Skip to main content

FREE DOWNLOAD: MATTA

Free grime/deep house EP from Matta

Matta are a London based bass music duo, boasting solid releases and some more than prolific support in the form of names such as Bjork, The Prodigy, Foreign Beggars, Annie Mac, Rob da Bank - the list really does go on!

All these big names must be onto something right? Right. Their latest offering comes in the form of a two track EP hard to place within one genre, but somewhere in-between grime and deep house. Released on their brand new label 'Das Heavy', Matta prove that for them genre is no limit - something we very much admire and hope others pick up on.

We spoke to Matta briefly about the release, who provided some very insightful and shrewd answers, which you can read below:

There are a lot of really strong labels - young and old, around in the scene at the moment, why set up your own label?
The first thing is to try and bring something different to the table. Being an artist / act nowadays involves doing so much yourself (Promo, Press, Artwork, Social Media etc) we thought why not take it a step further? Our influences are pretty varied and having our own label gives us an opportunity to continue to make music the way we want and control how things are done. We can put an EP together with tracks we think compliment each other and it becomes something that works as a whole as opposed to a set of individual tracks someone else has chosen to put together. Also it means we can experiment and not stick within a certain genre and that keeps the excitement levels up. Most people out there listen to a variety of styles so why should a label or act confine itself to one thing as long as it's all good music? We're looking to get other people on board, whether they're new artists or established acts, and give them a platform to try new things too, our facebook will have details of how you can send us material.

Looking through your back catalogue, your productions seem very diverse and you don't seem keen on sticking to one genre, will this ethos continue in the label?
Absolutely Yes. Originally we started making solely Dubstep but every now and then we would experiment with different styles to clear the pallet. This started forming new tracks which we liked but because we had no outlet for them they just stayed on our hard drive. Producing music has always got to be about having fun and having the freedom to experiment with different styles. It keeps the enthusiasm there and allows us to find new ways of working which hopefully results in music which sounds new and a bit exciting to people. Music is about a feeling being conveyed from the artist to the listener and genre shouldn't get in the way of that. Hopefully that makes for a body of work that's diverse but has a common thread running through it, so it always sounds like us. We try and make music we like and not what might be expected from us. If we like what we're doing then we hope similar like-minded people will enjoy it and get where we are coming from.

When you make a track, do you sit down and think 'We're going to write dubstep/deep house/garage etc' or does it happen more naturally?
We start out with an idea and try to keep it as fluid as possible. As with most producers, we usually start with the beat.  Once we get a few elements together the overall tone can change so it's important to remain flexible until we're certain we've "got it". If it's going well the track writes itself. Working the way we do, it is easy to change the tempo of something or to scrap ideas we don't think are working. Usually you get to a stage where you know if it is working or not, if not you just scrap it and move on. You never know, you may come back and like it and are able to complete it. But being precious about stuff and trying to force things ultimately leads to frustration. We also try not to get influenced by the popularity of certain styles or things around us as that can lead to getting sidetracked. We've often been left in the situation where we can't say what genre a track is, which is great.

Anything else you want our readers to know about?
Well firstly we have the label, Das Heavy, which was named after a London term our friends use meaning something is good. Always good to not take yourself too seriously. The label is going to be giving away a series of new Ep's we've made in the next coming months from the labels Soundcloud & Facebook pages. There will also be releases on other labels including a Dubstep release with Walsh's "Biscuit Factory Records". We have a sample pack which is out now via Samplephonics called "Dark Dubstep & Garage". There is also a tutorial we have done for Computer Music which should be in October's issue. Once things are up and running with the label we'll be gigging again as we have a load of new stuff to play out.

You can support Matta and Das Heavy by following their socials here:
facebook.com/MattaOfficial
facebook.com/DasHeavyMusic
twitter.com/matta_music