Mantismash
by Mister Mime
16th April 2021
Mantismash is a multifaceted mystical magician who operates musically in the psychedelic bass & downtempo realm. His latest offering, "Time Seeds", is one that, as he puts it, "Imagines each track as a 'seed' of a different plant, that will bear flowers and fruits of exotic flavours at the right time," and thus focuses on planting the right seeds and not giving in to the fear and confusion that surrounds our planet at this strange moment in time. In this record, Natan, aka "Mantismash", channels this crucial period in human history by combining the magical moments of his Goa stint into an exciting musical story of psychedelia, positivity and hope.
MM: Can you tell us a bit about your background and musical journey so far? And also how you chose the artist name “MantisMash”.
Mantismash: I started to explore electronic music at quite a young age, I think growing up in Israel which is probably the Psy-Trance nation of the world had its effect on me. My father is a music fan, he plays guitar and flute, so music was playing in the background my whole childhood. When I was in High School I started to get curious how that electronic music I like being made and when I was around 16 years old I started to experiment with electronic music production, exploring different softwares, learning how to synthesize the sounds I like, and further expanding my musical taste, going back to the roots of the psychedelic scene, discovering 70’s Progressive Rock, Fusion Jazz, Space Rock and in general anything that tickled my third ear in the right way, constantly expending my musical landscapes . The name ‘MantisMash’ was a combination of words that I liked, the (praying) mantis, which in many cultures symbolizes balance, intuition, calmness and spiritualism, and has also been referred to as a prophet. Also, the ‘Mantises’ or ‘Alien Ants’ entities appear a lot in psychedelic journeys and been mentioned in many texts and lectures by famous philosophers and psychonauts like Terence Mckenna for example. ‘Mash’ as in mash-up represents the mix of styles and musical influences that get ‘mashed up’ in my creation process.
MM: What is the theme of ’Time Seeds’? What about the tracks themselves: are there any stories behind any of them, like 'Chapora Sunrise' for example?
Mantismash: ’Time Seeds’ was mostly produced in Goa, it took about a year to complete while staying in a house by the Chapora river, many things happened during this year and many tracks and ideas came to life here, some recordings of birds on a beautiful sunrise by the Chapora river gave the title ‘Chapora Sunrise’ for example. I’ve been playing a lot on the ‘Bansuri’ flute which is an Indian traditional bamboo flute, which I recorded for a few tracks on the album. The title ‘Time Seeds’ came up during the whole Covid19 story. I feel like this is a very important time of transformation for our culture and it feels to me that focusing on the positivity it might bring, focusing on the light in our existence, is like a seed that you nurture that will eventually grow in the right moment in time... therefore ‘Time Seeds’ kind of represents this view. I can also imagine each track as a ‘seed’ of a different plant, that will bring its flowers then its fruits of exotic flavours at the right time, so focus on planting the right seeds, not giving in to the fear and confusion that surrounds our planet at this strange moment in time.
MM: Can you tell us a bit about the artwork?
Mantismash: The artwork represents those ‘seeds’ mentioned before, like a spiralling growth transforming seeds into flowers and with time into exotic fruits and flavours that will illuminate our lives with beautiful light.
MM: What’s your take on the concept of ‘genres’ in music? How do you draw from a variety of influences (psychedelic, dub/reggae, world, fusion, Glitch, etc.) to craft your own sound and vibe?
Mantismash: Seems that ‘genres’ keep blending more and more as the music keeps developing, especially within the electronic realms and electronic production. For me, I would say it’s a blend or a mix of genres and sounds that inspire me and get ‘mashed’ together into what I create, in general, u might call it ‘Psy-Bass’ as it’s quite a broad title.
MM: Who are some artists that you are really into this year?
Mantismash: This year had many great releases like the new ‘Ozric Tentacles’ album ’Space For The Earth’, ‘Philosopher’s Tone’ by ‘Hedflux’, ‘Rhythm Code 5 VA’ by the ’Shanti Planti’ collective, ‘Hidden Frogs’ by ‘Zen Baboon’, ‘Rhizomorphic’ also been on my playlist quite a lot this year.. it feels like all these releases are focusing on the light side of things as needed to balance the darker forces that trying so hard this year almost as they’re afraid they might lose the battle ;)
MM: What are your interests outside of music? Are you inspired by other art forms as well?
Mantismash: Well my other half is being a Graphic Designer and Digital Artist, I’ve been doing many album cover artworks including my own, event/festival posters, logos etc. it is my profession and hobby just as my musical side, so yeah definitely into visual arts, digital illustration and all those visual alchemies within these worlds.
MM: Do you have any advice for up and coming producers to creatively explore the psychedelic space through sound?
Mantismash: Best advice would be as u said, ‘Explore’, listen to different genres find out what is it that u like about something and why it excites u, it might be easy to follow certain trends, to imitate specific styles or artists and I think overall it’s a good thing as u can learn many things this way, use it as a learning curve and keep creating as much as possible until your own interpretation of these influences will develop and u will get your own audible ’signature’ or style, I think this is what its all about, bringing your unique view and input into this culture, inspiring others as well as being inspired by them, creating a kind of a beautiful fractal 'feedback loop’.
You Can Follow Mantismash on:
https://merkabamusic1.bandcamp.com/album/time-seeds
https://mantismash.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7DWz1Cj7HZrwBs7kraQqAm
https://soundcloud.com/mantismash
All Images courtesy of Mantimash
