Matthew Ker, known by his stage name MaJiKer, is a
British songwriter-producer and performer. He resides in
London and works internationally, having lived for many years in
Paris,
France.
Music career
Collaborations
MaJiKer has worked extensively as a songwriter-producer and live performer, with a special interest in vocal production and co-writing material.
After graduating from
Dartington College of Arts, MaJiKer produced the double platinum-selling album ''
Le Fil'' with French singer/songwriter
Camille and the pair collaborated again when producing and co-writing its platinum-selling follow-up ''
Music Hole''. He performed on stage with Camille on her international tour for ''Le Fil'' during 2005–2006 and was musical director and performer on the ''Music Hole'' tour in 2008-2009. MaJiKer also co-wrote songs with Camille for her albums
Ilo Veyou (2011) and Ouï (2017). His work with Camille has won awards including the
Prix Constantin, several
Victoires de la Musique and
BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music.
In 2010, he collaborated with producer
Valgeir Sigurdsson on the
arrangements for the debut album by
Italian artist
Erica Mou, with whom he subsequently toured internationally.
His other studio collaborations have included artists such as
Emmelie de Forest,
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...
and
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...
,
You Are Wolf, Zaza Fournier, juice vocal ensemble,
Melissa Laveaux,
[As reported on Majiker's website]
July 2011. Maya Barsony,
[ and China Moses. He has remixed artists including ]Fever Ray
Karin Elisabeth Dreijer (born 7 April 1975) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with their brother Olof Dreijer. Dreijer released their debut solo album under ...
, Nico Muhly, Jenny Wilson, Melnyk, Temposhark, Nicolette and Client.
In 2017 MaJiKer performed as the beatbox soloist in Anna Meredith's Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra with the Southbank Sinfonia.
After signing a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing he started regularly co-writing songs with other artists, songwriters and producers. American singer-songwriter Allyson Ezell became a frequent collaborator, and together they wrote the English version of Mercy by Madame Monsieur (which become France entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018), as well as songs for electronic acts Jabberwocky, Namic, Les Gordon, Joyzu and TEPR
Yelle is a French band founded by lead singer and namesake Yelle (Julie Budet) and GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). A third member, Tepr (Tanguy Destable), joined the band before the recording of their debut album. Yelle and GrandMarnier b ...
.
In 2018, he directed vocalists for the spoof charity song 'Save Our Trolls' for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour which featured performances by Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff.
Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching i ...
, Miranda Hart, Edith Bowman and Andy Serkis.
In late 2019, he collaborated with beatbox collective Berywam
Berywam is a French beatbox crew based in Toulouse, France. They won the French Beatbox Championship 2016. Their EP was released on 2 June 2017. They also won the Beatbox Battle World Championship 2018 in crew category.
Career
2015–2016 ...
, co-producing and co-writing tracks on the debut album.
Solo albums
MaJiKer's solo debut album ''Body-Piano-Machine'' was released in April 2009. All the sounds on the record came from the body ( body percussion, human beatbox and singing voice
A voice type is a group of voices with similar vocal range, vocal ranges, capable of singing in a similar tessitura, and with similar vocal transition points (''passaggio, passaggi''). Voice classification is most strongly associated with Europ ...
), an acoustic piano, and a specific machine - a Yamaha keyboard PSS 270 which was the keyboard from his childhood.
His second solo album entitled ''The House of Bones'' was released on Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
2011 on Alche-my. The album was recorded in Valgeir Sigurdsson's Greenhouse Studios, and in a remote summer house on a mountain in Laugarvatn, Iceland. The project was inspired by ghost stories, haunted house movies from the 1940s and Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
. He toured both albums, performing several times in Paris, and also in the UK including gigs at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and The Hare & Hounds in Birmingham.
In 2014 he released the collaborative album project ''NORTH'' which consisted of Nordic folk melodies with new lyrics in English written by MaJiKer himself. He also arranged and produced the album which featured 16 guest vocalists including Jennie Abrahamson, Sam Lee, David Thomas Broughton, China Moses, Thea Hjelmeland
Thea Hjelmeland (born 1987 in Førde, Sogn og Fjordane) is a Norwegian musician, singer and songwriter, raised by an artist mother and a musician father.
Career
Her first album ''Oh, the third..'' was released in 2012.[Gaggle
Gaggle may refer to:
* Gaggle (band), an all-girl choir based in London
* Gaggle (software), student surveillance software
* Press gaggle A press gaggle (as distinct from a press conference or press briefing) is an informal briefing by the White ...]
and Ellekari Sander.
In 2019 he created two albums of original songs entirely made from human body sounds exclusively for Felt Production Music, which have been used in TV and radio shows internationally.
On the meditation app Insight Timer, throughout 2020 MaJiKer released his
Serenetudes
a series of 24 tracks each created using a single vocal note which is sculpted into an hour-long immersive soundscape.
Selected discography
Albums
* Martin Mey - ''Words (Without)'' - (2019, ''Internexterne'')
* Claude Violante - ''Armani'' - (2019, ''Panenka Music'')
* TEPR - ''Technosensible'' - (2019, ''Parlophone / Warner Music'')
* Coco Bans - ''Fantasy & Parables'' - (EP) - (2019, ''Warner'')
* You Are Wolf - ''Keld'' - (2018, ''Firecrest Records'')
* Zaza Fournier - ''Le Déluge'' - (EP) - (2018, ''Le Rat des Villes'')
* Allyson Ezell - ''The Ease of Remembering Sparks'' - EP - (2015, ''Universal'')
* Zaza Fournier - ''Le Départ'' - (2015, ''Verycords'')
* The North Project - ''NORTH'' - (2014, ''Alche-my'')
* Celina Bostic - ''Zu fuss'' - (2014, ''Rough Trade Germany'')
* You Are Wolf - ''Hawk To The Hunting Gone'' - (2014, ''Stone Tape'')
* MaJiKer - ''The House of Bones'' - (2011, ''Alche-my'')
* Erica Mou - ''È'' - (2011, ''Sugar'')
* MaJiKer - ''Body Piano Machine'' - (2009, ''Gaymonkey Records'')
Gaymonkey Records, April 2009.
* Camille - ''Music Hole'' - (2008, ''Virgin'')
* Camille - ''Le Fil'' - (2005, ''Virgin'')
Songs
* Anna Zak - ''Call It Out'' - (2019, ''Cool Beanz'')
* Erica Mou - ''A Ring In The Forest'' - (2019, ''Beating Drum'')
* Alyusha - ''48'' - (2019, ''Tsuru'')
* Elisa Erka - ''Corps Météo'' - (2019, ''Universal'')
* Inni K - ''Edges'' - (2018)
* Charl XCX - ''Lucky (Ö Remix)'' - (2018, ''Asylum'')
* TEPR - ''Why Don't You ft. JAFAAR'' - (2018, ''Parlophone / Warner Music'')
* Claude Violante - ''Armani'' - (2018, ''Panenka'')
* Coco Bans - ''Make It Up'' - (2018, ''Coco Bans'')
* Emmelie De Forest - ''History'' - (2018, ''Cosmos'')
* Woman's Hour - ''Save Our Trolls'' - (2018, ''BBC Radio 4'')
* Namic - ''Brush It Off ft. Allyson Ezel - (2018, ''Soonvibes'')
* Avenue Sky - ''We Can Run'' - (2018, ''amuse'')
* Camille - ''Lasso'' - (2017, ''Because Music'')
* Camille - ''Fille à papa'' - (2017, ''Because Music'')
* Emmelie De Forest - ''Sanctuary'' - (2017, ''Cosmos'')
* Jabberwocky - ''Lighter Day ft. Allyson Ezell'' - (2017, ''Pain Surprises'')
* Annica Milán & Kimmo Blom - ''Good Enough'' - (2016, ''UMK'')
* Emily Portman - ''Hollow Feather'' - (2015, ''Furrow Records'')
* Nitin Sawneny - ''October Daze (French version)'' - (2015, ''London Undersound'')
* juice vocal ensemble - ''Only Girl In The World'' - (2014, ''Nonclassical'')
* Cecilia Nordlund - ''Något mörkt'' - (2014, ''Margit Music'')
* Erica Mou - ''Nella Vasca Da Bagno Del Tempo'' - (2012, ''Sugar'')
* Camille - ''My Man Is Married But Not To Me'' - (2011, ''Virgin/EMI'')
* Maya Barsony - ''La Funambule'' - (2011, ''Columbia Records'')
* David Bryne & Fatboy Slim - ''Pretty Face'' - (2010, ''Todomundo/Nonesuch'')
* Melissa Laveaux - ''Dodo Titit'' - (2008, ''No Format'')
* Maya Barsony - ''Boomerang'' - (2008, ''Sony BMG Music Entertainment'')
Notes
External links
MaJiKer's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majiker
French-language singers
Living people
English electronic musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)
English record producers