Mat Zo Returns to the Intimate Heart of South Beach, Treehouse

Matar Zohan knows how to bring the funk. Plain and simple, the 28-year-old London-born virtuoso is one of the last proponents of the nearly extinct art of originality. His past projects have run the gamut from collaborations with Kill the Noise and the Knocks, to an ambitious and widely satisfying debut album, 2013’s Damage Control. There’s no telling what one can expect from a producer who’s successfully touched on so many different styles and flavors of electronic music.

“I enjoy developing my signature style, but the only way to do that is trying completely new things,” Mat Zo tells New Times ahead of his Treehouse debut and first show in Miami since 2014’s Mad Zoo tour at (now gone but never forgotten) Grand Central. “Grand Central was the only venue I wanted to play in Miami, so when it closed, I didn’t want to play in Miami for a long time. Treehouse looks like the kind of venue I’d be down to play, and this house tour demands more intimacy.”

Treehouse’s longstanding tradition of intimate performances from techno and house heavyweights is what enticed Matar to choose the venue over a more massive, bottle-focused club. “I want it to feel like a party, not a show," he says. "Most clubs in Miami hate fans, people who are there for the music. I’d rather play in a place that’s less hostile to the people I want to attract.”

The young producer simply loves creating, consuming, and surrounding himself with music. “You’ll know if you have what it takes because you’ll want to make music all the time," he says. “When I started, it was a different world. There were only a handful of kids my age making electronic music. Now every kid and their sister is a DJJJ/producer, so the only way to stand out is being really good and distinct, which takes time... You really have to work your ass off. The ones who will stand out in the future are the ones who don’t see it as work.”

Mat Zo. 11 p.m. Friday, August 10, at Treehouse, 323 23rd St., Miami Beach; 305-240-9232; treehousemiami.com. Tickets cost $20 or are free before midnight with RSVP via ticketfly.com.