Much like the peaks and valleys of the Alps, these Austrian visionaries want to take their listeners on an emotional and physical journey. He does concede that sometimes in their pursuit of a higher plane they take things maybe a little too far. “When we hang out, we have comatose experiences,” Tomá exclaims. Luckily they can pull themselves out long enough to produce some gems. Merging the names of members Beppo Ton (aka Sebastian Lehner) and Tomá plus the aforementioned coma you get Komaton. Self-described “sound artists”, make of that description what you will, the duo probably don’t conform to typical club music. “We want to reach the club scene, but we are doing some more experimental kind of tracks.” One such example would be Sweet Princess, balancing club appeal with idiosyncratic touches. “[It’s] just the tip of the iceberg, our album out next year will feature some more experimental acoustic tracks.” Favouring an organic process, Sebastian and Tomá trade ideas before laying anything down. “We start from scratch. Before a specific idea develops, we work on it and handball back and forth.”
Working with anyone so closely there are bound to be times when people get on each other’s nerves. “We are like an old couple sometimes. Of course there are disagreements, but they don’t stand between us. Everyone has a different way.” Having a strong bond doesn’t come overnight obviously. The devastating twosome goes way back, beyond their 2009 formation. “We have known each other for a long time, friend from the same Austrian town Linz,” he explains in his confident yet stifled English. “I was always playing in bands, Sebastian was a DJ and we both were active in the local electronic music scene. We started this project at my birthday two years ago.” Honing his skills for a number of years, Tomá picked up many of the ingredients that would form his style, including workshops with the Red Bull Music Academy in Toronto. “I was always working electronic music, I worked on many collaborations with several artist, I worked under the name Quareback.” A solo track, the ominous sounding Dark Ascent, appeared on a Red Bull Music Academy compilation in 2007.
Long a cultural hub, dating back to the days of Mozart, Austria proved to be the perfect creative environment for the future party starters. No word on whether they were inspired by fellow Austrians Falco and their brilliantly ridiculous 1985 hit Rock Me Amadeus. Proving that there’s more to their native land than established exports like yodelling and death metal, the dance music community is growing. “The scene is developing very fast right now, the club scene is really progressing. You have many choices every day. So many artists from all over playing in Vienna.”
As things pick up back home the fellas have been spreading the gospel to their insatiable fans across Europe and beyond. “[We’ve been] everywhere in Austria, The Weekend Club in Berlin, Moscow. My favourite gig was at Flex Club, the biggest and one of the oldest in Austria, our homeground territory. It’s always an experience, they’re special people there. We have many fans come there for us.” Remembering those humble beginnings, Tomá recalls a night when things didn’t go to plan. “Our first gig at Flex was our second ever and our controller broke, we had to reprogram in five minutes.” As the years have gone on things have gotten even more eventful. Having so many layers to their tunes provides a challenge as Komaton explore the full depth of the compositions. “I sing and play live guitar, that gives our show a connection to the audience. [It] goes beyond the standard laptop live set.” As described by Tomá it sounds unlike anything presented on the scene right now. “Our vocals often have a big impact on the crowd, it’s emotional and sometimes dramatic, always kicking.”
Down Under for last week’s massive Shine On, sharing the same bill as heavyweights like A Guy Called Gerald and Wax Tailor, Komaton have been soaking up the vibes. “We are excited; we’ve never been here before.” Riding on the mutual high, Tomá and Sebastian will be following up their slew of singles and EPs with a full length project. The album is out next year and an EP comes out on Dame Music from Berlin early next year.” Listeners can expect the progressive sounds for years to come.
