BRAZILIAN MAINSTAY MORTTAGUA DELIVERS A TWO-hour masterclass…

Founder of Timeless Moment, Morttagua operates at the intersection of progressive house and techno. A fixture of Brazil’s electronic music scene, he is the country’s all-time best-selling progressive house artist on Beatport and has toured widely, appearing at festivals such as Kappa FuturFestival and Rock in Rio, alongside venues including Green Valley and Pacha.

His body of work is shaped by atmosphere, melody, and long-form structure. His 2024 release on Balance Music, Bwell, reflects that approach. A measured and restrained cut, it favours mood and melodic progression over immediacy.

On this Balance Selections mix, Morttagua delivers a focused two-hour set that showcase his experience. Featuring music from Pryda, Andre Sobota, and Mike Griego. It’s a main-room journey that remains controlled and understated throughout.

Tracklist

1. Morttagua & Maty Owl – Dissonant Shadows (Original Mix) {Timeless Moment}
2. Patch Park – Don’t Stop (Guy J Remix) {District Rec}
3. Not Demure – Waving But Drowning (Original Mix) {Mango Alley}
4. André Sobota – Astral Lady (Original Mix) {Perfecto Black}
5. Pryda – Origins (Original Mix) {Pryda Recordings}
6. Anthon & John Srour – Thunderlab (Original Mix) {Timeless Moment}
7. Mike Koglin & MoodFreak pres. Sudhaus – Pulse (Original Mix) {Languages Music}
8. Roddy Reynaert – Angkor Wat (Album Mix) {Ifonika}
9. Morttagua – Kondras (Original Mix) {Timeless Moment}
10. Pryda – Bergen (Original Mix) {Pryda Recordings}
11. Dmitry Molosh – Crystal (Original Mix) {Protagonist Recordings}
12. Pryda vs. Hot Since 82 & Joe T Vannelli – The Ending (Morttagua Bootleg) {Promo Only}
13. Morttagua – Sirians (Rubia Remix) {Timeless Moment}
14. Tantum & Hyunji-A – Keep My Letters (Simon Vuarambon Remix) {Keep My Letters}
15. Black 8 – Higher We Fly (Morttagua Extended Remix) {Afterglow}
16. Danae – Cutting Cords (Original Mix) {MNL}
17. Morttagua – Telos (Original Mix) {Timeless Moment}
18. Mike Griego – Back in Trance (Original Mix) {A Line in the Sand}

Name: Danilo Nascimento
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Alias/Producer name: Morttagua
Labels affiliated with: Timeless Moment, Suara, Steyoyoke, Balance, Armada, Black Hole

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My mother was a professional musician trained in transverse flute as well as other instruments, and she always shared well-curated music with me. I listened a lot to ’70s progressive rock and ’80s synth-pop and pop-rock bands such as Tears for Fears, A-ha, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, Information Society, and many others.

The first electronic track I really loved and listened to on repeat on the radio was ATB “9 PM.” But I truly fell in love with electronic music after attending, out of curiosity, my first psytrance festivals in Rio back in 2005.

My first real clubbing experience was at a club called Terceiro Milênio in Rio. They hosted a Sunday early-evening teen party for kids ages 12–17, and the music ranged from electronic to pop, Brazilian rhythms, hip-hop, and more.

I’ve been listening to everything from Gunship, The Midnight, and Yota—they’re my favorite “non–dance floor” artists at the moment and are part of the new retrowave synth movement.

They each recently released albums: Syndicate by The Midnight and The Touch by Yota. Those records are like meditation for me; I listen to them to help enter mental flow states.

My current music production setup is a beefy Windows 11 machine with an i9-12900K processor and 64 GB of RAM, running Ableton Live 12. For VSTs, I love Sylenth1 and Serum—most of my synth sounds come from them. For mixing and mastering, I use a lot of Waves plugins, as well as Airwindows, which offers amazing free analog-style VSTs.

For monitoring, I reference three different pairs of speakers, the main set being Samson Resolv 6-inch monitors. In terms of studio gear, I have several MIDI controllers, including the Nektar Impact LX49, Akai MPK Mini, the legendary U-Control UC-33, the KPAD 48, the Kontrol X1, and a few other toys.

You can catch me performing live at club events mostly in the south of Brazil, as well as across South America and Asia. In 2026, I plan to return to Europe more frequently and make my North American debut. I also host a monthly podcast on DI.FM called Timeless Moment, and you can listen to all the episodes on my SoundCloud.

Both in my live sets and in this Balance Selections mix, there is a track that I have been playing frequently, and that never fails to move me, Just Strangers, by the young duo Gunnar & Saww.

This piece caught my attention the very first time I heard it as a demo. I decided to sign it, and it will be released on my label, Hiato Music. The track has a truly unique structure.

They masterfully created a creative progression that leads into a beautifully crafted progressive guitar solo after the final drop. This song is genuinely special to me.