Mathis Mootz is a prolific German
electronic musician
''Electronic Musician'' is a monthly magazine published by Future US featuring articles on synthesizers, music production and electronic musicians.
History and profile
''Electronic Musician'' began as ''Polyphony'' magazine in 1975, published ...
and
DJ. Mootz is best known as The Panacea (until 2005, simply as Panacea), his
drum and bass stage name and main musical project, and as m
2 (pronounced "Squaremeter"), his
dark ambient side project and alter-ego.
Born August 18, 1976 in
Wetzlar
Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
, Germany, Mootz served an apprenticeship in classical music and was a member of the boy's choir of
Windsbach
Windsbach is a town in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 20 km east of Ansbach, and 29 km southwest of Nuremberg.
Geography
Location
Windsbach is located in the Rangau area on the river Franconian Rezat. Th ...
. After studying music engineering at the
SAE Institute
The SAE Institute (SAE, formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College) is a private for-profit college with campuses and facilities, including licensed franchise operations, in 50 cities in 20 countries. It was found ...
, Mootz worked with the experimental
hip hop/
illbient
Illbient is a genre of electronic music and an art movement that originated among hip hop-influenced artists from Williamsburg, New York City around 1994. DJ Olive, and DJ Spooky, pioneers of the genre, have both claimed to have coined the ter ...
label Chrome, an offshoot of Force Inc Music Works. Over the course of several
drum and bass albums and many singles, and as
A&R manager for Chrome, later renamed Position Chrome, Panacea became known for pushing the bounds of the drum and bass genre into
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
and
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
territory, and for energetic DJ sets which fused these genres in a live setting. With his side project m
2, he explored a more minimal side of electronic music, first in the realm of
clicks 'n' cuts, and later in the
dark ambient territory pioneered by the likes of
Lustmord
Brian Williams is a Welsh industrial musician, sound designer and film score composer. He is often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord. His experimental work has been described as "not tra ...
. Mootz lives and produces in
Sommerhausen
Sommerhausen is a municipality and market town in the district of Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany.
History
Sommerhausen has been an important municipality on the Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly t ...
, a countryside town near
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg ...
.
__TOC__
The Panacea
Mootz experimented with
hip hop/
illbient
Illbient is a genre of electronic music and an art movement that originated among hip hop-influenced artists from Williamsburg, New York City around 1994. DJ Olive, and DJ Spooky, pioneers of the genre, have both claimed to have coined the ter ...
in the mid-1990s, an offshoot of Force Inc Music Works. Under the name Panacea, he released a string of dark
drum and bass singles on the label in 1996, followed by the LPs ''Low Profile Darkness'' in 1997 and ''Twisted Designz'' in 1998, which pushed the
tech step format established by the UK's
Ed Rush
Ed Rush is the stage name used by the drum and bass producer and DJ, Ben Settle (born 1973). Rush has been releasing records since 1992 and primarily with his musical partner Optical (Matt Quinn), since 1997. Along with Optical he is also the c ...
and
Nico Sykes into harsh
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
/
digital hardcore
Digital hardcore is a fusion genre that combines hardcore punk with electronic dance music genres such as breakbeat, techno, and drum and bass while also drawing on heavy metal and noise music. It typically features fast tempos and aggressi ...
territory. Mootz took over Chrome's
A&R, and the label was renamed Position Chrome soon after (the label is now under ownership by Mootz), evolving into one of the first and most notable German drum and bass labels.
Mootz's broad musical background led him to experiment in other style, from the
avant garde minimalism of his ''
Brasilia'' soundtrack (part of Caipirinha's ''Architettura'' series exploring the relationship between architecture and music), to his collaboration with
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...
singer
Hanayo, which saw the duo electronically re-scoring
Bach's ''
Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier
"" (I stand by your manger here) is a German Christmas hymn, with lyrics by Paul Gerhardt which were first published in 1653. It was then sung with an older melody by Martin Luther, but a melody which was likelyBernhard Leube"Das Kind und das Ich: ...
''. A number of MCs guested on his LP ''Phoenix Metabolism'' (1999), while he refined his industrial drum and bass style on the LP ''German Engineering'' (2001). Mootz also began a number of side projects and collaborations in this period, releasing albums of
raggacore
Breakcore is a style and microgenre of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sourc ...
(as Rich Kid),
electro (as Bad Street Boy),
hardcore techno
Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno or hardcore house) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorte ...
(as Kate Mosh), and drum and bass with DJ Scud (as The Redeemer) and Problem Child (as Disorder). ''Sinecore'', the first album by his
glitch
A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...
/
dark ambient ego
m2 (pronounced "Squaremeter") was released in 2000 on
Mille Plateaux
''A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia'' (french: link=no, Mille plateaux) is a 1980 book by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the French psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. It is the second and final volume of their collaborative ...
. A further ten albums were released by this project coming over labels such as Ant-Zen and Hands Productions.
''The Hardest Tour on Planet Earth'' (2001) documented his partnership with fellow German drum and bass artist Cativo, where elements of
oldskool hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...
began entering his products. ''Underground Superstar'' (2002) found him fusing early hardcore and
jump-up with modern production techniques. The album included "The Evil Seed", a vocal track for which a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
was produced, and "The Last Brotherhood". Adopting an extremely energetic DJ persona, he became known for sets that were equal parts hardcore and drum and bass. He also began collaborating with
Luna-C
Luna-C (born Christopher Howell, 1 May 1973) is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He was a member of the group Smart E's in 1992, who scored a 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Sesame's ...
, one of the champions of the
breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ad ...
revival known as hardcore breaks. ''Panacea Shares Needles with Tarmvred'', a collaboration with Needle Sharing and
Tarmvred
Tarmvred (Swedish for ''ileus'') is an electronic musical project from Gothenburg, Sweden that is the brainchild of Jonas Johansson.
History
Johansson got his start musically by making his own remixes of tracks by Skinny Puppy and posting ...
in 2002 on
Ad Noiseam
Ad Noiseam is an independent record label that has from 2001 onwards published electronic music in the form of (breakcore, drum'n'bass, IDM, dubstep) as well as hip-hop and jazz based in Berlin, Germany. Ad Noiseam was founded in April of 200 ...
, combined drum and bass, hardcore, and
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...
.
Position Chrome ceased activity briefly in 2004 when Force Inc.'s distributors EFA-Medien went bankrupt, but in 2005, Mootz revived the label, changing his name to The Panacea. He has since returned to somewhat darker sounds, releasing a number of singles on Position Chrome, as well as UK labels Outbreak and
Offkey Records, the latter run by UK producer Raiden and specializing in
Techno-DNB.
Currently, The Panacea is part of the Anger Management booking agency roster as well as Freak Recordings, which led him to headline several events of the Therapy Sessions franchise.
;Discography
* ''Low Profile Darkness'' (Chrome, 1997)
* ''Twisted Designz'' (Position Chrome, 1998)
* ''Hanayo in Panacea'' (Mille Plateaux, 1999) with
Hanayo
* ''Phoenix Metabolism'' (Position Chrome, 1999)
* ''Architettura Vol 4 - Brasilia'' (Caipirinha Productions, 2000)
* ''German Engineering'' (Position Chrome, 2001)
* ''The Hardest Tour on Planet Earth'' (Position Chrome, 2001) with Cativo
* ''Underground Superstardom'' (Position Chrome, 2002)
* ''Panacea Shares Needles With Tarmvred'' (
Ad Noiseam
Ad Noiseam is an independent record label that has from 2001 onwards published electronic music in the form of (breakcore, drum'n'bass, IDM, dubstep) as well as hip-hop and jazz based in Berlin, Germany. Ad Noiseam was founded in April of 200 ...
, 2002) with Needle Sharing and
Tarmvred
Tarmvred (Swedish for ''ileus'') is an electronic musical project from Gothenburg, Sweden that is the brainchild of Jonas Johansson.
History
Johansson got his start musically by making his own remixes of tracks by Skinny Puppy and posting ...
* ''Cryptonomicon EP'' (Position Chrome, 2007)
* ''Chiropteran'' (Position Chrome, 2010)
m2 (Squaremeter)
m
2 (pronounced "Squaremeter") is Mootz's main side-project, originally intended as a one off
clicks n' cuts release for
Mille Plateaux
''A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia'' (french: link=no, Mille plateaux) is a 1980 book by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the French psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. It is the second and final volume of their collaborative ...
. Over the course of several albums on prominent
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
labels Ant-Zen and Hands Productions, m
2 became more rhythmic-orientated and
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
in tone (featuring spoken word
samples from a
BBC radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
adaptation of
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
's ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
''), with prominent
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
influences. The most recent releases eschewed the vocal samples,
digital edits and heavy industrial rhythms in favour of spacious
soundscape
A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...
s and dark, brooding
ambient in the vein of pioneers such as
Lustmord
Brian Williams is a Welsh industrial musician, sound designer and film score composer. He is often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord. His experimental work has been described as "not tra ...
. m
2 also performs live at events such as
Maschinenfest
Maschinenfest was an annual three-day underground music festival in Germany, featuring industrial, power electronics, noise and other alternative electronic performers. It included both independent and signed bands as well as many vendors for mus ...
.
;Discography
* ''Sinecore'' (
Mille Plateaux
''A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia'' (french: link=no, Mille plateaux) is a 1980 book by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the French psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. It is the second and final volume of their collaborative ...
, 2000)
* ''14id1610s'' (Ant-Zen, 2000)
* ''Mono Brutal'' (Hands Productions, 2000) as Needle Sharing vs. m
2
* ''Parsec'' (Hands Productions, 2001)
* ''Kopyright Liberation'' (Ant-Zen, 2001)
* ''This Anxious Space'' (
Hymen Records
The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia, and is similar in structure to the vagina.
In children, a common appearance of the h ...
, 2001) as xhm
2 (a collaboration with
Xingu Hill
Xingu Hill is a musical project of musician John Sellekaers.
During the last ten years, John has released about forty records on various labels (such as Hushush, Ant-Zen, Hymen Records, Foton, Delikatessen, Mirex, Re-Load Ambient, and Nova ...
)
* ''The Bitter End'' (Hands Productions, 2002)
* ''War Of Sound'' (Ant-Zen, 2003)
* ''Aswad'' (Ant-Zen, 2004)
* ''The Frozen Spark'' (Ant-Zen, 2005)
* ''Nyx'' (Ant-Zen, 2006)
* ''Heliogabal'' (Ant-Zen, 2010)
External links
*
*
*
*
Panacea picks 5 tunes you should have heard but probably haven't
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mootz, Mathis
Drum and bass musicians
German electronic musicians
Electronica musicians
Ambient musicians
Hardcore techno musicians
Club DJs
1976 births
People from Wetzlar
Living people