Mateus Asato (December 29, 1994) is a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

from

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is a city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, central and western Regions of Brazil, region of Brazil, Capital city, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Historically a Fortification, stronghold of Separatism, separatists ...

, Brazil. He rose to fame by posting videos of himself playing guitar on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, and has since amassed over one million followers. He has toured with several

pop star A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...

s as a guitarist, including

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...

, and Tiago Iorc. Mateus also has his own signature guitar with

Suhr Guitars Suhr Guitars ( ; officially ''JS Technologies Inc'') is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and bass guitar, basses, guitar amplifiers, and Effects unit, effect units. The company is based in Lake Elsinore, California, Lake El ...

Career

In 2013 he attended the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

in Los Angeles, California. His career began when industry professionals discovered him through his Instagram account. He then toured with

and

. Asato also began to do guitar clinics in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. In 2019 Guitar Magazine named him one of the 50 most exciting young guitarists in the world. He has also played some shows in Las Vegas along with

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

. American musician

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

has said that Asato "is one of the best guitar players around.” In February 2021, Asato shut down his popular Instagram account. He reopened it on 31 March 2022.

Signature guitar

The boutique guitar company, Suhr Guitars, released a signature guitar for Asato. At the 2020

NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual trade show in the United States organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which describes it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

Suhr guitars revealed a new Mateus Asato signature guitar would be released soon.

Awards

*Brazilian guitar contest “Double Vision” winner. 500 contestants. *2014 Outstanding Guitar Player of Musician's Institute

Style

He has developed his own

fingerstyle Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plect ...

method of picking, one heavily reliant on

hybrid picking Hybrid picking is a guitar-playing technique that involves picking with a pick (plectrum) and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously. Hybrid picking allows guitar players who use a pick to perform music which would normally require ...

. His playing style incorporates

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

influences,

double stop In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often employed. In performin ...

s, and complex single-string and chord slides. Guitar World magazine called his style

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul ...

Personal life

His grandparents were of Japanese descent and came from

Okinawa, Japan is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west ...

. He began playing guitar at ten. In 2013, when he was 19 years old, he moved to Los Angeles, California. In 2024, Mateus married the Brazilian actress, model, and YouTuber Maju Trindade. He now lives in Brazil.

References

External links

Asato playing at NAMM Show 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asato, Mateus Musicians from Brasília Living people Brazilian male guitarists Japanese male guitarists Brazilian musicians of Japanese descent Brazilian people of Okinawan descent Progressive rock guitarists 21st-century Brazilian guitarists Blues guitarists 1993 births 21st-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century Brazilian male musicians