Stephan Mathieu creates music that feels like a physical object weathered by time. It is a world of 'static places' where the crackle of a 78rpm record isn't just noise, but a foundational harmonic element. His work often begins with the sounds of early instruments or environmental recordings, which are then stretched and processed until they become shimmering, monolithic blocks of sound. It is deeply patient music that rewards the listener who is willing to sit still and let the frequencies unfold.
What sets Mathieu apart is his background as a mastering engineer and his obsession with obsolete media. He doesn't just use glitchy textures for the sake of it; he uses them to evoke a sense of historical memory. The music has a painterly quality, often compared to the vast, emotional canvases of Mark Rothko. There is a profound sense of space and air in his mixes, making the electronic elements feel as organic as a cello or a pipe organ.
For those new to his catalog, 'A Static Place' is the perfect entry point. It captures his ability to turn the mechanical artifacts of old recordings into something transcendent and beautiful. It is music for the quietest hours of the day, designed for deep focus or the kind of introspection that only comes when the rest of the world is muted.
Stephan Mathieu (born 11 October 1967) is a German mastering engineer and former musician. He currently lives in Bonn, Germany where he runs Schwebung Mastering, an independent studio for audio mastering and restoration. "(In 1997), I worked as an engineer and teacher in a classic electronic music studio in France, the former CERM (Centre européen de recherche musicale) Metz, where I had set up an experimental analog lab around their vintage devices by ARP, Crumar, EMS, Moog, New England Digital and Roland, as well as a digital production studio featuring the latest Pro Tools 24-Bit audio technology. There I started mastering in 1998 – without exactly knowing that’s what I did – by transferring countless DATs and reels with recordings made during their annual festival, cleaned, edited, and EQed them for archival purposes and as CD-R copies for the composers and performers. Around the same time, I began a long journey of learning more about listening critically, frequencies and dynamics while attending many mastering sessions for my material." Mathieu founded Schwebung Mastering in 2014 and has "collaborated with producers running the gamut of modern recorded music." He has worked for labels such as Editions Mego, Important Records, Kranky, Mexican Summer, One Little Independent Records, Past Inside The Present, RVNG Intl., Sacred Bones, Saltern, Secretly Canadian, Sferic, Shelter Press, Unseen Worlds, and mastered music by Ákos Rózmann, Alessandro Cortini, Anton Webern, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Catherine Christer Hennix, Celer, Charles Curtis, David Rosenboom, Éliane Radigue, Félicia Atkinson, Fennesz, Grouper, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, John McGuire, Kali Malone, Morton Feldman, Richard Landry, Robert Ashley, Stephen O'Malley, Terry Jennings, The Caretaker, Yoshi Wada among many others.
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