Ruben Machtelinckx was first played on NTS on 15 June 2018. Songs played include Mirror Men.

Ruben Machtelinckx (1986) started playing the guitar at the age of 15. Later he got interested in improvised music and he started his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp where he graduated in 2010 with great distinction.

Among his teachers were Hendrik Braeckman, Kurt van Herck, Erwin Vann, Nic Thys, Teun Verbruggen and Free Desmeyter. He took master classes with Hilmar Jensson, Nelson Veras, Octurn, Christian Wallumrod, Jim Black and Dave Liebman. Especially the lessons with mentors Pierre Van Dormael and Karl Van Deun proved very inspiring and motivated him try to find his own way in life and music.

As a freelance musician, Ruben performed together with fellow musicians such as Teun Verbruggen, Kris Defoort, Quinsin Nachoff, Joachim Badenhorst, Erwin Vann, Bart Maris, Kurt Van Herck, Peter Evans, Iva Bittova, Hilmar Jensson, Chris Joris,…

In August 2010, Ruben performed on the international jazz festival "Jazz Middelheim" with "Le Pragmatisme du barman", a new band coached by New York trumpeter Peter Evans. He was the leader of the band "Phynt" with Erwin Vann. He currently plays and composes for Amydala (Kurt Van Herck/ Nathan Wouters) and a duo with guitarist Karl Van Deun. In 2012 he went to Copenhagen to take some lessons with Jakob Bro and to record his first album as leader with Hilmar Jensson, Joachim Badenhorst and Nathan Wouters. (EL Negocito Records). He is an active musician in different side projects ranging from impro to pop.