nickmitchellmaiato

Raised on diet of Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers Band, Dr. John, Grateful Dead, and Neil Young, Nick Mitchell Maiato has spent a lifetime playing, singing, writing, and improvising psychedelic, americana, and other avenues of guitar rock. A longtime proponent of post-punk and DIY indie rock in the UK, he released records under multiple names throughout the late ’90s and early ’00s: Summum Bonum, I Had An Inkling, Beach Fuzz to name a few.
But it was as the founder of improvised psychedelic rock band Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura (DSDV) that he first found wider recognition. The Wire described the band’s approach as “intensely invigorating, but there’s also something spiritual at work that has a life of its own – a surge of raw power that only the guitarist can control.” He was was also the core member of Chalaque around the same time, a band that prompted author and former Wire journalist David Keenan to proclaim, “No one is doing more for the future of the guitar as sonic reducer in the UK than Nick Mitchell.”
This led to collaborations with Neil Michael Hagerty & The Howling Hex, Jooklo Duo and, then, James “Wooden Wand” Toth—whom Mitchell Maiato met around 2010, and bonded with over a shared love of Neil Young, Royal Trux, and The Grateful Dead. This eventually led the two to form One Eleven Heavy in 2016, who have, to date, released three studio records and been hailed as “everyone’s favorite transatlantic chooglers” by Aquarium Drunkard and “euphoric, inspired, and infectious,” by UNCUT, while Mitchell Maiato’s guitar playing has been described as “extraordinary” by MOJO.
Not counting the one low-key record he released in 2020, during COVID, Mitchell Maiato’s forthcoming solo album, Náquera, acts as a rebirth of sorts. It sees him working with both longtime collaborators (Hans Chew and James Toth from One Eleven Heavy each make an appearance, as does former DSDV bass player Otto Wilberg) and new ones alike, including Tony Leone (Little Feat), Bob Bralove (Grateful Dead), and Aaron Feder (Cordovas/Scott Law). With this new line-up, he channels the spirit of his lifelong listening to create a joyous, jam-filled collection of deep grooves, big choruses, sharp wit, and melodic guitar explorations.
Náquera is out now on Kith & Kin Records, available worldwide via Cargo Distribution.