Rodriguez Jr.
Genre: Electronic
Origin: France
Whilst some follow trends, others set them. Award-winning music producer and live performer Rodriguez Jr. also known as Olivier Mateu has spent 20 years in the industry, with his vast experience of all genres of electronic music making him the visionary of melodic house and techno he is today. Initially, Mateu made his name under the mentorship of the legendary Laurent Garnier, releasing music on the revered F-Communications label as one half of French electro act The Youngsters. Following this he gradually honed his style into the dynamic, colourful sound of beauty that can now be regularly found on Mobilee, Anjunadeep and demanded for on remixes of Stephan Bodzin, Booka Shade, Eli & Fur, Steve Bug, Timo Maas and more.
Drawing inspiration for his live performances from the vintage synthesizers, keyboards and dusty analog gear of his studio in Paris, Rodriguez Jr. relishes the opportunity to travel the globe and realise his project on stage. In doing so he has amassed a devoted and loyal fan base through the creation of his unique movement. Some of the most recent acclaimed shows featured huge festival performances at Sziget (Hungary), Lightning in A Bottle and CRSSD (both California), Paraiso and Sonar Festival (both Spain). Continuing to blur the boundaries between electronic and organic like few others can, his extensive touring schedule sees Mateu at world- renowned clubs and festivals every week, taking him to the likes of Solumun Live at Destino Ibiza, Fabric London, Space Miami, Cityfox Live New York, and Cercle Festival Paris.
Not stopping there, Rodriguez Jr. has formed a special musical partnership with Nouvelle Vague vocalist Liset Alea. The pair met 15 years ago creating music for Laurent Garnier ́s label, and through their ongoing live RJLA project, they tell sonic stories, fusing organic charms of live instrumentation with cutting-edge music for the dancefloor and presenting this at selected events. This culminated in an extraordinary audio/visual display for broadcast pioneers Cercle, with a unique performance at the carefully selected idyllic location of Falaises d’Etretat, showcasing their captivating live electronics.
On the production front, Mateu has continued to have an exceptional output, with his Mobilee release Radian entering the Beatport top ten within three days following release. Another highlight was his full Anjunadeep debut on the eclectic double-cut entitled Phoenix/ Amargosa. Alongside this his remixes have also been received with equal merit on labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Systematic and Poker Flat. His latest reworking of Eli & Fur on Anjunadeep made it to number three of the Beatport melodic house & techno chart. On Spotify, his music reaches an audience of 500,000 listeners each month and continues to grow every week.
In April this year, Olivier followed up the globally supported 2017 album Baobab with BLISSS, the next exciting chapter. Inspired by his deep rooted and wide-ranging influences, it rewards fans both old and new alike and has received press from DJ Mag, Magnetic Mag and Mixmag; as well as playlisting by Spotify, Apple Music, Berlin’s Radio Eins and Flux FM and plays on the world’s key tastemaker stations. The album hit #14 in the Beatport Top 100 Releases, and had massive support from DJs including John Digweed, Sasha, Solomun, Jamie Jones and Richie Hawtin.
Mateu says “I was trying to not run after the apex of an idea, but rather to let it take me somewhere else, this state of free creative consciousness is itself a moment of BLISS.” It is this mindset that has seen him emerge as one of the pioneers for challenging the norms of self-expression during the Covid-19 pandemic; with his studio performance livestreams reaching over 1 million people and attracting the attention of Beatport who invited him to perform for their ReConnect series.
