Contact Indigenous Website:  Click Here Myspace:  Click Here Biography Mato Nanji's always provided the heartbeat of the band Indigenous - along with the warm dusty voice and the soaring, spirited guitar fireworks that have earned the group from South Dakota's Nakota Nation a place among roots rock's elite. But with the emotionally charged and musically visceral Broken Lands, the band's second album on Vanguard Records, Nanji makes a transformation from sparkplug to visionary. "I've wanted to make an album like this for years," Nanji explains, "but to a certain extent my hands were tied. Now I feel like I've achieved so many things I've wanted this band to be. The songs I'm singing are more personal. The sound of the band has broadened, and we were able to explore all the influences that are woven into that sound - blues, soul, R&B, and even country - more than ever. And the guitar playing is more controlled, to really let the songs speak for themselves. On top of all that, I've grown as a singer. After being frustrated for a while, all of this makes me very happy. "What it amounts to," Nanji announces, "is that Indigenous is a brand new band."He means that literally. From the group's beginning in his parents' basement through the release of 2006's Vanguard debut Chasing the Sun, Indigenous was a family band. But after that disc was recorded Mato's bassist brother Pte, his drummer sister Wanbdi, and his percussionist cousin Horse left to pursue other musical paths.  "Everybody decided to go their own way, leaving me to carry on Indigenous," Nanji says. "Playing with my family for 10 years was a lot of fun, but it was time to grow."

Indigenous in the News Featured Artist Review Indigenous - Broken Lands By:  Is knowing you?re an egotistical arrogant self centered bike ridin? blues lovin? obsessive compulsive mad man self-deprecation or self-awareness? I am condemned to a sun lit search for legendary, stopping off at the Spyhouse for a cup of dark roast, the latest Indigenous CD Broken Lands loaded, the bike tuned-up, my heart aching for the freedom of wind and weather. ?From the group?s beginning in his parents? basement through the release of 2006?s Vanguard debut Chasing the Sun, Indigenous was a family band. But after that disc . . . Nanji recruited guitarist Kris Lager, keyboardist Jeremiah Weir, bassist Aaron Wright, and drummer John Fairchild to tour behind Chasing the Sun. They also appear on Broken Lands, joined by drummer Kirk Stallings, percussionist Chico Perez, and Mato?s wife Leah Nanji on backing vocals. Producer Jamie Candiloro (Ryan Adams, R.E.M., Willie Nelson, the Eagles) completed the studio team.? The trac Eyes Of A Child, a medium tempo blues shuffle with an interesting chord modulation, is one of my favorites on the CD because of the sentiment and reminds me of something Stevie. It?s a philosophy regarding one?s behaviour in life and something that I try to practice in my own living. ?Don?t you wish you could see thru the eyes of a child In the song Place I Know Mato sings, ?walkin? down the street, no shoes on their feet, sometimes they?ve got nothin? to eat, in this place I know.? Could be any reservation in North America, could be life in any third world country on the planet. The Vanguard promo material says, ?One of the most compelling (songs) is ?Place I Know,? a riff-rocker that decries the poverty and isolation of Reservation life. . ."I love the way all of these songs came out, but ?Place I Know? is one of the closest to me," Nanji says. "It?s important to bear witness about the things that inspire love in your life and about the things that make you sad.? The fourth trac All I Want To See is based on a latin rhythm with a beautiful minor 7th major 9th chord structure. The percussion and female harmony vocals fatten up the flesh of something reminiscent of the Carlos Santana Band?s second album from back in the day with a sweet Greg Rolie style Hammond Organ solo. This song looks at experimenting, pushing the envelope and represents thinking outside the box. I Can?t Pretend gives us some acoustic guitar as an intro to a slow tempo blues rock ballad. Mato does blues ballads exceptionally well and you don?t have to sound like dirt, whiskey and cigars in order to have soul. When he sings ?I can?t pretend to be the one for you? he?s singing about integrity in a failing relationship. The song Just Can?t Hide has a hard rockin? start and is about jelousy in a romantic relationship. This is a well constructed song in a form that resembles what has been termed Southern rock. My favorite music in this world is the southern style of rockin? a blues song. ?I just can?t hide the way that I feel.? It?s about wearing your feelings on your sleeve. Make A Change is something of a traditional old school r n b style song reminiscent of something Guitar Slim might have done that features a blistering guitar solo and brilliant slide work. The song Let It Rain is built on an interesting chord change for a blues oriented song in the same way T-Bone Walker?s Stormy Monday was a unique interpretation of the blues and really allows a guitar player the room necessary to great playing. Mato sings, ?Let it rain or let it shine, all I want to do is spend my time with you.? Very cool and very romantic. By the time I?m headed west toward the sun and Hennepin avenue to trade licks with rush hour traffic I am riding hard imbued with flesh and blood, mortality, magic and mystery, star blind sexuality, you got a great pair of hands and you were born into a great name as my thoughts crash into a wall of cascading memories of times gone by. When the doctor looks you straight in the eye and says you only got a little time left son, how will you act? Every thing gets boiled down to the essence of breath and breathing and when that happens, I?m going for a bike ride, bobbing and weaving through traffic, look at life through the eyes of a child and run red lights like I was gonna live forever.