Matt Karmil

Matt Karmil produces a wide variety of abstract house tracks, from sunny, disco-infused thumpers to more detached, half-asleep grooves. Heavily influenced by the sample-based production of '90s rap and trip-hop, his tracks are gritty, hazy, and lo-fi, as well as extremely hypnotic. His singles for labels like Beats in Space and Aus Music are reliable floor-fillers, while full-lengths such as 2018's ambient-leaning Will are a bit more abstract and experimental.

Born in 1979 not far from Stonehenge, Karmil was largely homebound as a youth, due to being diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus. He learned how to play guitar as a teenager, and eventually began listening to big beat and instrumental hip-hop, as well as drum'n'bass and jungle. By his early twenties, he had started DJing in London. Through meeting producers and songwriters in the city, Karmil was able to work with several pop musicians and gain recording studio experience. He moved to a forest in Sweden for a while, where he worked on his own music, and gradually worked in cities such as Stockholm, Paris, and Berlin before relocating to Cologne in 2012. He befriended several producers and DJs associated with the Kompakt label and record store, who convinced him to release some of his music, which he previously hadn't shared with anyone. His debut EP, Reverse Peephole, was released by International Records Recordings in 2013, followed by A Lot to Share on PNN and the single "So You Say" on Beats in Space. PNN also issued Karmil's debut full-length, ----, that year.

Following 2015 singles for Yumé, Studio Barnhus, and Endless Flight, Karmil released two albums in 2016. ++++, his second for PNN, was filled with drowsy, hissy house tracks, while IDLE033 (on Idle Hands) was closer to a left-field hip-hop beat tape. In 2017, Smalltown Supersound released "Can't Find It (The House Sound)," one of Karmil's most DJ-friendly productions to date. A longer version of the track also appeared on the 2018 full-length Will, which otherwise leaned toward his ambient side. A more club-focused EP, Tell Me Why, was released by Studio Barnhus during the same year, and Sourced was issued by Aus Music. STS371, an album of minimal yet energetic house tracks, appeared in 2020. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi