Ansatz Der Maschine is the project of Belgian musician Mathijs Bertel from … Read Full Bio ↴Ansatz Der Maschine is the project of Belgian musician Mathijs Bertel from Kortrijk.

Jan. 2012 : Release of the third record 'Heat'. For this album the band worked with vocals for the first time. Guests are David Bovée (Think of one), Anton Walgraeve and Vinz (Vinz, the Ideal Husbands).

Ansatz has in the meantime grown to eight for live sets: Renée Sys - vocals, mandoline; Tom Vangheluwe - guitar, vocals; Wouter Mattelin - lapsteel, vocals; Bram De Vreese - alto sax, guitars; Jan Dhaene - drums, rhodes, moog; Ruben Vercaemer - tenor sax, rhodes, moogn; Jean-Luc Bertel - french horn; Mathijs Bertel - electronics, alto violin, keys

In 2006 Ansatz der Maschine set a new standard for Belgian indietronica with their album 'The Postman Is A Girl'.
In 2009 'Painting bad Weather on her Body' illustrated how Ansatz der Maschine had grown. It was Mathijs Bertel's second solo-album, yet it fully integrated the Ansatz live band. The subtle electronics are blended with acoustic violins, saxophones, drums, Rhodes, electric guitars, voices ... The result is a warm, slightly distorted mash up of great song writing, producing and musicianship.

Ansatz der Maschine originally started as an experimental one-off project of soundtechs Mathijs Bertel & Alexander Baert. They joined forces to create a smooth blend of click 'n' cuts and live guitars. Their first recordings were assembled on a demo CD: 'Hide For The Beast'.

The innovating tracks got them to win the CJP contest 'Het jong 2004', designed to give young artists some promotion (and a cash prize of 5000 euro!). The media attention this generated resulted in a bunch of live shows and the continuation of what was planned to be a temporary project.