Mentrix

Iranian-born, Berlin-based experimental pop artist

Mentrix writes and performs evocative electronic music, indebted to the propulsive rhythms and folkloric tonalities of her native Iran. Born in 1981 in Tehran, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist was drawn to daf drumming through the teachings of Islamic Sufism. Having grown up between Iran and France, Mentrix (real name Samar Rad) effortlessly incorporates a wide-ranging, dynamic sonic palette on each of her recorded works. Having began as a featured artist, lending her idiosyncratic vocal performances to a handful of close colleagues, Rad quickly shifted focus to recording original material of her own. Inspired, flowing studio sessions birthed Nature (2018) and Dreams (2019), Rad’s first two EPs under her Mentrix guise, launching her exploration into Middle-Eastern musical timbres and textures - a process which has resulted in My Enemy My Love (2019), the singer-songwriter’s debut album. Featuring sacred rudiments, odes to ancient rituals and collaborations with both Eastern and Western musicians, My Enemy My Love is a future-leaning ode to origin - a breakthrough for Rad and her Mentrix project. A bold, female energy shines across the Mentrix universe. “In a landscape that at times feels like a male-dominated wasteland, I hope to release art that inspires and motivates,” says Rad. Most of the collaborators involved in the Mentrix project are in fact women - from session players Claire Bay and Emily Baker, to famed New-York-based mastering engineer, Emily Lazar, Rad’s focus on involving creative women is of utmost importance to her. As of late 2017, Mentrix operates House of Strength Records, an imprint through which she aims to release original recordings - varied in form and texture - by herself and a close-knit community of like-minded contemporaries.