Vienna based musician returns to his Gibraltarian roots

Born on the Rock in 1981, Miles Matrix a Vienna based musician recently returned to the Rock to shoot footage for his single ‘Gallows’.

The video, shot guerrilla style, has within its opening scenes Mr Matrix standing by some Moroccan inspired artwork on Castle Street giving a nod to his where his family once resided at number 23.

When he was two years old Mr Matrix moved away because his Dad needed a job and with the border being closed it wasn’t easy to find work.

“It was very much a dream of mine to feature my birthplace in a music video and pay tribute to where I come from. I'm a proud Gibraltarian expat,” he told the Chronicle.

The video was shot on Huawei P20 smartphone camera and a DJI Osmo Mobile 2 in the first two weeks of January when he was on holiday in the area with his girlfriend Marlies, who is creatively known as Outerspace Girl.

He describes his visit as a “homecoming”.

“I really liked everything about the stay. My family lived in 23 Castle Street back in the days, so it was an amazing experience to go there,” he said.

“But if I'd have to pinpoint one specific place, it would be the rock itself. It's just magical. It was awesome travelling down the motorway and seeing it rise on the horizon and walking over the tarmac towards it.”

The video captures Gibraltar’s cityscape as well as the macaques.

He proudly wears a Gibraltar Football Association t-shirt with Gibraltar emblazed on the back.

“I've also been watching all Gibraltar national team games since forever, so I loved getting a look at the stadium,” he said.

He sits on the Union Jack steps during the video and both the British and Gibraltarian flags feature as does a local £20 note and other denominations.

While he was in the area he did some travelling around taking in places of historical interest such as Ronda, Cordoba and Tarifa.

“Gibraltar definitely was our favourite, not just because of my heritage,” Mr Matrix said.

Due to the fact he was on holiday he was unable to get the opportunity to see any local acts perform, much to his dismay. However, he will remedy this on his return whenever that may be.

“I definitely would like to return, and if I can connect that with a gig, even better. I'd love to play a venue in Gibraltar, or even perform at the next Gibraltar Calling Festival – that would be massive,” he laughed.

Mr Matrix has been writing music since he was a teenager and formed part of a band. Giving it up for a number of years, he returned to producing last year.

“Back when I was a teenager it was bands like Oasis or Guns N Roses, but lately it was the development of accessibility to producing music with simple means that really kicked it off for me,” he said.

“The most important thing is to have an idea of what you're trying to create, the rest follows.”

“As for my style it comes down to being an 80's child and loving the music from back then.”

Mr Matrix describes his music as “Synthwave music, a retrofuturistic genre which combines 80s pop influences with futuristic sounds and artwork.”

“Basically, if you liked the Drive or Stranger Things soundtrack, you'll like my music,” he said.

“Although the resulting sound can be pretty mainstream, the scene is very much indie and DIY.”

He states that inside the genre, Gunship and The Midnight are probably his biggest influences, but that he is also influenced by the music of Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze and New Order.

At present music is a spare time vocation for the artist, who makes a living from working in an ad agency.

His plans for 2019 include him finalising his first album, which is hopes to release in April, with ‘Gallows’ being the first single from this album – which made it to number eight in the Austrian Indie Charts.

“Then I hope to play a couple of gigs, maybe in Gibraltar, too?” Mr Matrix said.

“Charting would be cool, but as I am completely independent that will be down to luck. All in all, creating music and putting it out there and getting listeners is all I really want – anything beyond that would be a bonus.”

If Mr Matrix could team up with another person to either write, produce, perform with he would choose Sia.

“Definitely Sia. I believe she's hands down one of pop's best producers and writers – I love her work,” he said.

“But I'd also love to collaborate with Biffy Clyro or Dana Jean Phoenix.”

To see more about Miles Matrix visit his website: http://miles-matrix.com