About Me
Ed Matus began his musical career as the guitarist for the Miami Trio Subliminal Criminal. The group consisted of the basic guitars, drums and bass set-up, yet Subliminal Criminal's sound was loud, heavy, and musically complex. The great musicianship of bass player Tony Cina and drummer John Lopez allowed Matus to explore a different approach to guitar playing. Within the first four years of their existence, Subliminal Criminal recorded 2 E.P.'s and released a split 7 inch with Miami hardcore outfit Timescape Zero.During the mid 90's Matus became known as a gun for hire in the burgeoning Miami music scene. Aside from playing guitar for Subliminal Criminal, Matus also helped out several bands during 1994 and 1995. Always looking to explore different styles of music, Matus played with indie rock group Sparkchamber (featuring Map of the Universe drummer Ed Artigas), avant-garde ensemble Fuselage, and Miami's Sludge-Core innovators Cavity. All four groups had varying styles which appealed to Matus' exploratory nature, but Fuselage in particular was an unconventional group which featured bass, viola, percussion, and various Andean instruments. This collection of instruments forced Matus to take on a completely different approach to guitar playing altogether.In addition to being known for his multiple endeavors Matus was already an unwilling cult figure thanks to his mentor and friend Juan Montoya. In 1993, Montoya formed a new group. Eventhough the group was playing live, they still could not think of a name. So Juan decided to use his friend's name and Ed Matus' Struggle was formed. "I thought it was hilarious. I thought 'they'll change it eventually', but they never did. People would come up to me and congratulate me on their shows, thinking I was a member of the group!"1996 proved to be a very productive year for Matus. Matus' guitar playing was featured in Cavity's full length debut "Drowning" for Bacteria Sour records. That same year also saw Subliminal Criminal's full length debut for Space Cadette records. Also in 1996, Matus was recruited by DJ Alex Caso and Iddo Arad of Dynamo Plaza for what would become The Love '94.After Matus joined, Richard Rippe of Swivelstick was recruited along with Justin Gracer of Machete. The Love '94 explored different styles of pop music. From Miami Freestyle, to Jackson 5 inspired funk. This turned out to be quite revolutionary in the Miami scene that was used to the very loud output from Matus' previous work. Unfortunately, the group was short lived since Arad departed to pursue studies, however, the influence of The Love '94 stayed with Matus for quite a long time.In 1997, Matus became increasingly interested with experimental electronic music, as well as different genres within the world of electronic music. Looking to try out a whole new sound palette, and different possibilities, Matus left Subliminal Criminal in February of 1997, and formed his electronic project HALO Vessel. After hooking up his drum machine to a chain of several guitar effect pedals, Matus decided this was the direction he wanted to pursue next. He joined Swivelstick for a few months and also formed the side project Car Fights Cat along with Henry Rajan, Chris Cline and Michael Kavanaugh before launching fully into the world of experimental electronic music.At the same time, Matus wanted to continue with the world of pop he glimpsed with The Love ' 94, so in the fall of 1997 Matus and Richard Rippe began writing songs for what would become The Waterford Landing. Later, they recruited former Love '94 bandmate Alex Caso and recorded what became the blueprint for The Waterford Landing's debut full length. The project would have to wait a few years to be completed since all three members were keeping themselves busy with their own interests.In 1998 Matus released HALO Vessel's debut self-titled full length on Audio Electric records, and appeared at several happenings along with Alex Caso and others accompanying the live configuration of HALO Vessel.In 1999 HALO Vessel appeared at the "Even Further" festival in Illinois along with artists such as Noize Creator, Bogdan Resczinsky, Richard Devine, and Unit. In 2000, HALO Vessel was featured in the German compilation "American Breakbeats" from Klangkrieg records, along with artists such as Matmos, Hrvatski, Kid 606, Electric Company, and Lesser. Through the years 2000 and 2002 HALO Vessel continued to record and make several live appearances, among them, his performance at Miami's counter Winter Music Conference event "Infiltrate" hosted by Miami's Beta Bodega label.In 2002 Matus, Rippe, and Caso began to re-record The Waterford Landing album. In 2003, Matus released the HALO Vessel "Honest Men", and "Honest Wages" EP's for Audio Electric. 2004 saw the start of Applied Chaotics records and the release of The Waterford Landing's debut full length. Matus describes The Waterford Landing as "essentially the culmination of all the experimentation and knowledge we have all acquired through the years".Matus no longer records under the HALO Vessel name and now records under his own name. In reference to this choice Matus comments "Since there's no more 'Ed Matus' Struggle', I figured it would be fine to use my own name."
