Meet Mataya Waldenberg | Performance Artist & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mataya Waldenberg and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mataya, what role has risk played in your life or career?
As an artist, I believe that taking risks is indispensable in order to succeed. An artist who only stays in their safe space is probably more of a designer – someone that tailors an item to the profile of a demographic or individual. Being an artist, at least for me, means to non-stop push the edges of your field and to foray into the unknown. So there will always be a risk, as no one has done a certain thing before, which I am about to undertake.

I make art because I am unsatisfied with what the world is offering me. I cannot properly exist as the person I am in the structures given by the people who went before me, so I need to put in my own effort and make something new. And if deep down, I truly believe that it is what I need to do, then I will succeed. For that, being in contact with my body and intuition is very important. If I feel into myself, I always know what the right decision is, even if I am not yet conscious about the reasons behind it. But if it feels like this is where to go in order to build my world to exist in, then that’s the way.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I make performance art ceremonies based on my songs, which incorporate interactive elements (like stomping, clapping, singing mantras in a choir) to immerse the audience into the fantastical world of the music. What I seek to do with this is to inspire people and stimulate their own creative drive, so they become active and creative on their own, as well as connect them emotionally through the understanding that no matter how different our backgrounds may be, we all have valid and individual reasons for feeling the emotions we do – a set of emotions, that we humans all share, but experience for different reasons, respectively. My music is an eclectic mix of opera and dance-able electronic music, with a touch of fantasy and science fiction sonic cues.

I am really proud of the fact that with each performance, I manage to grow closer with the audience. Once, I had my parents and siblings in attendance, and our relationship greatly improved following that – as they could, for the first time, actually understand how I could thrive in this unconventional role.

It was not very easy getting to where I am now. But I succeeded because I knew that this path was my best chance to become happy, so I set on everything to improve my craft, develop a purpose and find a way ahead. In order to find my place in the world, I realized that I probably needed to change the world to fit me. I want to make it easier especially for fellow queer people growing up and not finding a pre-set path for them. So I am present and visible to show that there is another world, a different world here for us all to build with our imagination and creativity, if we learn how to ignite the sparks in us and translate them into action.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For eating and drinking, there are countless wonderful cafés and restaurants around town. Berlin is large and has plenty to offer. But my favourite spots for drinking coffee and chat would be Monkey Mind and MANA, two vegan places in the neighbourhood of Moabit, in the western part of the city. Though if I am in the eastern half, I love frequenting Aprilkind in Friedrichshain. Two of my favourite parks to hang out are Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg and the huge Tiergarten, which is right in front of Brandenburg Gate. There are also a lot of clubbing opportunities in the city, although most of them are tied to specific event series with changing locations.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Kris Vango, who is a really amazing musician and producer himself, has given me plenty of very helpful advice on how to improve my music production process. He also recommended the book “Zen and The Art of Mixing” to me, which helped me tremendously in getting the technical aspects of my songs right.

Website: https://mataya-waldenberg.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mataya.tif/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatayaOne

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mataya.waldenberg

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9XDS3FWvGk6EC1aJObABw

Image Credits
Johnny Valverde, George Kanis, Lee Lester, Gorge Goncalves, Marina Belikova, Yola Karageorgieva, Dennis Haase, Mark Galvan