Manu Delago

As the world’s best known Hang player, in addition to his mastery and inventive exploration of the unusual Swiss instrument, Manu Delago has also gained a reputation for his skills as a percussionist, producer and composer. Regularly called up to collaborate with the likes of Björk, Ólafur Arnalds, Anoushka Shankar, Cinematic Orchestra and other luminaries, on live and recorded projects.

By the time he was ten, Delago had already learnt to play drums, accordion and piano. As a teenager Manu mainly played football and drummed with his band HotchPotch. After graduating in classical percussion in his hometown Innsbruck, he moved to London where he studied jazz drums and composition.

When Manu Delago discovered the Hang, an enchanting sound sculpture manufactured by PanArt in Switzerland, he simultaneously discovered his passion for writing music. His Hang solo piece ‘Mono Desire’ has become the most popular Hang video on the internet (with almost 5 million views) and reached the Top 30 music videos on YouTube.

His ambitious 2015 LP ‘Silver Kobalt’ won over tastemakers from BBC 6Music’s Tom Ravenscroft and Don Letts to Radio 2’s Alex Lester, Nitin Sawhney and Jamie Cullum (who snapped him up for a Maida Vale session), and was also loved by i-D, Clash and DJ Mag; the Silver Kobalt Tour boasted 80+ thrilling live shows with his band, Manu Delago Handmade. Meanwhile, the Austrian prodigy maintained his schedule of engagements as a go-to musician for some of the world’s leading artists.

Delago has performed live sessions for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM, BBC Scotland, Resonance FM, Sofar Sounds and BBC 2’s Later… With Jools Holland alongside Björk. His LP ‘Metromonk’ also boasts contributions from vocalists Douglas Dare (Erased Tapes) and Pete Josef (Gilles Peterson Worldwide Award nominee), trumpeter Erik Truffaz (Blue Note), and co-producer Matt Robertson (Björk, The Streets, Bat For Lashes).