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

Here is our first chart for 2011. A mixed bag of grooves  we've been digging for the past couple of weeks. Click on track names to hear samples.

1. Piek & Danny Serrano - Je Ne Veux Plus (Butch Remix) [Spera Records]

2. Funk D' Void - 37.2 [Outpost]

3. Maher Daniel & Matthew Dekay - Taubenstrass [Monique Music]

4. Tom Flynn - Seduction [Break New Soil Recordings]

5. Outart - Sun Splash [Moon Harbor Recordings]

6. Claude VonStroke - Aundy (James Zabiela Mashup) [Dirtybird]

7. Fausto Messina - Jesa [Lust Und Freu Musik]

8. Tom Flynn - Body Glow 9 (Niko Schwind Remix) [Clarisse Records]

9. Hernan Cattaneo, Soundexile - Teleport (King Unique Remix) [Sudbeat Music]

10. Daniel Dubb - Wound Up [ALiVE Recordings]

Check our previous charts here

We've been tripping on these fantastic mixes all year round. Featuring sounds ranging from deep, jackin' tech-house to no-holds-barred techno; these sets delivered the goods like none other and showcased the best there was in 2010. We hope you like our selection!

5. John Digweed - Essential Mix 2010

His Highness John Digweed takes a shot at the legendary Essential Mix and serves a banger, again. This no-nonsense-in-your-face selection features gut wrenching techno, seamlessly blended together only to define where Diggers stands today. A masterpiece in true sense, this mix will be on our playlist for a long long time.

4. Teva - The SF Show Guest Mix

Teva, previously known for his 'No Brainer' alais, gives The SF Show guestmix a nice stir. A jacking tech house mix that is guaranteed to get those creeps on. We've really played this one out and played it out loud.

3. Steve Lawler - H Session

When you read Lawler's name, you expect the signature tribal-lights out-viva sound, dont you? Well here's a twist. Steve posted this live mix on his soundcloud, titled as a rare afterhour set from Ibiza. We'd tag this set as organic, deep and intense. Next time you're up at 5am, give this beauty a rub.

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2. Tom Budden - Digital Beats Podcast

Big man at Alive records - Tom Budden - drops a bouncy tech house mix for the Digital Beats Podcast. A mix that starts nice and deep will devilishly turn you into a bobblehead within minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a game changer right here.

1. Lee Burridge -  Burning Man

Holy shit! This man gets us excited fo' real! For those who don't know, Burning Man is an annual event held in the middle of the Nevada dessert. Add a pinch of Lee Burridge to that and you know shit's gonna go down! Warning:  This 3 hour epic mix is WILD and may make you rowdy.

We're giving away free passes for Hernan Cattaneo's New Delhi gig!

We’ve blogged about him before, but never thought we’d get a chance to do this. Argentinean techno giant Hernan Cattaneo is gracing the decks at Lap on Thursday – 18 Nov 2010, and Lucid has managed to arrange a few couple passes for all you enthusiasts ( Yes, we love you the most.)  Just answer the following question and stand a chance to win a couple pass (we're giving away 5!)

So here’s the question, mind you, this one isn’t going to be easy.

Where is Hernan Cattaneo from?

1. Argentina

2.United Kingdom

3.Nepal

To submit your entries, you can:

1. Tweet to us @lucid_india

or

2. Write on the event wall

Contest Rules: Contest closes 3PM November 18 2010. Entry/Passes for couples only.

Broskis!

Last month, some sucker hacked into our blog and infected it with malware. Hence we haven't been able to post any of our usuals.

After harrowing our web service provider much, its safe to say we're up and running again. So stay tuned for the monthly charts, artist interviews and surprise guest posts.

Cheers,

Lucid Crew

We had too much fun compiling this month's chart. Go ahead press play. Click on track names to hear samples.

1. Homm & Popoviciu - Crush (Original Mix) [Highgrade Records]

2. Fergie - Slazenger (D-Nox & Beckers Remix) [Excentric Muzik]

3. Daria - Gauchito Gil (Lee Van Dowski Edit) [Cadenza Labs]

4. Digital Dirty Doering  - Loco (D- Func Remix) [Damage Music Berlin]

5. Yosef - I Think We Spoke Once (Original Mix) [Harthouse]

6. Alex Dolby & Santos – Babylon (John Daly Remix) [Bedrock Records]

7. Wally Lopez & Ismael Rivas - Is Deeper (Original Mix) [303Lovers]

8. Guy J – Esperanza (Umbral Aguir Remix) [Bedrock Records]

9. Leon Raes - Aruba Garden (Eelke Kleijn Space Mix) [Outside The Box Music]

10. Juana Molina - Un Dia (Reboot Mix) [Domino]

DJ Deepankar Abrol compiles this month's chart featuring some dancefloor weapons. Click on track names to hear samples.

1. Dj Boris - Drums[Nervous Records]

2. Gary Beck - Fereneze (Original) [Soma Records]

3. Anothony Pappa - New Bag (Original Mix) [1605]

4. Hatfield/Andrea Bertolini - Clouds (David Amo Mix)[Stereo Seven Plus]

5. Broombeck - Tik Tik Tak Boom [Human Garden]

6. Matteo DiMarr  - F This Club [Size Records]

7. Davide Squillace  - Cubism [Desolat]

8. Dandi & Ugo - Fulminata [Italo Business]

9. Jab  - Klemsh[Subsonic Music]

10.Sian - Dreams Are Maps[Bedrock records]

Dheeraj Sareen drops an exclusive jacking tech house mix for Lucid. Grab a few cold ones before you press play.

Tracklist

1. Saudade Yerba Buena feat. Ari Oklan (Jay Haze Tool Remix) - Dheeraj Sareen (MakTub Music)
2. Mr. Jack (Robags Edna Mompf Remix) - Luna City Express (Moon Harbor Records)
3. That Philosophy Track (Todd Bodine Remix) - Sasse & Phonogenic (Highgrade Recordings)
4. Everybody (Surrealism Remix) - BalErik, Vadim Yershov  (Discoteca)
5. Twisted Plug Ins (Original Mix) - Afrilounge (Kaato Music)
6. Seven Moods (Original Mix) - Carlo Lio (Monique Musique)
7. Mizzle (Tom Flynn Remix) - Worthy (Anabatic Records)
8. Grabbing At Straws (Pedramovich Remix) - Tom Budden (Alive Recordings)
9. Grooveapocalypse (Original Mix) Rio Padice (Metroline Limited)
10. The Endless Summer (Original Mix )Luca Baccheti - (Hideout Music )

Click here to Download (Right click, Save As)

A quick chat with him about music, gigs and influences:

How did a young boy from Delhi turn out to be the finest tech house DJs in the country? What have been your influences?

Thanks for the kind words! It all started out with just love for the music. After I returned to India from college in the US I started working a day job in finance and my only escape from extreme boredom in the day time was listening and hunting tunes at night, hanging out with friends and listening to podcasts, clubbing etc. Started posting mixes on the internet & submerge which people really took a liking too. My first break was djing for my good friend Arjun Khurana's Delhi Underground parties. I opened for Paul Woolford, Martin Eyerer, Bjorne Wilke, Jay Haze etc that really helped me get some exposure, Submerge & Nikhil Chinapa also asked me to play for their parties which was a great help. Current influences : Stimming, Rio Padice, Pedramovich, Reset Robot, Tom Budden, Justin Martin too many to list! Past influences : The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Fatboy slim, DJ Shadow, Moby, Radiohead, Deadmau5 (No Joke, I used to dig his earlier stuff!)  list goes on here as well!

You've made a brave move by taking up music as a serious career. What made you go this way?

Well as cliché as this may sound but I seriously owe this all to my parents and family. They have always been open about me DJ'ing but its my Dad who brought up the idea for me to learn professionally and take up making my own music. Pyramind has been an amazing experience for me and besides writing my own Electronic music, being an Audio Engineer opens doors to a lot of things in Game Sound Design, Film production, Post etc. I intend to pursue a career in one of these fields alongside my own productions and DJing.

We know you're a certified gear whore! What's the latest toy you acquired?

HaHa. Well these days since I am concentrating more on production I have been acquiring the right plug-ins and software synthesizers. In terms of plug ins, the most recent thing I purchased was all the new Rob Papen synthesizers that my friend Pedramovich suggested I try and I love them. In terms of hardware I recently purchased the new NI X1 controller for Traktor and its an amazing piece of gear. The integration with the software is superb! Better then any MIDI controller I have ever used for Traktor. But my next purchase is definitely an iPAd where I will run TouchOSC.

Your debut single "Saudade Yerba Buena" is out soon. Tell us more about it.

It comes out later this summer on my good friend Arjun Vagale (Jalebee Cartel) record label MakTub music with remixes from Jay Haze (Tuning Spork / Get Physical), Pedramovich (Alive / Supernature ) & Zero in Something ( Etoka Records ). The track was a project for my Mixing and Mastering class at Pyramind, and my friend Ari Oklan who's a seriously talented musician played Saxophone on it. We got to work in his studio in San Rafael and he has some of the best analog gear including a Spring reverb which makes the sax sound PHAT on a big system. The name in part comes from us recording ambience at the Yerba Buena Gardens here in Downtown San Francisco.

How would you differentiate the scene in San Francisco and New Delhi? Keep it clean

The San Francisco scene is very very well educated about Electronic music and extremely passionate about it is as well. Delhi unfortunately still isn't the EDM capital of India but places like Bluefrog in Mumbai support some quality acts. Bluefrog besides 222 hyde here in San Francisco is my favorite club in the world. The people is what makes San Francisco an amazing city, friendly, down to Earth & willing to help if you have the right sound. Unfortunately the quality of bad music vs. good music in Delhi or for India for that matter is quite great. Its all about Trance, Electro and progressive being shoved down peoples throats. I really wish the promoters would take a different approach and introduce some fresh music more frequently to the scene rather then just bringing the Top 20 DJ in the world every month. We all know the rankings blow and there is so much more quality music out there outside the Top 100.

Most memorable gig?

My most memorable gig has to be playing in the basement of my friend Rahuls house with Paul Woolford. After Paul got done playing for the DUG music festival @ Kuki we shifted the party to Rahuls house and I got to play in his basement for a good 2-3 hours with Paul enjoying a few Kingfishers. The party was so much fun that Paul eventually came upto me and asked me if he could join in! (Like he had to ask and I would have said no!) He also complimented me on how well I played and I was on cloud 9 after that. Paul is a legend. Another favorite had to be my friend Jonny's EFFECT party @ 222 hyde with Lee Burridge + Mike Khoury, that was an Epic morning/afternoon.

Anything that ticks you off while on the console?

Requests. Nothing annoys me more. In SF its a lil different because people ask for the right tracks or something I can usually work around but in India the request to play Bally Sagoo or Bob Sinclair really grinds my gears. Also people constantly touching your laptop and pulling wires out, its happened to me a couple of times and ruined the night by unplugging my computer. One drawback of being a digital user.

What can we expect from you in the near future? Any more releases lined up?

Coming to the end of my course here at Pyramind the last few months are intense with a lot of projects. I havent been able to work on too many originals but I have 2 more almost complete which I intend to send out later this summer once I finish them up. Also getting a remix oppurtunity for a Deep House label which I am excited about.

What should we expect from the Lucid mix?

The Lucid mix is more on the Tech House side of things, though I usually prefer a Deeper sound I will be playing a more jacking sound for the party on the 17th of July @ Kuki, hence I wanted to give a little preview to the night with this mix. (Feel free to post the tracklist up in this question)

Catch Dheeraj Sareen and Nishant Technoboy bring the house down at Pure, New Delhi, on 17 July 2010. For event details click here.

Sanil Sudan, co-owner of The Massive - a DnB/Dubstep collective, gives us a low down on the prevailing urbanist culture in India.

"Is this one of your another stupid boom-boom plik- plok gigs again?" It's a question i get asked often, and the answer is always a "Put a genre here" night. "Drum and Bass/Dubstep" was the invariable answer this time.

"What's that?”

"There's going to be a lot of Bass", I said cockily, pretending with fail to be helpful. They usually proceed with a volley of idiotic questions which are quite frankly out of the scope of this article and sanity in general.

EDM-Electronic Dance Music as we know today has come a long way in our country. From the Goa Rave culture to full blown Festivals and the current crop of International quality live acts & Producers, EDM is getting the recognition it deserves.

Drum and Bass began as an offshoot of the United Kingdom rave scene of the very early 90's. The genre is characterized by fast break beats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines. As befits its name, the bass element of the music is particularly pronounced, with the comparatively sparse arrangements of drum and bass tracks allowing room for bass lines that are deeper than most other forms of dance music. Consequently, drum and bass parties are often advertised as featuring uncommonly loud and bass-heavy sound systems.

The thing that really attracts me to D&B/Dubstep is that you can find influences from all different kinds of music.  Soul, funk, hip hop, jazz to electro, trance, rock and not to forget reggae! This makes it a very diverse genre to play .With over 180 genres and subgenres of EDM (yea that’s right!),Drum and Bass/Dubstep has been making quite a noise lately with quality acts like BASSFoundation (New Delhi), Mental Martians (Mumbai) and Nucleya (Udyan Sagar) among few who are taking the scene to the next level, also Venues worth mentioning like Zenzi Mills (Mumbai) and Bacchus (Bengaluru) playing a pivotal role with regular gigs giving the scene a much needed direction.

BASSFoundation is a monthly night promoted by a collective of Dj's (Maarten Klien, DJ Praxis) and a Brilliant  MC (Taru Dalmia aka Delhi Sultanate).The concept behind this night is simple: Great Music, quality Artist and good vibes. On entering the venue, good vibes instantly hit you with some really Chilled out Drum and Bass blaring through a really big sound system, and you can see Delhi Sultanate vibing it with the Massive and eating Bananas (well quite literally) assuring you of a great night thereon.

Drum and Bass as the Purist will tell you has always been about spreading a message and uniting the Massive or the Junglist as fondly called under the umbrella of Bass and Rhythm. Delhi Sultanate being the Gangsta he is does an A-grade job of what you can say is a quality MC act voicing everything from the IPL to dissing Govt bans and everything which comes in between with his razor sharp Militant attitude.

As the night progresses the whole place packs up to the brim with the Junglist massive, expats andeverybody else having a great time jumping around with some high energy Drum and Bass & a very in your face Bass driven dubstep. Often you have to remove yourself from the Dancefloor to catch a breath and look around the madness being created by them.

Within 1 year of its Conception, the fan following BASSFoundation has created is mind numbingly ridiculous. More often then not you can observe BASSFoundation tags/flyers all over South Delhi roads which is worth mentioning the effort which goes into promotion of their Gigs.

If EDM is the Rock & Roll of our generation, Drum and Bass is surely its Punk brother and it is here to stay and make some filthy noise.

Do visit The Massive's official website for more dope on this junglist movement. Also visit BASSFoundation's Myspace page for updates on their latest gigs.

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.