Author: Bridget Benevides
Cover photo courtesy of @matomaofficial on Facebook
The summer between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college I made a new best friend. A dashing young man moved in across the street (he was my neighbors’ grandson… don’t know why I am saying ‘was’ because he still is my neighbors’ grandson) and we became friends quickly. His name is Mac and he is one of the coolest and weirdest dudes I know, and we spent a lot of time together that summer. He listens to a lot of rap and hip hop and that is not reallllyyy my music of choice, but I went along with it because it didn’t bother me too much. BUT he showed me one song that really put a smile on my face, and to this day reminds me of him, that summer, and makes me groove a little, and that song is “Party on The West Coast” by Matoma.
Fast forward a year and a half and Matoma is coming to my beloved city Seattle and I am pumped to go see him! Matoma is coming to The Neptune Theater on Friday March 8th with special guests Sigala and Griffin Stoller (what a night right?!).
Norway’s Tom Stræte Lagergren (aka Matoma) is a DJ and producer known for his dance-oriented, tropical house music. Born in Asnes, Norway in 1991, Lagergren initially started out playing classical piano in his youth. It wasn’t until his teenage years spent listening to his older brother’s music collection—including albums by Paul van Dyk, Tiesto, and Armin van Buuren—that he became increasingly interested in electronic dance music. After high school, Lagergren, who had already started remixing and releasing tracks online as Matoma, furthered his studies by earning his Bachelor’s degree in Music Technology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. (source)
Over the past few years he has been gaining international recognition for his remixes which feature popular artists like Frenship, Dua Lipa, and Snoop Dogg. I love his music because it is upbeat but smooth and easy to listen to, it makes you want to dance but not in a “lets do drugs and look at lights” type of way, more of a “I am just so happy to be here in the moment with some good music and my best friends” type of way… Does that make sense? Well, check out his music to get more of a feeling of what I am talking about.
You can connect with Matoma on YouTube, Spotify, Instagram and Facebook.
Matoma is coming to The Neptune Theater of Friday March 8th. Doors open at 8:00pm and the show starts at 9:00pm. This is an all ages event. Tickets and event information can be found HERE.
BRIDGET BENEVIDES | West coast best coast | KXSU Music Reporter