atisse & adko

There is something very precious about brotherly love, and what better way to celebrate it than to make music together? This is what the brothers Aleksandr and Yury Parkhomenko, aka Matisse & Sadko, get to do every single day. Way back when, while little Alexandr dreamt of being a rockstar, Yury wanted to be a rapper. Is it fair to say that together they met somewhat in the middle? At any rate, stars they did become, particularly in the eyes of progressive house fans around the world. Let’s hear what they’ve got to say about evolution in electronic music, their collaborations with Martin Garrix, and the greatest festival of all: Tomorrowland.

Can you tell us a little about how the love for music developed between the two of you, being brothers?

“Aleksandr taught himself to play the guitar, and was a fan of Nirvana-type grunge music. Yury wanted to be a rap artist and actively wrote beats and lyrics and sang. Everything turned upside down the moment we got acquainted with rave culture and electronic music. We saw some videos from Thunderdome, Love Parade and MAYDAY and that changed our lives forever. We managed to work as DJs in various clubs, hosted dance radio shows, and toured many cities as two separate artists. It was only several years later that we decided to unite into a common project and Matisse & Sadko was born. One of our first joint performances was our warmup set before Tiësto’s show in 2010. It was for this event that we wrote our first track, ‘Hi Scandinavia’. Off the back of that track followed an invitation to perform at Sensation White, and from that moment we started to live the life of real musicians.” motivate people, to give them life energy. After our first tours together we wrote a lot of good music with him. Over the past nine years, we have always been in touch, we celebrate holidays together, we consult each other about new music, and so on.”

How important are vocalists for the music you make?

“Before, we didn’t pay much attention to the vocal side and made a lot of instrumental music, using solo melodies instead of lyrics. But now we understand that a fruitful cooperation with vocalists takes music to another level. Firstly, it helps you to broaden your audience, as the song may get played on the radio. Secondly, there is nothing more pleasant than people knowing the words to your song and singing along during your set.” interesting and there’s a chance for something new to come out. We think, for example, that darker music should be replaced by lighter music.”

The music as we hear it at large electronic festivals keeps changing. We now hear more techno influences than ten years ago, for example. Where do you see the sound going in the next few years?

You guys joined Tomorrowland’s Remember the Name platform as musical talents. What was it like for you to take part in it?

You’ve collaborated quite a bit with Martin Garrix over the years. Can you tell us about that?

How did it start and how did it develop?

“We were featured on the same line-up back in 2014 and he arrived in advance to hear our performance. We then had a long talk, and two days later, we were exchanging ideas for our first collab. Martijn has a very special energy, he knows how to inspire and

“It’s true, every few years the music changes. Sometimes it’s due to the appearance of a monster hit with a new interesting sound, and sometimes the appearance of a new synth can affect a change in the mainstream sound. The fact of the matter is, it’s essentially a cyclical process, and now we’re back to the sound of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Techno is leading the way, it’s trendy and cool. Many producers are trying to use analog underground sounds in their productions and some are changing their name and style altogether. We think that when there’s too much of one genre in the market and everybody’s playing the same thing, it becomes less

“We were very grateful for the invitation to the project, and it has been a valuable and unique experience for us. Everything is happening in a positive, friendly and creative atmosphere. And it’s all thanks to the well-coordinated and professional work of the Tomorrowland team, as well as our new super-talented friends Claudio, Nagehan and Shabnam. What inspired us the most was working on the new track, where we used voice clips from people from all over the world. It felt like hundreds of people were involved in the creation of one song at the same time. In this track we tried to convey all our inspiration and love to our listeners, as well as using music as a universal language, a language with the power to unite people and give them unforgettable emotions.”

What’s been your favourite Tomorrowland moment throughout the years?

“There was a number of such moments! First of all, when Tomorrowland used our remix of M-3ox ft. Heidrun - ‘Beating of My Heart’ as the title track on the Tomorrowland 2012 aftermovie. It was amazing. We still remember those emotions. And secondly, our first Mainstage performance. To be as nervous as we were, but so happy at the same time… It was such a vivid and memorable moment.”