Above all, new music does survive. There’s an audience, usually longing and sophisticated, that constantly demands the next new thing… and that is Brooklyn-born ZIGMAT.
The band officially launched in 2006 and is fronted by MONICA RODRIGUEZ and STEPHEN YONKIN. They are, at first glance, a throwback to a certain type of theatricality missing from today’s music scene. Amid the crystalline music and surging rocking definitions are Rodriguez’s majestic vocals, which ease into the music in an especially compelling way.
The two met after college, which they coincidentally attended together, and a musical interest sparked immediately. Monica had a band already in the works and was looking for a bass player. Enter Stephen. Quickly, a revolutionary sound was born, incorporating references from Lemonheads, Massive Attack, the revered Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Brazilian Girls, Air, and Goldfrapp. References indeed, but through it all, a new sound and mission were born.
Local shows at Mercury Lounge, Joe’s Pub, the Canal Room and Nublu were booked and played, spawning exceptional results.
Rodriguez and Yonkin performed at this year’s SXSW in March along with guitarist SANTIAGO MUNOZ and drummer DAN DUGGINS, where the crowd’s reaction was incredible. KCRW’s Raul Campos said of the band, “Zigmat’s music is edgy, rockin’, melodic and dreamy. It’s a wonderful fusion that makes for great energy in their recordings and on stage.” Time Out New York, said “Brooklyn’s Zigmat plays punky songs spiked with electronics; occasionally singer Monica Rodriguez switches to Spanish. The international flavor is part Yeah Yeah Yeahs, part Brazilian Girls.”
Online site The Improper said, "Fronted by the lovely Monica Rodriguez and Stephen Yonkin, the electronic sounds they make forged with her out-of-the-world vocals and tantalizing effects, make Zigmat one extremely arresting and sensual musical concoction.”
April 2009 brings the release of their debut domestic album Sounds of Machines. Featuring kinetic songs like “Light of the Moon” and “Machines,” Rodriguez says, “Nothing should surprise you. Expect the unexpected…[and] come to our show with an open heart and mind.”
