MOTSA

Born to both Austrian and Russian parents, it was the UK which played the biggest role in the pathway to the present for multi-faceted producer MOTSA (aka Valerio Dittrich). A passion led by the jungle and drum & bass cultures whilst living in Scotland at the age of 16, combined with piano lessons in his early childhood years, soon saw him start writing, producing and playing his own music. Studying sound engineering through his late adolescent years, his musical knowledge, met with natural talent, provided him with a platform to express his otherwise shy personality.

Releasing his debut EP on Fatboy Slim’s prestigious Southern Fried Records, receiving critical acclaim across the board, MOTSA decided to turn away from the notion of formulaic dance rhythms soon after. Vowing to craft a signature sound inspired by his own natural surroundings; a culmination of breakbeat sounds and his collection of funk and soul records, the producer delivered his wistful and thought-provoking production ‘Time’, in 2015. It was the following year’s EP ‘Petricolour’, however, on his imprint of the same name which really earned the producer widespread plaudits, with lead track ‘Colours’ amassing over 4 million Spotify streams and counting. MOTSA has embarked on world tours where he played shows in South Africa, Mexico, Portugal, Poland and Austria as his stock continued to rise, with Lauren Laverne supporting the Vienna-based producer whole-heartedly on BBC Radio 6.

Soon realizing a passion for narrative within his releases, MOTSA started incorporating moving images into his official video productions to create unique and aesthetically stunning productions. Influenced by the social and political climate of the modern world, his 2019 album, ‘Perspectives’, was inspired by his acute awareness of modern society’s dependence on technology, and the social media bubble also responsible for globally polarizing our current civilization.  With MOTSA encouraging his listeners to spend less time behind computer screens and more time outside in nature to broaden our horizons and reflect on human decisions, many of the album’s samples were recorded from his own environment. Using the sounds of children playing in the sand on a Balearic beach, crickets in the grass, or the ambient soundscapes of bells recorded from his father’s apartment in Moscow, the producer also recorded and sampled his own voice to create distant, choir-like melodies in many of the tracks.

Combining his unique artistic style with the musical diversity that has garnered the attention of several influential figures, tastemakers and labels, MOTSA addresses his listeners through a careful ethos based on differing human perspectives of the same situation, whether politically, globally, or across human relationships. The artist’s signature sound – a soulful yet driven harmonic blend – continues to propel the multi-talented artist to the highest acclaim into 2019 and beyond.