Bio
Yonatan Gat first gained notoriety as one of the world's top performers as co-founding guitarist of the band Monotonix, hailed by SPIN as "the most exciting live band in rock’n’roll,” their concerts shattered the border between performer and audience and were controversial enough to get them banned from playing venues in their country.
Finding himself unable to perform in his home country, Gat, who refused to take part in its mandatory military service as a conscientious objector, left to New York. He does not readily conform to descriptions as Israeli or American, developing a sound rooted in both these influences while collaborating and adding perspectives from musicians of different spectrums of 21st-century folk music as a part of the Stone Tapes imprint he helped launch in 2022. Stone Tapes also acts as an artist studio and musicians' collective, focused on post-genre collaborations across traditions.
Rolling Stone editor David Fricke celebrated the multiculturalism of Gat's sound, calling him "a citizen of the world", adding that "Gat wields his guitar like a universal translator". His work was profiled by The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Wire, UNCUT, NPR, Vice, The New Yorker, and People. In 2013, the Village Voice named him "Best Guitarist in New York."
Even with Gat’s penchant for unpredictability, his latests LP, American Quartet is truly a left-field turn. A punk slash-and-burn reimagining of one of the defining works of the Western classical canon – Antonin Dvořák’s legendary string quartet – written while Dvořák was, like Gat, an expatriate living in New York City.
While Gat does not read sheet music – tackling the ambitious undertaking of learning a full string quartet by ear and performing it on electric guitar required a different kind of commitment – one that freed his playing from any rigid interpretation of the score, allowing for the wild, unpredictable and truly unique performance captured on this recording.
The drums by Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier follow the rhythms of the cello, providing a breathtakingly expressive rhythmic interpretation to the piece, while Mikey Coltun and Curt Sydnor each bring their unique sensibilities transcribing the viola, cello and second violin parts to organ and bass; Sydnor with the nuanced playing of a classical musician, and Coltun with versatility and hard edge from years as the producer and bass player of Mdou Moctar’s band.
Gat’s previous solo output includes 2015’s genre-bending full-length Director, composed of live improvisations by his trio and field recordings taken by Gat, the record was a mind-melting exploration through many styles of music which garnered rave reviews from the NY Times and Pitchfork.
2018’s full length LP Universalists saw Gat experimenting with splicing live-to-tape recordings of his live band in ways that drew from everything from contemporary avant-garde and electronic music to electric era Miles Davis to Brazilian experimentalists Os Mutantes (with which Yonatan released a split 7" that year.) Gat produced that album alongside David Berman of the Silver Jews.
"One of the most incredible performances you'll ever see.”
- NPR
"Already a citizen of the world, Gat wields his guitar like a universal translator."
- Rolling Stone
"His playing bloomed with the patience to develop any shred of riff or groove into collective improvisation"
- NY Times
"The rare experimental artist with a colorful flair for showmanship. Gat’s solo work is exploratory, explosive, and, increasingly, collaborative."
- The New Yorker
"You’ve never seen anything like it before. Cults have been formed over less – beyond lightning in a bottle; Gat has lightning wrapped around his little finger."
- SPIN
"One of the instrument's most boisterous virtuosos. A master class in genre-defying improvisation, allowing the audience to see every move in exquisite detail. To see the artistic process of song creation first-hand is an experience few musicians can deliver, but this is what Gat does every night, a type of bodily experience that transcends mere observation."
- Exclaim
"A dazzling display… Respectful of tradition but unafraid to throw everything in a blender and gulp.”
- Pitchfork (on Director)
"Visionary... A bold new idea on what to do with rock that suggest Teo Macero, DJ Screw, Yeezus-era Kanye, but not much else in rock music."
- PopMatters (on Universalists)
"9 out of 10 – a thrillingly chaotic sonic voyage."
- Uncut (on Universalists)
"Best guitarist in New York, 2013"
- The Village Voice
"Melding improvisation, world music, punk and avant-garde into a vital new music form."
- Magnet
"The master of psychedelic guitar."
- Nowness
"A swirling mass of energy. Gat’s guitar playing is unmatched"
- BuzzFeed
"A mind blowingly prolific journey crossing vibes of DIY dives and avant-garde jazz spaces"
- Vice
"If there's a guitar god for the new millennium - it's Yonatan. So help me Gat."
- Portland Mercury