, a Coachella version and it’s something unique, and with ideas as great as this we’re excited to see what he brings to DC.

When it comes to supporting artists for the A.i. events there is no slacking in this aspect either. Making their A.i. debut is Adam Solhjou and Jordan McLeod from Kids Want Techno. Although Techno resides in their name this duo strays away from sub genres delivering everything from high energy to melodic tunes such as their newest remix with Rederic of Daniela Andrade’s cover of Childish Gambino’s “Telegraph Ave / Sober” which has garnered over 40 thousand streams on Soundcloud since its release seven days ago.

Rounding out the list of supporting artists is DC resident and England native, Alex Noize. This self taught deep house artist will be a great compliment to the other two artists bringing an array of sounds including a bit of hip-hop. Look out for his upcoming EP.