Dario Matta

Dario Matta is a musician, professor and composer from La Rioja, Argentina who makes vaporwave music. His most recent set of releases is a "four-part concept album about capitalism": Martini Racing (summer), Nostalgiosa llevo el alma (fall), Vapores para la gripe (winter), and Season Change Collection (spring).

Pool Plants: What is your personal history with Argentinian music? Who are your favorite Argentinian musicians or bands? What kind of non-Argentinian music did you listen to growing up?

Dario Matta: I was born and raised in a family made of musicians. My parents are both composers, professors, and conductors, so I received a lot of influences from both sides: grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc. Obviously, I grew up listening to a lot of Argentinian music throughout the 90s and the early 2000s: folklore, tango, jazz, cumbia, rock music, radio pop. And a lot of artists from other American countries as well: Chico Buarque from Brazil, Silvio Rodriguez from Cuba, Mateo & Cabrera from Uruguay, just to name a few. And mostly rock bands from Britain and the US.

All these years I lived, worked and studied in three provinces: La Rioja, Mendoza and San Luis. All places with a unique cultural and musical identity and that is also a big influence in my artistic work.

P: How were you first introduced to vaporwave music and how did you get your start in the vaporwave scene? How did you come up with your artist name? What do you like in the current vaporwave scene?

D: I listened to “Eccojams” and “Floral Shoppe” back in ‘16 or ‘17 and it blew my mind. I suddenly said, “This is the best music genre ever made, it’s completely relatable and mind-altering at the same time.” I was 27 years old by then, already had my college degree in popular music and I was working as a professional musician (mostly singing and teaching). But it never occurred to me that I could also make that kind of music. So I started collecting old cassettes, walkmans, recording on the radio, etc. and started to make my first experiments which sounded more like noise avant-garde music rather than vaporwave. But as soon as I learned how to make my own mixtapes and loops on my computer, I think my “style” evolved more into conceptual-vapor pieces, works or something like that.

I don’t use a specific pseudonym but some of my friends call me Dario Vaporwave or DJ Analógico when they see me play with old tape recorders. I still prefer to just use my real name.

P: When making vaporwave, how much do you draw on Argentinian music and influences? Have you made albums that are about Argentina in any particular way? Do you think there is anything unique about Vaporwave from Argentina?

D: Well, in fact my first three albums were called “Argentinian Vaporwave” because most cassettes used on those tracks were from Argentinian music: Lito Vitale, Bernardo Baraj, Spinetta Jade, Charly García, folk music, jazz. And most of my records are thematically and conceptually linked to Argentine history, pop culture, politics, voices and images from our past. Conceptually, vaporwave itself is a strange mixture between American pop culture, Japanese technology, ‘80s nostalgia, ‘90s nostalgia, old software and hyper-capitalist utopias/dystopias. I find it really interesting to add the “local flavour” of Argentine music, voices and references. Our country (most of Latin America really) had these glimpses of “first world glamour” during the 80s and 90s and at the same time we have a very violent and turbulent history and a vast territory with so many different realities, socially and culturally. I like to think that vaporwave music can reflect that in a very metaphorical and ironic sense. It is the perfect way to tell a twisted story.

P: Have you worked with other Argentinian musicians or artists, either locally or nationally? How about people in other countries in South or Central America?

D: Back in 2018, living in Mendoza, I had a project named “La Triple M” alongside Diego Monton and Andrés Musolino. We made a couple of shows and recordings in this experimental/vapor/noise kind of sound vibe, mixing old drum machines and sequencers with volcas, monotrons, walkmans and cellphones. Aside, I had an independent label called “5tracks” during those years, where I published and curated several electronic and vapor works from artists like Mica Baum, my fellows Musolino and Monton, Eselcayebro, Western Onion, Σιμόνα, and Tulpa.

P: Do you think you are able to connect easily with the American or European vaporwave scenes despite the geographical distance?

D: In my own terms, I see myself as a hermit sometimes. Just recording things, playing live occasionally but I have to admit that my music (at least my vapor works) doesn’t have a lot of feedback or reach. Therefore, I find troubles with connecting with other artists even in my own country.

Of course, I’d like to connect with the “Big Names” or at least some vapor artists that I really love and admire: vcr-classique from (I think) France, bodyline and bl00dwave from Italy, CatSystem Corp. from The Netherlands. Their music always has that “elegant” European vibe, despite the voices, samples and languages you hear. As I said before, vaporwave can be very local and “unlocated” at the same time; retro and futuristic, good-feeling and very depressing at other times. It’s all a matter of mood and feelings and that’s pretty universal… So yeah, I’d like to (and perhaps I can) connect with vapor artists from other places.

P: What is one thing you would like to see happen with vaporwave in Argentina or vaporwave in general? How do you think the vaporwave scene in Argentina could grow?

D: Personally speaking, I think vaporwave itself (despite loving the genre and making my own works) has a kind of existential trouble. It is a genre fueled by a twisted tragic sense of nostalgia and evasion. We can’t cope with this horrific present, we know the future is going to be worse and so we seek refuge in an altered reality, an idealized past that actually never happened, and the liminality of things.

Of course, I celebrate whenever my favorite artists make new records and I’d like to hear new artists from my country, but at the same time it makes me wonder about moving on. Vaporwave is like a drug. A very fancy, feel-good, and lovely drug if you ask me. But maybe we are put into sleep for too much and maybe it’s time to wake up by ourselves, before reality does.

You can find Dario Matta's music on Bandcamp, YouTube, and Soundclound.

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