He emphasises that constantly changing musical interests is nothing wrong, as he constantly drifts between soul, jazz, hip-hop and electronic music. He also fluctuates between groove and chill – he sometimes makes you dance, sometimes put you to sleep.
He was born 23 August 1993 in Toruń. Hi real name is Brian Massaka Victorsson, with the last, unofficial surname in honour of his father. The father comes from Congo, from where he moved to Kraków in 1980s. Even though Brian has never been to Africa, nor does he speak French or any of the dialects used there, he keeps in touch with his grandmother and cousins with the help of his father. One of his dreams is to collect materials recorded by them and mix them into one of his albums.
His interest in music started when he was 7 years old, that is when his mother enlisted him for violin lessons. With that instrument he graduated from the 1st grade musical school, while 2nd grade he finished with classical guitar. After that, in 2012-2014 he studied in Odense in Denmark in jazz guitar class. For almost a year after that he lived in Reykjavik, working with various local musicians.
After his return to Odense he took up MA composition studies, but in 2016 he dropped out and moved to Copenhagen to study in Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium. He points out that his Music Creation department, in fact, does not really focus on the process of performing music, rather attracting producers, songwriters and composers.
He records his pieces at home, or in school studio, where he utilises a number of acoustic instruments: guitar, favourite double bass, piano, Rhodes piano, as well as bass guitar, synthesizers and percussions. He says:
I’m a collector of all kinds of chimes, shakers and bells. I always try to use everything that I have in my hands’ reach, sometimes even building homemade tools (can’t really call them instruments) which I later record and use to compose rhythm section of my tracks.
For three years now he’s been working with Bartosz Chadecki on his music for movies such as Gods, Life Feels Good and Warsaw Uprising, as well as series Czas Honoru and M jak Miłość. Brian alone composed the score for Karolina Ford’s short Prześwity. Aside from solo career he also plays guitar in jazz bands, with which he gives concerts several times a week in Copenhagen. He recounts:
I really cannot remember all the bands I played with, but among the most important has to be my project Massaka Storytelling Ensemble, where I composed and arranged songs for my favourite musicians.
He performed at jazz festivals in Oslo and Tampere with an Icelandic quartet Two Beat Dogs. He is also a member of Radek Wośko Atlantic Quartet, as well as Kenneth Dahl Knudsen’s quintet, both of which planned to tour Poland and neighbouring countries in 2017.
However, playing jazz is something completely different than the solo career of his early years. Moo Latte was born with the release of single Circle, published by American label AIA in autumn of 2015. It was also one of the rare occasions to listen to him singing.
Subsequent singles include James In Heaven featuring Roux Spana from March 2016, as well as MerryLand released at the beginning of 2017. Both of these are in memoriam efforts for J Dilla, an American Producer and Rapper who died in 2006. Moo Latte stresses:
He revolutionised the rhythym, the way one loop can play all the time without getting boring for listeners. The way he sampled music is simply impossible to imitate.
In December 2016 a debut album of Brian hit the shelves. An effort, entitled Tubism, was published by a Polish label 5:55 records. The album consists of 16 tracks which are to be metaphors of 16 tube stations that he has to pass on his way from Copenhagen home to the airport when travelling, as he does increasingly frequently, back to Poland. The music on the CD feels like a delicate travel partner, being very atmospheric and illustrative. Subsequent motives change as if they were the countryside behind the window. Apart from samples, electronic devices, keyboards and acoustic guitar, the mood is created by sounds recorded in the tube and Moo Latte’s speciality: percussions, clics and murmurs which create a separate, yet important part of the composition. Turbulent, fractured parts of the composition bring to mind the sound of tube wagons’ wheels.
He is also a part of three collectives: Flow Theory from the UK, Pom Peri Posse from Sweden and Melody Soul from the US. They create compilations, perform together on various events, remix one another’s songs. Moo Latte says about their work:
We help each other with different thing. Sometimes an additional instrument for a track is needed, sometimes we share insights about the music industry. For example, with Flow Theory we are trying to create a sample base from recording sessions of various artists, which are meant to be used as a material on our future album. Recently I’ve also joined a Polish collective Himalaya, which focuses on lo-fi style creations.
His songs can be found on numerous mixtapes: AM/PM published by 5:55, PPP-Gathering #3 by Pom Peri Posse, Healing Herbs by Himalaya, or Flow Theory’s self-titled album. He also shares his remixes of, for example, The Chainsmokers, Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet, Taco Hemingway, and even Coldplay on his Soundcloud page.
Moo Latte is also active on Instagram, where he shares short clips from his home studio. You can take a sneak peak at him playing the guitar, creating thrilling rhythms, or changing bass guitar into melodic instrument with only few effects. However, what’s more important, you can also find there sketches of new songs. The social media encourages interaction, so the artist can quickly get to know if his new idea works well for his audience.
But why call yourself Moo Latte? Brian answers this question, saying:
Well, it’s partly a spontaneous word play. However, I believe it’s also partially connected with my temper. Of course, on one hand you have my mixed, Polish-African descent of which I am extremely proud. But it’s not only my skin colour, it’s the temper of my parents that’s important. I think myself an introvert, I’ve been shaped that way by their lenience. I’m also a coffee lover and I appreciate latte for the way milk makes coffee’s distinct taste smoother. I hope that my music also finds this kind of balance between quite distant elements.
Spring of 2017 will be quite an eventful time for Brian, with planned appearance on, among other festivals, Tallin Music Week and Spring Break in Poznań.
Written by Jacek Świąder, February 2017. Translated by AS
Discography:
2017 - Tubism (5:55 records)