Introducing… Don Juan Matus

Don Juan Matus was formed as a studio project in Lima, Perú, in late 2005 by Joaquín Cuadra and Richard Nossar.
After several months of sporadic jam sessions as a duo (drums – guitar), Cuadra met bassist Hugo Elías through a mutual friend and invited him to join. Rehearsals became more frequent, and it was around this time that Nossar suggested the name Don Juan Matus, setting a goal of self-producing a 7”single or EP. After a while, it became clear that Elías wasn’t too enthusiastic about recording, and the band went on hiatus at the end of 2006.
The band’s activity resumed on January 2007, when Cuadra and Nossar decided to search for a new bass player. After trying Oscar Reátegui Bartra, who plays guitar in the HC band Dios Hastío out, Richard’s long-time friend Manuel Garfias joined the group a couple of weeks prior to the recording of Superzarza at Fonola Studios on February 20th 2007.  
Don Juan Matus’ eponymous debut LP was recorded between late February (starting with the above-mentioned recording) and mid-August 2007. With only a couple of songs rehearsed, most of the album material was written in the studio and produced by the trio with the assistance of brothers Saúl and Manuel Cornejo  of New Juggler Sound / Laghonia / We All Together fame.
By September, the band had been approached by José Morón (Dios Hastío’s singer and owner of Impulso Ruin Records) who was looking for a group to start a new label (Espíritus Inmundos) with, offering to release the album on CD as soon as the mastering was finished. A limited edition of 300 CDs was released through Espíritus Inmundos in mid-October.
At the end of that month the band decided to accept a deal with Nasoni Records from Berlin, Germany. The disc was remastered by Eroc of Grobschnitt fame and scheduled for a mid-January 2008 release.
In December, the band entered the studio once more to cut a track for a split 7” with Germany’s Angel Of Damnation, to be released in early 2008 through Golden Procession (Japan) and Espíritus Inmundos (Perú). This split was delayed, and it was finally released in October of that year. After the recording was finished, vocalist Alex Rojas was invited to join the band as a full-time member, and in late January 2008, Nasoni Records released the band’s debut album on LP and CD to widespread critical acclaim.
In early February the group returned to MCA Studios to record their second album, which was produced by Garfias and Nossar and finished on May 3rd. During the recording process, Nossar and Cuadra had a personal falling out, ending with the latter’s departure from the band. The album was completed with Garfias and recording engineer Miguel Yance sharing drumming duties (Yance also played tabla on one track).
A couple of weeks prior to the end of the recording sessions, the band incorporated Veronik as singer, flautist, guitarrist and thereminist, giving a new dimension to their already unique sound. The new line-up was completed with the addition of drummer Alfonso Vargas, which Nossar met through graphic artist Pablo Goto in late 2007.
Produced by Garfias and Nossar, on September 6th 2008 Visiones Paganas (Pagan Visions) was released in Lima through Espíritus Inmundos. The album was scheduled for an early 2009 release in Europe through Nasoni Records but, due to a lack of communication between the band and the label, the label decided not to release the album over a concern about exclusivity. StonerRock’s John Pegoraro described Visiones Paganas as a must-have for fans of classic rock and doom, being mostly inspired by the classic Wicker Man film.
Having assembled enough material to enter the studio once again, the band started recording its third LP, starting from a couple of drum patterns recorded by Vargas around August 2008. The recording phase was finished in May 2009, after sporadic sessions due to the studio’s tight schedule, with its mixing and mastering taking up the remainder of that year due to a few logistical nightmares.
The result was definitely worth its labor pains. Más Allá Del Sol Poniente (Beyond The Setting Sun), recorded entirely at Fonola Studios and produced by Nossar, is a darker, more electric and eclectic affair than Visiones Paganas, coming off as more experimental and up-to-date at the same time. The album was released in Perú and Japan simultaneously via Espíritus Inmundos and Golden Procession in early September 2010, meeting an extremely positive reaction in the mainstream press, as well as earning Top 5 Records of the Year accolades in national circulation magazines such as Somos and Caretas, the former of which described the record as “a magnificent blend of avantgarde hard rock and ambient folklore”.
2011, while being musically uneventful for the band due to Nossar and Garfias moving away from Lima, brought logistical bliss in form of a deal with Germany’s Clostridium Records. The label gave Visiones Paganas the vinyl release it rightfully deserved in early September, with the LP version of Mas Allá Del Sol Poniente set to follow in July / August 2012. The band is also making arrangements to book a few recording sessions later this year, likely to result in a fourth full-length release, with a split 7” with Óxido and a rarities compilation called Espejismos due to come out before the LP.