EXCLUSIVE MIX: MATT-U + INTERVIEW

Weighty as they come mix from dubstep pioneer Matt-U + Q&A

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Wednesday, January 28, 2015 - 17:05

To celebrate the debut release of his new label, Bad Seed Audio, Matt-U has given us a brilliant exclusive mix full to bursting with his distinctive heavy dubstep.

A member of the scene who seemingly surfs the edges of dubstep and the scene, out of the negativity that massive hype draws. He releases his music when the time is right, on labels that have quality as consistent as his own productions. As such, Matt-U's first venture into running a record label is nothing to take lightly, especially when the first release is this good. Read our interview with Matt-U below, and listen to the mix:

Your new EP is the debut release from Bad Seed Audio, can you tell us a little bit about the label and why you set it up?
It’s been 10 years since my first tune was released and I’ve been involved with a number of labels during this period - I always prefered to work with the ones where I felt that the label is trying to keep a strong relationship in order to not just have one release out, but to plan for the future, to build a portfolio for me as a producer. This worked quite well with labels such as Black Box, but unfortunately labels come and go... It was at the time when I had a number of unreleased tunes I really wanted to have out, and I wanted a bigger control over their release, so I decided to start a label. I’ve known Dan since my ’Danger’ EP on his label (Pressed Records), he had all the know-how and I had the material, so I asked him if he wanted to be the partner in crime.

You've been producing bass music for a long time now, while many others have wondered into other genres and slower tempos, you've stayed true to dubstep and drum and bass - what has kept you rooted to bass music all these years?
I listen to a lot of music, all different genres. I’ve been going to techno parties recently, listening to nujazz in the car and to hiphop while running. I sometimes feel like trying myself out in different styles but I either don’t feel like it is really my sound when I finish or they just turn into a dubstep tune in the middle of the process. It also keeps me really motivated to get feedack from fans at gigs or online. All of the tunes on my new EP i wrote after my Australia/NZ tour last year, as it gave me a huge motivational kick.

Do you still feel like you're improving, musically or production wise?
I certainly do. I find it important to have a certain sound that defines a producer but more important to constantly strive to build that sound, and that is my aim. It might seem to be an easy win to make a whole bunch of tunes on a specific sound that worked at one of your releases, but it can never work on the long run.

It really varies how one can achieve this kind of development; what works for me is being open to new influences, listen to a lot of different music in order not just to get new ideas but also to not become fed up with one specific genre. From a production point of view I work on tunes regularly so I don’t get out of the loop, and make sure to follow new technical developments, changing my software and plugins often.

How healthy do you think the international dubstep scene is at the moment?
It is developing - but not necessarily in a bad way. There have been some drastic changes in the last couple of years. I’ve seen some parties with years of history and massive fan bases going down accross Europe, and I do feel bad about that. On the other hand it’s great to see that dubstep has emerged in different markets; I can even tell from my FB page statistics, that most of the feedback, apart from the UK, comes from the US. It’s a good thing that dubstep is reaching new audiences - it might give a new kick to the genre by bringing new DJs and producers with unique sounds into the spotlight; like Mesck, Dubtek to name a few.

Anything else you'd like to tell DJ Mag readers
In my guest mix I’ve tried to incorporate a number of different tunes that will give you an idea on the sound of Bad Seed Audio that I've envisioned. There are a few tunes in it that will be released under our imprint in the future, so make sure to follow Bad Seed Audio on Facebook and Soundcloud – there will be a lot of goodies posted on these sites in the next couple of weeks and even after.