Madd Rod was born in Lisbon and raised in its outskirts, inevitably influenced by this intriguing melting pot. This cultural mess reflects on his music, blending a modern technological sound design with traditional elements from ancient cultures.
Rodrigo’s vision of music comes from his early-developed curiosity, which has made the artist explore different soundscapes while finding his musical identity. For him, music is much more than an assembling of sounds: it is a constant reminder of the experiences he has lived through it. In 2017, right after releasing Afraid to Love on Deeplomatic, the artist moved to Tübingen, where he started to dig deeper into the realms of production. He launched his label, Inner Shah, and found a receptive crowd with whom he could field-test his tracks. In 2019, the artist achieved new milestones which motivated him to go further. After debuting in Lisbon’s Ministerium, Rod flew to Germany to headline Electric Sundown Festival. During the Summer of 2019, he started his residency at The Lounge Vale do Lobo that lasted until 2021. It was critical to sustaining his growth and allowed Madd Rod to play extended sets ranging from Downtempo to Techno. After the busy summer, the artist went on his first short tour, during which he started producing the first tracks of his album. The artist played in Lisbon, Berlin, Tübingen, and Paris. In 2020, the artist joined forces with LIVE Lisboa, with whom he launched VIAGE, where he released several EPs. His first album ‘Dystopian Desert’; was released on Inner Shah on July 31st, 2020, and got its second round with a versatile EP of remixes in November. In 2021 the artist kept pursuing new achievements: he produced 18 new original tracks and nine remixes and curated three compilations for Inner Shah. Highlights of the year include his remix of Devran by SIS, which stayed in the Indie Dance Top 100 for over two months, the Shaman Call EP on Harabe, and Rumors, Madd Rod’s first EP on Discotexas.