What can we honestly say about the unique individual that encompasses the guise of Madteo, the Italian-born, Queens-based producer that has been brewing up a storm in the cavernous worlds of underground house and techno. Sonically understated and uniquely inventive, Madteo’s sounds spread across the labels of Meaksuma, Workshop and most recently, Hinge Finger, a label headed by UK producer Joy Orbison and Honest Jon’s in-house-artist Will Bankhead. His Bugler Gold Pt. 1 EP has been well-received is a further continuation of his exploratory and enigmatic source of sounds. With forthcoming material already in the pipeline, Madteo shares his musical tastes eloquently with URB with a mix entitled “Irradiance Cache Mix”, as well as a few words to highlight his influences, history and forthcoming material. Check out the Q&A, mix and tracklist after the jump. Oh and be sure to check him out with “Shake” Shakir tonight at TURRBOTAX. Details here.

URB: Tell us about your origins into music.

MADTEO: My earliest musical memory was listening to Ennio Morricone’s work for Sergio Leone’s films. My parents and I watched them together in the living room and it was truly captivating. Then my father’s good friend would drive around with myself and my family and play me tapes of the soundtracks. He would play me stuff like “Once Upon A Time In The West”. It really impacted me in a way that was beyond just watching a film, it was something internal within his music. Other than that, it was a typical sort of path that included Queen, Led Zeppelin and such. I was buying strictly LPs untils CDs came about, which is when I started listening to stuff like The Beastie Boys, Derek B, NWA and De La Soul. I had some pretty superficial knowledge about electronic music until ’91. I was  briefly in Los Angeles, being a 15-year old, getting into the usual hijinks and went to some raves near LAX. They were playing hardcore and Belgian techno, and it was epic. I went back home and I became a club kid. Ecstasy was a factor back then, but music was always first in my mind.

URB: But within electronic music, nothing is cut & dry with you. Your sounds are varied and sort-of-twisted, within any release. From your historical progression, how did you keep finding these intriguing and unique sounds with release on Meaksuma, Morphine, Workshop?

M: My crate-digging is not for sampling purposes; I dig for the pleasure of discovering new music. I’m an information buff; I like to know my shit. One of the reasons I hate digital downloading is because of that. You can’t touch music, it’s not a visual thing. Within a piece of vinyl, cassette or CD, it compresses your musical experience. You can have that relationship with something physical and you care. Without it, you’re missing out on all the information you’re getting on a record. Anyway, when it comes to my sounds, my sounds find me; it’s usually not drum sounds, it’s one note or synth pad. I’m not in the business of taking a drum loop and making it my own. One of the things that make me shun that approach is the fact that people before you have done it so much better. I’m just careful with my sounds and I’m respectful of the history and that’s what makes my music the way that is.

URB: It’s an unusual but lovely sound, twisted with influences I think read from an international standpoint. What are your influences?

M: People in general; understanding people is always a challenge. I want to be able to communicate and look for something that’s relatable and civil. At times I feels inadequate and ocassionally unsuccessful, so it gives me the aim to be as original and try and touch someone with this music. Also, the history of music, condensed within something like record digging. Inspiration can come from anywhere, so what are you going to do with it? The way that things come out for me will be conceptual, sensitive and personal.

URB:  Then this Hinge Finger record came about. How did you hook up with someone like Joy O and how smooth of a progression was it going from your previous work into a climate like this?

M: Joy Orbison actually wrote to me about a year ago, right after the Workshop release. I knew of him because of “Hyph Mngo”, the only dubstep-ish track I ever liked! *laughs* I sent him a bunch of tracks, probably fifty or sixty. They are a new label, so those tracks there are easy yet left-field, which is a few they picked out. There’s more to come with them.

URB: What’s the musical future looking like for you nowadays? You looking forward to more releases? Anything forthcoming.

M: I will be doing a cassette tape release for The Trilogy Tapes coming out soon, it’s nothing too elaborate but it’s going to be very cool, nonetheless. Being in a physical format like tape is quite awesome and I’m looking forward to the final product with Will’s artistic touch, of course!

URB: Finally, you’re giving URB a mix, tell us about what can we expect from a set of yours.

M: This set has a lot to offer; Kraftwerk, Jimi Hendrix, Ennio Morricone, Redshape, Moodymann, The White Stripes, etc. It goes everywhere and is meant to take you to another place, sonically. Enjoy it!

URB Presents: Madteo’s Irradiance Cache Mix -> (CLICK LINK TO DOWNLOAD)

1. KRAFTWERK Autobahn 12” (B Side Excerpt)
2. TOMMASO CAPPELLATO Episode 29
3. NSI Non Standard Institute Plays Non Standards
4. MARTIN REV Day n Nite
5. SLIM HARPO Bobby Sox Baby
6. THE CASTAWAYS Liar, liar
7. THE WHITE STRIPES Jumble jumble
8. 3 CHAIRS Patterns indangerous
9. CAN Smoke
10. DINOSAUR L #7
11. SABU MARTINEZ My son Johnny & me
12. UNREST So so sick
13. BROTHER JOHN WITHERSPOON That’s enough
14. DRESVN Unittiled
15. THE BEACH BOYS Had to phone ya
16. MOODYMANN Another black sunday
17. ANDRES After the drumming !
18. THE ART OF NOISE Donna
19. MONEY MARK Seven seven seven
20. CHARLIE PARKER Celebrity
21. TAJ MAHAL Lining track
22. THE OHIO PLAYERS Ain’t giving up no ground
23. SALT N PEPA Idle chatter
24. SLY & ROBBIE Murder she wrote (Beat Mix)
25. EDDIE WARNER Chromatickles
26. IMPOSTOR ORCHESTRA Planet baby
27. ELVIS I slipped , I stumbled, I fell
28. RALPHY ROSARIO You used to hold me (Accappella)
29. RIZ ORTOLANI Lombard Street
30. JAN GARBAREK/BOBO STENSO QUARTET Skrik & Hyl
31. SERGE GAINSBOURG Cadavres en serie
32. TRIO MOCOTO Swinga sambaby
33. JAPANESE TELECOM Pagoda of Sin
34. IMAGINATION New dimension
35. LUCIO BATTISTI Separazione naturale
36. TANGERINE DREAM Phaedra (excerpt)
37. NILSSON learning from you
38. HIEROGLYPHIC BEING So much noise to be heard (Electronix Outro)
39. LATIN PLAYBOYS Mira !
40. ORCHESTRA HARLOW’s “Hommi: a Latin opera” Interlude IX
41. PUBLIC ENEMY Securoty of the 1st world
42. JIMI HENDRIX And the gods made love
43. AFRIKA BAMBAATA Eelctro salsa
44. NASCIMBENE Interlude: witchdoctor
45. ENNIO MORRICONE Recitazione corale
46. DE LA SOUL Stickabush
47. JEREMY ELLIS Callelunakarma: Movement 4
48. SENSATIONAL Beatbox
49. EARTH, WIND & FIRE Sing a message to you
50. REDSHAPE Requiem
51. GHOSTFACE Bad mouth kid (skit)
52. EARL ZINGER Introduction
53. JUNIOR KIMBROUGH Feels so good #2