Bio
Hi, my name is Matthew. I play music, I write music, and I write about music. I’m presently based in Calgary, the fastest growing and most youthful city in Canada. (For those that don't know, Calgary's a city of about a million, approximately 700km east of Vancouver.) From 2002-2006 I lived in Melbourne, Australia, studying and teaching at Melbourne University, and working as a nightclub DJ and retail business consultant at Vinyl Warning / Store DJ, the best dance vinyl and DJ hardware shop in the southern hemisphere.
As a child, I used to wake my family up by dragging a turntable into the hallway and playing marching band records at full volume. As an adult, not much has changed. Sharing music for me has always been a social and emotional process, and I guess you could say I'm a second generation floorfiller, as my father led a dance band in his youth. (It's how he met my mom!) I was brought up to appreciate music both for what it does to me, and for what it does to others.
As a writer, I write about all sorts of things. I've interviewed a fair few international DJs, as well as local and up-and-coming DJs and producers from around the world (see partial list, below). In print, I'm the dance music editor for BeatRoute Magazine, a monthly music and culture magazine distributed in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. In addition to covering whatever happens to cross my mind or desk, I write a regular column called "Beats per Month". Online I write right here on Area709. I'm also still an occasional contributor to inthemix.com.au, Australia's online dance music community.
Musically, my preference is for music that is melodic and uplifting. Call it IDM, EDM, deep house, trance, electronica, electro, minimal, ambient, progressive... whatever you like - I think genre tags are artificial constructs built and perpetuated by lazy journalists and worse to keep our ears in boxes. To me, music is music. If you're wondering what sort of music I play, I guess the best way I can explain it is that as a journalist, I tend to talk to the DJs and producers whose music most interests me - so the listing below is probably as good an indicator as any of my musical tastes. (Backstreet Boys = exceptio probat regulam etc.)
While living in Australia, I was fortunate enough to play alongside a number of international DJs, including Christopher Lawrence, Kyau & Albert, Steve May, Luke Chable and Martin Roth. During my last year there, my residencies included a weekly (Sundays 6AM-noon) at one of Melbourne's best-kept underground secrets, Bar Altitude. It’s where Steve Porter, Ronski Speed, Adam White, Robert Nickson and John Askew played when they were last through town (Chris Lum even had a residency there for a while!), and when people talk about Melbourne's legendary 24-hour nightclub scene, it's venues like Altitude that they're talking about. (Sadly, Altitude's been sold - but sure did rock it one last time this past NYE/NYD 2007/8!)
In late 2005 I partnered with Melbourne's rising star Ben Evans to start the Interview parties, which have rapidly revitalised Melbourne's underground melodic dance music scene (more on that story here). Now three years in, Interview has introduced Melbourne to the sounds of England's Andy Moor, Germany's Martin Roth, Canberra's Jaytech and more, as well as providing a regular stomping ground for some of Melbourne's finest up-and-coming melodic beat producers and DJs. This past October, I was proud as punch to put the Interview logo on an Area709 poster here in Calgary, as Interview's Andrew Campbell flew into town to show Canada just how big Melbourne's beats can be.
As a DJ, I play out in Calgary nightclubs five or six times a month. I'm a resident at Seven on 8th ave, playing every Friday and Saturday alongside Proton/Toes in the Sand recording artist Rob Curtis, and also hold down a monthly residency (now two years in) at the Amsterdam Rhino as part of Area709's Pure.Prog night. I can occasionally be found playing at Tantra (most recently this past Stampede with Toronto's Mark Oliver), and at private parties around Calgary and Vancouver. If you'd like to hear my music, there's some for download right here on Area709.
By day, I headhunt professional engineers, geologists, geophysicists and chemists for a global firm.
Features and Interviews (partial list)
Above & Beyond (x2)
Andy Moor
Armin Van Buuren (x3)
Backstreet Boys
Benjamin Bates
Blank and Jones
Chris Fortier (x2)
Danny Howells
Dave Seaman (x2)
Diplo
DJ Dan
Erick Morillo
Ferry Corsten
Gabriel & Dresden
Greg Wilson
Hernan Cattaneo
Jaytech (x2)
Jennifer Rene
John Askew
John Course
John Digweed (x3)
Keith Reilly
Menno De Jong
Mike Koglin
Max Graham (x2)
Mark Oliver
Markus Schulz (x2)
Morgan Geist
Nick Warren
Paolo Mojo
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Van Dyk
Petter
Randy Katana
Ronski Speed
Sander Kleinenberg
Sasha
Shapeshifters
Solarstone
Steve Angello
Steve May
Steve Porter (x2)
Tocadisco
Trentemøller
Thrillseekers
Thunderheist