Sunday Love: Rodriguez Jr.

A product of South Of France, between Ni?mes and Montpellier far from any big city, Olivier Mateu grew up on the seaside during the 1990s where he oscillated between piano lessons and electronic music parties.
As one half of French electro act The Youngsters ??? best known for their two studio albums and singles for Laurent Garnier???s F-Communications ??? Mateu has already received enough plaudits and praise to last a lifetime. The Youngsters??? award-winning productions catapulted them into the international arena, taking them to some of the biggest clubs and festivals around the world.
Rodriguez Jr. reveals a different incarnation of Mateu???s musical psyche, one that strides ahead, guided only by his kaleidoscopic vision; moving through shimmering, contemplative electronica, to deep and urgent techno, left field melodic accents and quirky pop refrains, Rodriguez Jr. is the by-product of an untamed brand of creativity and a thirst for the new and unexpected. Drawing inspiration from artists as diverse as Stockhausen, LFO, Carl Craig, Eric Satie, Kraftwerk, and Michael Polnareff, Rodriguez Jr.???s spirit of adventure translates as soaring creativity, and music that cannot be pigeonholed.
For a solid 10 hours a day, Mateu manifests Rodriguez Jr. in his MLab Mk5 studio, which brims with vintage synthesizers, keyboards and dusty analog gear. Drawing both pleasure and inspiration from live performance, Rodriguez Jr. relishes the opportunity to realize his project on the stage, and has done extensively throughout Europe and America during some of his most acclaimed shows at Tomorrowland in Belgium, ADE in Amsterdam, Off Week in Barcelona, Showcase in Paris, Watergate in Berlin and Loveland in Holland. Of particular note is the 2015 WMC in Miami and Desert Hearts festival, where his performance was rated the highlight in the festival???s history! No surprise he was voted in at no.31 in RA???s Top Live Acts.
On the production front, Mateu???s milestone???s including his first ever solo album ???Bittersweet??? on mobilee in 2011, followed by the 7th mobilee back to back compilation in 2013. A new studio album is set for mid-2017.
All the while, he continues to manifest EP and single gems, while continuing to develop his incredible live sets. In March 2016 he debuted his new Visualize show concept, intending to shift the artist???s performance towards that of a life concert feel, while heightening the connection with the crowd, courtesy of a stripped back minimalist set up. The resulting shows have been inspired expressions of his creative and technical talents and have taken in such dates as WeAre Festival (Marseille), Marvellous Island (Paris) and Loveland Barcelona, with Balaton Sound and Oasis Festival, among other handpicked events.