BIO
Ok, let’s keep this simple. Here is a little bit about me!
Mattie Safer is my name. I sing, play multiple instruments, write songs and produce records. I was born in Washington DC and lived in Silver Spring, MD until I was 18, when I escaped to New York City where I’ve lived ever since. I’ve been playing music in one form or another for about 20 years. I moved to New York to study jazz at NYU. I dropped out after a year because I wanted to take a shot at making my own music. And that’s what I do. Here’s how it all began:
About a month after I moved to New York I joined up with a band called The Rapture. If you’ve heard my name before, that’s probably how you heard it. We were all new to the city, young and hungry for music, nightlife, fun, domination: your average sort of teenage dreams. We were practicing 5 nights a week, playing shows all over the city. Out and about we linked up with a couple of guys who owned a studio and called themselves the DFA. We hung out together non-stop, spending too many nights at Plant Bar DJing, talking shit, sleeping on each others’ floors… The good life.
Musically, New York was an eye opener. I had grown up listening to hip hop, punk, r&b and soul records… Things like Junkyard Band, Stevie Wonder, Talking Heads, Mary J Blige, The Meters, Jay Z, Born Against, Curtis Mayfield, Aaliyah, Slick Rick, The Pixies, Cash Money, Black Flag, The Beatles, etc… Now, living in the city and armed with a fake ID I found myself sneaking into clubs like Centrofly, APT and Passerby and listening to club music: Cajmere, DJ Assault, Felix The Housecat, Masters at Work, Jacques LuCont, Playgroup, Munk, DJ Technics, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, Detroit Grand Pubahs and all other weird sorts of wonderfulness.
Eventually all the shit-talking led to something and we made a single together called “House of Jealous Lovers” that for a brief moment seemed to take over the world. Along the way we released several more singles, an EP (“Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks”), a couple albums (“Echoes” and “Pieces of the People We Love”) and toured incessantly across 5 continents, performing songs like “House of Jealous Lovers,” “Sister Saviour,” “Whoo! Alright, Yeah—Uh Huh” “No Sex for Ben” and “Pieces of the People We Love” and working with some wonderful producers (The DFA, Timbaland, Steve Lillywhite, Paul Epworth, Ewan Pearson and Dangermouse). On the side I also sang/played on records by Tiefschwarz, Headman, and Kaos.
It was a wonderful experience, but after 10 years (Spring of 2009) I decided to leave the band in order to pursue my own musical interests. It wasn’t an easy decision but I felt like it was time for a new challenge and a new experience! I think that it’s worked out well for everyone, they continue on without me and I wish them the best of luck.
So now having left the group, I immediately set to work, first writing the material on my own, then producing the basic tracks out of my bedroom studio together with the brilliant Dances With White Girls, and finally adding vocals, pianos, guitars and strings at various spots all around the city. After a little more than a year of this I found myself with set of 17 songs (and I’ve added more), most of which will be seeing a release in 2012.
My first release was a track called “Is That Your Girl?” which features Telli from Ninjasonik. The track featured on a mix compilation from Busy P and DJ Mehdi (R.I.P.) called “Let The Children Techno” (released on Ed Banger Records). I’ve also recorded and released tracks with Uffie (“Illusion of Love”), Beni (“Someone Just Like You”) and Jam Factory (“One Night Stand”).
Basically, I love making music, I love performing and I love being in the studio. I get to do this shit for a living, and that’s the greatest thing in the world. Hopefully I will continue to be blessed with the opportunity to create music for you. Thank you for listening, thank you for reading, and I hope to be seeing you soon!
Love,
M
