Matthieu Safatly

Cellist - Bassist - Singer - Composer - Videast Born in 1974 in France - Living in Belgium ____________________________________________________________ Beginning in 1995 with the Norman group Quattrophage — where acoustic instruments (cellos, percussion, prepared instruments and repurposed objects) blended with electric instruments (guitar, turntable, sampling…) for a mix of improvised music, contemporary music and electroacoustic music — the musical journey of Matthieu Safatly has followed a variety of paths. That of “electro” with Black Sifichi & Negative Stencil (a trio forming a poetic electro-cabaret-circus in which he played the role of bassist, cellist and percussionist), then with the collective Wild Shores where he offset the rigor of machines and industrial sounds with his progressive layerings on the cello or his instinctive rhythms using metallic minimalistic percussion. That of text, by tweaking his instrument for spoken word performances or plays. That of physical and sonic performance with the Compagnie Faim de Siècle. That of pure acoustic and personalized improvisation, in sometimes unexpected on-site encounters. That of image, by accompanying films or slideshows. That of rock (the Belgian group Present, and sometimes Bang Lassi where his twin brother Stringo Jett played bass), or of a tortuous, complex and sensuous solo melody. He followed these paths for ten years before taking a long break, only to return with renewed vigor in early 2008, principally with his organic solo work, fluctuating between an ambient sensuality and a narrative and hypnotic musique concrète (an album is forseen in summer 2010), but also in two projects where he is the originator or the composer (the duo Nectarine Gum, playing an upbeat electro-pop with his wife on vocals; and for Stringo Jett, who after having left the group Bang Lassi asked him to set to music his texts and his attitude of an endearing crooner-loser).