Yonatan Gat יונתן גת | |
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 Gat performing in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
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| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | Medicine Singers |
| Formerly of | Monotonix |
| Website | yonatangat |
Yonatan Gat (Hebrew:יונתן גת) is an Israeli Americanproducer, guitarist, and composer based inNew York City. Hiscross-genre work has been called "a vital new music form" by a "legendary live performer" byMagnet magazine, "meldingpunk,improvisation,world music, andavant garde".[1]
His performances were so controversial in his home country that his first band,Monotonix, got banned from playing shows in almost all venues of the country, leading Gat—aconscientious objector to Israel'smandatory military service[2]—to leave Israel for a decade of touring, during which he gave 1,500 concerts in thirty countries.Rolling Stone editorDavid Fricke celebrated themulticulturalism of Gat's sound, calling him "a citizen of the world", adding that "Gat wields his guitar like a universal translator".[3]
After variously relocating toParis,Porto, andNew Orleans, Gat found a home in New York, where his work has been profiled byThe New York Times,Rolling Stone,The Wire,UNCUT,Pitchfork,NPR,Vice,The New Yorker, andPeople.[4][5]The Village Voice named him "Best Guitarist in New York, 2013", andThe Guardian listed his sophomore album,Universalists, in their top tenContemporary Classical Music albums of 2018.PopMatters called it a "Visionary New Album for Rock Music, rearranged electronically in unpredictable ways that suggestTeo Macero,DJ Screw,Yeezus-eraKanye West, but not much else in rock music".[6][7][8]
Gat first came to prominence as the guitarist and founder of the punk bandMonotonix.[9] After finding themselves banned from most venues in their country due to the wild and controversial nature of their concerts, the band decided to leave Israel and tour the United States and Europe.[10] With Monotonix, Gat released an EP and two albums onDrag City Records. Gat's guitar was the only harmonic instrument in the drums-guitar-vocals trio and was singled out by the likes ofPitchfork, who wrote: "guitarist Yonatan Gat slides in and out of solos without ever throwing the rhythm off the rails... The descending guitar line that follows is sweet and yearning enough to fit onto a damn Strokes record."[11]
During the band's five-year existence, they played 1,000 concerts, collaborated with musicians such asFugazi'sIan Mackaye andGuy Picciotto andBeat Happening andK Records founderCalvin Johnson, while touring as support forPavement,Faith No More, andSilver Jews.[12][13][14] The latter's frontman,David Berman, would go on to co-produce Gat's 2018 sophomore album,Universalists.[15] Songs by Monotonix were used in TV, film, and video games such asHouse,Grand Theft Auto, andBetter Living Through Chemistry.[16][17][18] In 2008, Monotonix were called "the most exciting live band in rock 'n' roll" bySpin magazine. By 2011, after completing a world tour for their final album,Not Yet, the band stopped touring, allowing Gat to focus on his career as a solo artist.[19]
After Monotonix's final world tour in 2011, Gat went on to earn a bachelor of arts in anthropology fromColumbia University.[20] Soon after, Gat settled in New York City and began recording and performing as abandleader and solo artist, engaging Gal Lazer (drums) and Sergio Sayeg (bass) as his core studio collaborators, while expanding his projects into collaborations with musicians such asMedicine Singers,Lee Ranaldo,Laraaji,Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs),Jaimie Branch,Ikue Mori, andThor Harris (Swans).[21][22]
Gat began touring the United States and Europe both as headliner and sharing the stage with artists such asThee Oh Sees andSun Ra Arkestra, often performing his set on the floor in the middle of the audience.[23][24] He released his debutEP,Iberian Passage, written and recorded while he was living inPortugal, in the spring of 2014 onJoyful Noise Recordings. His full-length studio album debut,Director, followed in 2015.[25] Within months ofDirector's premiere, an EP produced bySteve Albini, titledPhysical Copy, followed.[26]
Gat's second album,Universalists, was released through Joyful Noise on 4 May 2018.[27] In that same year, the artist went on to release a split 7-inch withOs Mutantes, was featured as guest guitarist on theNigerien bandTal National's new album, and premiered a collaboration with aRhode IslandAlgonquinpowwow drum ensemble—Eastern Medicine Singers.[28][29] The album's release was followed by a world tour, featuring an eight-piece band, which included members of his own ensemble of longtime collaborators playing alongside theIndigenous American drummers and singers of Eastern Medicine Singers, a project that later developed into the collective Medicine Singers. Gat's third solo album, which featuredGreg Saunier (Deerhoof) on drums, was his reinterpretation ofAntonín Dvořák'sAmerican String Quartet, substituting the string quartet's two violins, viola, and cello with electric guitar, bass guitar, electric organ, and drums.[30][31][32][33]
Studio albums
EPs
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