The Origin of The Beta Stars

Mato and Ti have been making music since 2007 with their Burning Man–inspired, initial project, Kinetic Origins of Rhythm (KOR). In the beginning stages, KOR was an electronica/improvisational hybrid with three live hand drummers, Ti on a midi-harp, and Mato on vocals and a “big drum” – a Pearl 36″ x 18″ marching drum.

In the fall of 2007, they performed a handful of shows on the Las Vegas strip at the now defunct venue, Empire Ballroom (originally Utopia). After the first string of shows, Mato and Ti went back to the drawing board to begin the process of writing songs with more concrete arrangements. Simultaneously, Mato traveled to India to study Yoga and it had a major impact on his being and his songwriting. From his spiritual journey came a batch of songs that made up the band’s first and only self-titled album, Kinetic Origins of Rhythm, featuring Matthew Kriemelman on drums, a Blue Man Group drummer from Vegas .

Supporting this album release, Mato and Ti again performed a handful of shows primarily in Las Vegas and a few smaller festivals in Oregon. This incarnation of the project was starting to gain some momentum which prompted the band to create a self-produced video for their first song release, Feel Good.

During this album cycle, and still inspired by his trip to India, Mato relocated to Oregon to start a meditation retreat on a 10 acre parcel which unfortunately ended up folding after two and half years. This venture wound up taking a toll on the momentum of KOR and by the end of it all, Mato moved back to Vegas to recalibrate and resettle.

When he returned to Vegas, he wasted no time recording a new track that had him buzzing with excitement… Starseed. Ti joined him on a weekly basis and over a 2 year period the two cranked out 13 new songs. As the duo began putting the final touches on their new songs, EDM producer Chris Cox got a hold of the demos and agreed to mix 2 of the songs that he fell in love with. This eventually led to him mixing 4 songs, rounding out the duo’s new EP. However, as the songs materialized, Mato and Ti felt their old name didn’t really represent their new sound so after numerous brainstorming sessions, The Beta Stars were born.