Mateo Peligroso plays both guitar and bass while singing on his debut single “Hat Kind.” The song chronicles the nomadic lifestyle of his younger days and his need as a creative person to push back against a nine-to-five existence. The title comes from the chorus: “The only home that I’ve ever had is the layin’ my hat kind." After years of playing multiple roles in the studio for various artists, Mateo considers himself a “rhythm section specialist.” He took that idea of wearing multiple hats to its logical conclusion with a custom 7-string guitar/bass from the Hybrid Guitars Company. Sampling beats from his catalog, Mateo teamed up with Hammond organist Will Paul and singer Tay Shawna to bring a handful of original songs to life.
After permanently laying his hat in California, Mateo founded Rockstone Records in San Francisco in 2011. Since then, he has played with and produced records for a diverse roster of artists, including funk-fueled alt rock band Trolls of Amsterdam, Jamaican crooner Culture Canute, and Memphis soul phenom Terri J. Not long after their completion of Terri’s psychedelic epic “Groovy Moovy,” Mateo started dedicating himself to this new instrument. By the summer of 2024, he was playing in the San Francisco Summer of Music concert series as a duo with drummer Wilmer De Los Rios who he met while playing in SFSU’s Afro Cuban ensemble. “Hat Kind,” a downtempo funk groove, comes out June 13 2025, with the follow up “What Happened (to Mateo)” coming out in August.