"So Good..." Gilles Peterson (BBC 6 Music, 20/09/14)

Daudi Matsiko has been playing music since he was eight years old. Firstly on piano and then guitar. He’s been writing songs since he was a teenager and although he’s still young, they speak of experience and trauma and gathered wisdom, and having suffered mental health problems in the past, has used his music as a crucial salve in times of strife and stress. His EP A Brief Introduction To Failure, which found support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Bandcamp podcast's Andrew Jervis and Spotify HQ's official playlists, was recorded in a whirlwind week in Brighton with High Hopes Society cohorts. “We borrowed a bunch of gear from friends with access to decent studio gear” explains Daudi. “Me, Ben Daniel, Ryan Buxton and Chris Boot spent a week making it. Those boys are my favourite people on earth. They helped me back into a healthy headspace, especially Chris. He's been rooting for these records since we were kids.” The EP was mixed by Adam Scrimshire who has acted as something of a mentor for the boys. “Adam is and was incredibly generous, and brought something incredibly special to the project,” confirms Daudi.

To nail him down to influences is like trying to bottle a tornado, as he reels an endlessly impressive list that runs from The Mars Volta, Nick Drake and Smashing Pumpkins, though to Jeff Buckley and The Beach Boys, The Roots and Cinematic Orchestra (“Everyday might be my favourite album,” he suggests). Plans are afoot for a new EP (working title: The Lingering Effects Of Disconnection). He’s been signed to an agency. People are talking about him. Things are happening. In all of that, you sense someone with their feet still firmly on the ground. Someone for whom failure is neither friend nor foe. Someone like Daudi Matsiko, in fact.

https://facebook.com/HelloDaudi https://twitter.com/HelloDaudi

Spotify - http://open.spotify.com/album/4RykT5RjKjDR2I0QAIIbja SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/hellodaudi/sets/a-brief-introduction-to-failure