Exclusive Interview with Matthew Dekay
Lucid chats with cool-cat Matthew Dekay about his new avatar, influences and upcoming projects.
Yo yo Matthew! Welcome to the Lucid Blog! OK, first things first - Where the hell have you been? You’ve been missing in action for the longest time!
MDK: Haha, I know! I honestly hadn't been inspired to write/compose new EDM music until recently.I lost that special feeling with the music. "Progressive" became more of a style of music and lost its total meaning in my opinion. Todays progressive to me sounds like an evolvement of more then a decade of Trance and doesn't interest me anymore. Funny is that what I do now feels a lot like my early productions like Symbiosis and it was the time where I felt the most comfortable with the music.
You've been pioneering the EDM scene for over a decade now. Is the buzz of DJing still the same for you?
MDK: The buzz is different I feel, because I am more selective in choosing the right events that I think suit me better musically. Last year for example was the first time I played alongside DJ's like Guy Gerber, Jamie Jones and Lee Curtis so that was very inspiring.
What has changed from when you first started playing out? You feel the crowds now are more aware and demanding? Is it more challenging for DJs to outwit them?
MDK: Well EDM music has been around for more than 2 decades. Although there are many djs and producers. Just some are inventing something new every now and then. it's great to see that a new generation is coming up and is finally exploring new fields. I feel it's such a relief to see new guys like Nicolas Jaar or Seth Troxler pushing the boundaries of EDM.
We absolutely love your new edgier techy sound! What really happened there? Is it true that hanging out at Sven Vath's Cocoon in Ibiza inspired you to go this alley?
MDK: Well like I said earlier in the interview to me it all still feels the same. I didn't go into the studio trying to create tech-house. It was just a natural evolution. Cocoon Ibiza was inspiring, but so was Berlin when I first visited for the first time in the Summer of 2009. I didn't feel the early minimal-techno was my kind of thing at all, but then hearing Ricardo Villalobos play 3 years ago really blew me away. It was that feeling that I've been missing for a long time.
Speaking of which, Wongel is a beast! How did you and Lee 'Crazy' Burridge come togehter? Can we expect more collabs in the future?
MDK: Ah thank you so much! I've met Lee in NY where he was playing one night. It's funny we both actually lived a parallel life all these years in so many ways. I mean we knew each other but never met. We instantly clicked and became best friends. We're working on lots of things at the moment and I can't wait for our new releases to see the daylight. Exciting times!
We remember you calling your style 'Trousy'! Still sticking to that? How important is it for artists to evolve their styles with time?
Conrad Schnizler of Kluster said once ;" as an artist it's your job to always create something new"
It's funny that people nowadays look at progressive and associate that with my early productions. Funny enough when you told someone that you're producing progressive 5 years ago it was always associated with Electronic music that sounds dark and boring.
You’re also working on a new label - All day I dream? What’s up with that & what will happen to DK Recordings?
MDK: DK Reccordings is done. It was a great journey but it was time to let it go. I feel like this is a second chapter in my career as a producer/dj so I thought time for a new label. Lee Burridge and I will run the label. We already signed tracks from Alexi Delano and Konrad Black and we already have plans for expanding towards the end of the year with another label.
Your Soundcloud boasts some impressive new releases. What to expect from Matthew Dekay in 2011?
MDK: Thanks! April 25th will be the release of Tauben my new single on Pier Bucci's label Maruca music. Another project I'm finishing now is the new single "Out of Order" together with Lee. We're both currently fine tuning it in our dj-sets to make it sound the way we want. And way more in the pipeline but that's little secret for now
In an earlier interview floating around the net, you mentioned that you and Sander Kleinenberg worked in the same studio. Is he still your studio partner?
MDK: We had some plans to work together at some point when I was kind of taking some time off to re-invent myself. Unfortunately it didn't work out because I suddenly decided to move to NY to work on my own projects.
You played Space Ibiza last year? How was the island experience? Can you bill Space as the Mecca of EDM? What are the other clubs you enjoy playing at?
MDK: Space has always been on my top list of clubs I would love to play at. Finally last year they asked me to play a few events for them forst Headlining a special one off party called PUSH PUSH that was representing the sounds of Berlin and then for their new weekly night Kehakuma. One word, amazing! So yes Space is still definitely the Mecca of EDM I think. There are so many clubs that I enjoyed to play. Even small venues where its just about the music like Miniclub in Valencia was an amazing experience. Same goes for Prestige a one off event I did in Budapest was great.
Okay, so that reminds us of your infamous India tour in 2007, which got canned cause you were sitting at the wrong boarding gate! LOL, how did you manage to do that?
MDK: Yes! what an idiot I am! I was touring a lot in 2007 and I think I just came back from a gig the night before and for some reason that gate number was still in my head. I was convinced that I was sitting at the right gate. When I showed the ground staff my boarding card they told me I was sitting at the wrong gate. Terrible! I soon came to realize i already missed my flight. Worse thing was when I tried to call my agent my phone was disconnected! so I had to call them from a phonebooth. After my agent tried to re-arrange another flight I left the phonebooth without my phone and wallet!! I really sound like a complete moronbut this is what constant traveling does to you I guess.
So any India plans? Are you aware of the EDM scene here?
MDK: I am not aware of the scene in India although I was talking to my friend Dixon who recently played there and said it was fantastic. I really hope to see it for myself one day.
Thanks Matthew for taking out time. Before we call it out, would you like to say something to your Indian fans out there?
MDK: Yes! thank you as well. Hmmm... to my Indian fans huh?! I really have fans there? Thanks for the support, bless you all! x
For more on Matthew, check his Discography, his upcoming releases and do connect with him on Facebook
Exclusive Interview with Cid Inc
Lucid catches up with Beatport's "Progressive House Artists of 2009" - CID Inc.
We’ve been for fans for way too long now so let’s take it from the start shall we? How did Mashtronic come into existence? Were you amazed with the response Mashtronic received?
Back in 2004 I had done a few tracks together with a guy called Tom Gugger(Tom Level) from Austria. Tom was a friend of Mathias Bradler who then knew a few industry people. So we sent the tracks to Mathias who then forwarded all the tracks to Chicaria records and the first EP was born. Was definitely a big surprise how the EP topped the 12" sales charts in shops worldwide and also the response it got was huge, so we thought it would be a good thing to release a 2nd EP as fast as possible and the 2nd ep was released 2 months after, success that as well. Eventually Tom dropped out and Mashtronic consisted of me and Mathias.
Described as a “Producer, Remixer, DJ, Mastering Engineer, Label Manager”. Which of these jobs do you enjoy the most?
Most fun is of course the producing and DJ part. But I enjoy the others very much as well, even thought taking care of all the label stuff involves a lot of office work.
You have some solid releases under your belt. Even though all are your babies, are there any favourites?
Tough one, I have to say that I was really satisfied how my Triangle - Four remix ended up, also the upcoming Spacegulls track is one that I'm really proud of.
30+ original productions in one year! Do you ever leave the studio? 
On a serious note, can we expect an artist album anytime soon?
Yeeh, it's quite much. This year will be a bit more quiet, but that's just good I think, too much is too much =) But yeh, I basically live 24/7 in the studio when not on the road. A few labels have been asking whether I would be interested in doing an album actually, but that thought scares me, it's so much work. Maybe in a year or two, we'll see.
Its no surprise that Beatport tagged you as the “Progressive House Artists of 2009”, whom do you think were other close contenders?
Must been many as there's quite a few great producers around that did not get on there.
Which artists do you personally follow? Favourite artists/collaborators you like to work with?
There's a whole lot. At the moment I'm really enjoying what Lank, Henry Saiz, Guy J, Monaque, Eric Prydz's Cirez D alias, Quivver and all those are putting out. Hard to point out any collaborators as there's so many I would be interested in working with
Replug is one hot label! Any upcoming releases we should look forward to?
Thanks! Next release will be from Evren Ulusoy & Sezer Uysal. I'm also working on a track that will eventually be released on the label, but I'm going to run a remix competition in collaboration with www.findremix.com with some great prices and the winning remix/remixes released together with the original. More info about this will come in august then =)
It’s safe to say that progressive house is your forte. Are there any other genres that you fancy?
I really enjoy some of the techno & tech stuff as well, and sometimes I can find gems in deep house as well! I don't really care about the genres as long as a track rocks my socks.
You’ve had your fair share of globe trotting. Any memorable gigs that still give you goose-bumps?
Hmm...must been a big festival in Rio De Janeiro with over 15.000 people, was a great feeling. Also one small gig in Stockholm that I did few years ago, only around 80 fitted in the room, but they were totally crazy and awesome.
Love those small intimate clubs and also bigger venues as well. Always love playing at B018 in Beirut, one hell of a club that one, and a crowd that words can't describe!
Are you aware of the Indian clubbing scene and our music culture? If you were to tour India, what would you tell the fans to be ready for?
I'm not that familiar in the clubbing scene, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and that the crowd is always up for it. People should be prepared for some quite dark sounds but yet uplifting stuff, by listening to my own productions you'll get the picture=)
Any particular Indian artists you’ve heard of?
Sure, there's a few actually like Arjun Vagale, Jalebee Cartel, Praveen Achary and Vinyaka that I actually made a remix for recently.
CID Inc recently did an exclusive guest mix for The SF Show. Visit Sound Faction's website and blog for more details.
Exclusive Interview with M.A.N.I.K (NYC)
Lucid chats with M A N I K - a young gun from New York famous for his massive releases on the best underground electronic labels such as Josh Wink's Ovum, UK imprint Four:Twenty and Chicago’s very own Fresh Meat.
For a 24 year old you’ve had a bunch of major releases. Which one of them has been most special to you?
I would say my first M A N I K release Jan 2010, on Josh Winks Ovum Recordings, was the most special for me thus far. It's such an honor to work with Josh and be apart of the Ovum family. They have been operating successfully for 15 years and are the mold for what a proper label should sound like, and more importantly, stand for. Quality.
Do you think 2010 is the year where everyone is bringing the funk back?
Well artists have always drawn influence from the past. Specifically for this house revival, it's been happening for quite a while. But regardless of what people are doing, I feel a lot of the promos I am hearing are very similar to each other and a lot of artists are not going above and beyond to differentiate themselves. Thus leaving a ton of sub-par tunes on the market. For me, that is one of the most important things as a musician. What do you do thats unique? Don't just play the stuff everyone else is jamming to, find those interesting labels and music not many people have heard and just go for it.
With a degree in Music Business it’s clear that you had you goals set right from start, but have you always been into electronic music?
I grew up on mostly Hip Hop, and truthfully, thats what I started producing first. I still do produce it at times. I also listened to Movie scores and some Jazz as well growing up.
If it wasn’t music, what do you think you would have been doing?
I think I would be playing basketball or coaching baskteball. When I was younger, that was my first passion. But as I got older I gravitated towards making music more often. Then I had to choose what I wanted to do. I would like to think I would be doing that now 
What artists do you personally follow and what inspires you when it comes to producing music?
I follow many. I am as much a music fan as a music artist. From the electronic music scene I would say Mathew Jonson, Josh Wink, Steve Bug, Martin Buttrich, and Jamie Jones are some of the guys I am inspired by both in terms of producing and djing/live act.
In the studio, I would say I am inspired by anything and everything I have heard at some point or another. Sort of cliche, but truthfully, when I sit down to produce, I subconsciously start making things and realize later where my influences came from. I think a lot of artists do this.
What’s your take on the computer vs. traditional DJing debate? What gear do you use?
Just do you. Simple as that. Whatever makes you happy and whatever fits your performance style and the message you are getting across. That's what is important. If you are a vinyl junkie and you want to carry an 85 lb bag onto the plane, risk an Airline losing it, go for it. If you are a laptop dude, and want to risk the crash, go for it. Again, keep it real and just do you. Don't worry about what's cool and what is not
We heard your sweet mix from the ‘15 years of Ovum’ WMC 2010 party. How was the WMC experience?
WMC was great. I even got a chance to have some dinner before the show with the whole crew. Josh, Steve, Joris, Doc, etc..all the guys were there and it was loads of fun. It was for sure a great experience and I look forward to doing it again next year!
We hear you’re on the guestmix duties on the SF Show this week. What can we expect from your mix?
Mainly just some tracks I like to get down to. I don't over think mixes. I think this came out nicely and it's one solid movement throughout.
Any forthcoming releases we should look forward to?
I have some new stuff coming out this summer on Culprit which I am excited about. Then I have an EP out on Davide Squillace & Luca Bachettis label, Hideout. Another Ovum ep later this year...lots more stuff on top of that, but its all top secret info for now ;D
MANIK is on guest mix duties on the 2nd episode of the Sound Faction podcast. For his exclusive set and track listings visit http://www.soundfaction.in
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