Huge new Fabric 81 album about to drop as his beloved Leftroom celebrates it’s 10th anniversary
Interview by Dan Prince
Hey Matt welcome back to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you right now
“Hi Dan, I’m sat in my apartment in London Fields, East London. I just got back from the studio which I share with Seth Troxler and jozif which luckily is a 5 minutes bike ride from my place.
Cool. Well, areally exciting year ahead for you, 2015 sees the 10th Anniversary of your Leftroom imprint and also a brand new fabric 81 compilation marking 11 years at playing at one of the world’s finest clubs. Are you ready for it?!
“I think it is safe to say I am ready for everything music related this year. I’ve been working hard and some of that hard work is paying off. What I might not be ready for is the birth of my first child this year!!!”
Let’s kick off with fabric and transport you back to 2004 and the first time you graced the hallowed decks. You must have been before and experienced the club in full flow before your DJing debut right?
“The first time I ever went to Fabric was March 17th 2001. I remember it so specifically as Sasha had had a car crash and had to cancel his gig there. Lee Burridge played the best breaks set I have ever heard in room two though, so it more than made up for it. I couldn’t get over the sound, and how professionally the club was run.”
So what can you remember about your first night…any nerves, any idea what you played on the night…?
“I was super nervous, but got a nice call just before I played from Craig Richards that calmed my nerves. He just told me to do what I do and I’d be fine. Also Sanj the sound god of Fabric gave me some really good advice. Once you step foot in the booth in room one at Fabric you know something special is going to happen. There are a couple of tracks on my Fabric mix that I played in that set in 2004.”
Okay let’s talk about your compilation. “fabric 81 is the mix I’ve been hoping to achieve my whole career.” How hard was it to fit everything in – this isn’t a normal compilation…
“A Fabric mix is a huge thing for any DJ out there – you can tell that immediately by just looking at who has already done them; Ricardo, Zip, Weatherall, Craig, Ivan Smagghe, the list goes on. They set the standard in our industry in so many ways so to be asked and be part of their CD series was an amazing feeling. As I’d been playing there for 11 years it was hard to try and fit that into 76mins and 30seconds, but I got as much as I could in there by editing nearly all the tracks on the mix.”
How long did the mix take to compile and then mix?
“I was in Los Angeles at the beginning of December when I got the call asking if I could do it, and we mastered the finished mix in February…”
What are some of the tunes that meant the most to you that you just HAD to have on there?
“Rednail Kidz ‘Do My Thing’ had to be on there as I specifically remember playing this record the first time I played the club. As you can see from the track list, I am a huge fan of Derrick Carter as he appears on the mix three times. This was the same for AaronCarl’s ‘Your House’ – I’ve been playing the Doc Martin and Eddie Amador remix of this track for about 15 years. Soichi Terada’s ‘Tokyo XXX’ gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it or play it, so that was always going to be one the last tracks on my mix.”
As one of the club’s favourite DJs, were you concerned at Christmas 2014 when the stories began to circulate that the venue may lose it’s license due to the unfortunate deaths at the club?
“I think I might know a little bit more about this than others as I have talked to people at the club about it, so don’t want to go into it too much. I will say this though, before Fabric opened in Farringdon there were no hotels, no bars, no restaurants, nothing in that area. The club has brought a lot of business to that area, and I don’t think there are many clubs in the world that have been open for 15 years that don’t have very unfortunate accidents. I’d like to see the number of deaths divided by how many people have walked through the front door in all those 15 years.”
You have a night off. Most DJs curl up in front of the telly or hit the studio. It’s not uncommon to see you on the dancefloor at fabric when you’re not working?
“I’m a music junky and I love listening to music loud and on good soundsystems. So when I have the chance to tick both those boxes, I do. That is going to change though when I have my little one arrive.”
What are the 5 big tunes in your box this weekend…
– Sam Russo – Your Call
Wobbly bomb that gets me in my groove immediately.
– jozif – A Million To One
Aggro bass number that makes people wonder what the hell is going on.
– Nail – Flytes
From his new Nite Music release, quirky as hell.
– Debukas – My House
John’s amazing cover of Aaron Carl’s My House.
– Jasper James – ZTRK1 (A JD Twitch Optimo Remix)
A WTF remix, next up on Leftroom.
Okay let’s rewind for a moment and take you back to your Nottingham days. You were a regular at The Bomb which is where fabric resident Craig Richards spotted you right? What happened next?
“I had to fill in at the Bomb for Lee Burridge who couldn’t make it to play at Tyrant with Craig so I got asked to play 10-12 and 2-4. Craig always played from 12-2, then he would get a driver back to London to play at Fabric. I listened to records all day and made sure I wasn’t late!!! Craig turned up and heard me play a few records and got on with business. About two weeks after the gig I had a call from someone called Craig with a very calm voice on the phone, I thought someone was pulling my leg. It actually was Craig Richards and he asked me if I’d like to come down to London and play at Fabric. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
Loving the aptness of you being part of the Worthy ‘Disbehave’ project alongside fellow remixers such as Stanton Warriors, Mason, Walker & Royce and Pezzner. Tell us about your ‘Damn Fine’ rework…
“I’ve been good friends with Worthy since 2007 when he released on Leftroom Limited. He mentioned he was doing a big remix package and of course I wanted to be a part of it. I named the remix the 25th and Lincoln mix as this was the place I first met Kevin Knapp in San Francisco, the man behind many of the vocals on my tracks. I believe it is called Golden Gate Park and it’s where Dirtybird used to throw free parties with a free BBQ – genius!!!”
A couple of dates in your 2015 diary that you just cannot wait for…?
“Saturday 25th April, an obvious choice. Cassy, Nail and myself in room one and jozif and I are also playing our debut live set as Kerb Staller, our new project…can’t wait…
https://www.facebook.com/events/359707104220686
Sunday 29th March, Listed presents Ten Years Of Leftroom at Don’t Sit On The Furniture, Miami. We’ve just announced Route 94, Laura Jones, jozif, Droog and myself, but trust me there are some amazing special guests that we can reveal closer to the time….
https://www.facebook.com/events/794563533957781
Saturday 13th June, Ten Years Of Leftroom at Zig Zag Club in Paris with Route 94 and myself. There’s always mischief when I’m with Rowan (Route 94), probably because he’s 13 years younger than me!!!
https://www.facebook.com/ZigZagClubParis?fref=ts
What was your first experience in Cairo like a few weeks back?
“I’ve been waiting to go to Egypt for a long time, the pyramids have always attracted me. The party was great, a real mix of people and I can’t wait to go back. It’s crazy, the pyramids are literally about 15 minutes drive out of the city. One of my photo’s has the pyramids in the foreground and KFC in the background. Not what I was expecting…”
3 bucket list adventures you wanna do in your lifetime?
“Swim with dolphins…
Visit India…
Finish my degree…”
A person from history you’d love to have a beer with?
“My Grandad. I never got to meet him.”
Highlight of BPM in Mexico in January? One we can print!
“BPM is such a great celebration. It’s in January for starters so everyone from Europe is just glad it’s not raining. Highlight, I’d obviously have to say the Ten Years Of Leftroom party at the new Santanera. I was a bit nervous because I’d not been to the new Santanera, the old club club I’d played at many times, and I could relate to, but the new space is amazing and I can’t wait to play there again.”
Not many people know this but Matt Tolfrey is really good at?
“Dolphin noises…”
An up and coming producer to watch out for this year…
“Jasper James.”
So looking ahead, this Autumn sees another compilation in the offing with your beloved Leftroom chalking up the big ten o. Any ideas what you will be doing for the album?
“Without giving too much away as it’s so early in the year, we’re doing a compilation that will feature remixes of old Leftroom records and I will be collaborating with 5 of my favourite producers to make up a ten track package.”
And what events will be taking place throughout the year?
“Seeing as 2015 is ten years of, we’ve been celebrating already. The parties started at the BPM festival, and they will carry on throughout the whole of 2015. Greedy? Maybe?”
And finally young man, comps aside, what other studio projects can we expect from you in the coming months?
“Young man? If being 34 years old is young then you’re my new best friend Dan. Studio wise, I’ve been working solid in the studio with jozif on our Kerb Staller material. We’re actually playing live for the first time at Fabric on the CD launch night. It’s a project I’m really excited about and it’s something where we feel we don’t have any boundaries. I’ve also been working with Ford Foster under our Dott Farm guise. Expect a lot from us this year!!! That said I’ve also been working hard in the studio on my solo material, it doesn’t come naturally to me, I’m a DJ at heart, but now and again I have moments of madness…”
