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 Matt Darey's taken his Nocturnal into compilation territory this month with a brand new double mix CD. We talk to him about the new release which puts the focus at lot on new producers coming through into the scene...
You may be surprised to know that Matt Darey has been involved within the dance industry for over 17 years now, but his enthusiasm for it remains as strong as ever. It doesn’t seem that long ago since his epic vocal 'Beautiful' with Marcella Woods was tearing up the club sound systems. These days Matt embraces a whole host of styles within his music and his sets to great effect. On the production side he is very firmly pushing his ‘Urban Astronauts’ project which is more of a band than a dance alias with Matt the brainchild behind the project, you may have first heard them with Matt’s very emotional remix of ‘See The Sun’. Look out for a new album for them coming up in the next few weeks and a brand new three track single due out very soon. On the Matt Darey front though things are very juicy with his new compilation ‘Nocturnal’, named after his radio show which has touched up over 250 episodes so far. It’s an intriguing new collection from a mixture of styles with a lot of unknown artists popping into the two mixes as well as familiar names like Matt himself and the Ridgewalkers. We thought it would be a good idea to get the thoughts of Matt about his very new compilation and find out more.
i:Vibes: Matt thanks for taking some time to talk to i:Vibes. How is your summer going? Have you been caught up in the excitement of the 2010 World Cup or have you been able to get work done in the studio and tour?
Matt: My pleasure, I’m sitting on a flight back from Asia to London right now, perfect time to catch me with some time on my hands. The world cup, I don’t even like football , never watched a single match lol. Summer so far has been a lot of fun, I’m loving being on tour and meeting all the music lovers out there.
i:Vibes: Before we get to your new mix CD Nocturnal, please explain what makes your radio show Nocturnal so unique? Your radio shows are broadcast in over 150 stations worldwide.
Matt: I think that maybe its cause I play a lot of different styles as opposed to a lot of shows which stick to one genre. It’s a personal thing, I have to play a lot of styles on my show to keep it interesting and stimulating for myself and for the listeners. In my career I produced everything from drum & bass, house, techno, trance, garage music, guitar bands so I have quite broad musical tastes.
i:Vibes: What was your goal behind the mix CD Nocturnal?
Matt: I guess just to try an encapsulate some of my favourite moments from the show into an album. That of course is an impossible task but you can only try. I play so many styles from week to week it would be hard to make an album that flows well and showcases all styles. I just stuck to the ones that were rocking the live sets on the world tours.
i:Vibes: How difficult was it choosing the right tracks for this compilation? How long did this process take?
Matt: I didn’t have to think that hard to be honest, I listen to this music every day of my life, it was more instinctual than anything.
i:Vibes: Nocturnal means night, but does Nocturnal have an even more deeper meaning for you in terms of music?
Matt: It’s a show that showcases music for the Nocturnal Generation. So much of my life has been spent partying or making music all night and sleeping all day I guess it was a good fit for me and also most of the people I know in my world.
i:Vibes: What was your goal with CD 1?
Matt: To be honest I just wanted to take my favourite tracks of the moment and mix them together so it flowed, like a journey from one style to the next.
i:Vibes: You start CD 1 with Chasing The Sun. What was it like working with the Ridgewalkers?
Matt: The opening track was very personal to me cause I had written the lyrics and melody while on tour in India, kind of stuff I was going through at the time in my personal life. I loved the Ridgewalkers “Find”, they have such an enchanting sound and that was what I was after. I sent here my guide vocal demo and she picked it up really easy. Aeron took the original music and turned it around into this amazing blend of atmosphere. There’s not much breaks like this around nowadays so I guess it was a nice way to start the album.
i:Vibes: Where does the precise Matt Darey Sound surface in this track?
Matt: It’s a mixture of my own song writing & production skills, Aerons music genius and the Ridgewalker ethereal vocal sound.
i:Vibes: You feature many up and coming artists on Nocturnal. How important is it to feature them on a CD of this nature?
Matt: Nocturnal is very much about new names and faces to the industry. I find their music more exciting. You’ll notice a lot of Nocturnal episodes feature music from people you probably haven’t heard of before.
i:Vibes: What makes 5 Reasons from Sylvia Tosun & Loverush UK such a special track that you just had to add on the compilation?
Matt: It’s just that indefinable thing, I love this mix of that track, its got an edge that’s different from all the other tracks out there, very hooky vocal, nice combination.
i:Vibes: How much of a pleasure was it working with the lovely Ashley Tomberlin? On Lost at sea, you captured a beautiful atmosphere. How was the production work on this track? What was the most difficult thing that you had to do to get this track perfect?
Matt: I’d been wanting to make a track with Ashley for years, loved her Luminary tracks. I sent her this one track while she was in the musical desert, nothing people were sending her was inspiring her to write at that point. She was a darling to work with, and wow, what an amazing performance as ever!! I hope to meet her for the first time when I play in Dallas this August, maybe do a PA of the track if she’s in town of course.
i:Vibes: You have all kinds of styles on this CD. “Shine On me” has many different sound elements in the Robbie Rivera rework 2009. How difficult is it adding these kind of tracks that might annoy the hardcore trance fans who might want to see more melodic tracks on the CD?
Matt: Well, I guess I’m always annoying my hardcore trance fans if I have any left, lol. I just play the music I love. I think most people who listen to Nocturnal aren’t just trance fans anyway, they are EDM fans and they are open to all the styles I throw at them each week.
i:Vibes: You added the funky Float my Boat by Lazy Jay having the Moguai remix. Moguai has been celebrated since over 10 years in Germany. How important has he been to the world EDM scene?
Matt: I remember back in 2000 - 2002 he popped up in my record collection for the first time, he had such an awesome sound. This particular track has rocked so many of my live sets that it would have been a crime not to put it on the album
i:Vibes: What was your goal on CD 2?
Matt: I guess play the more uplifting stuff in the main and again keep some kind of flow to the album. I wanted to kick off with See the sun cause I love that track so much, so many good times associated with it and it still sends shivers down my spine when I lay it out.
i:Vibes: I love “See the Sun”. If you had the choice to listen to this track anywhere in the world with the sun present where would you listen to it?
Matt: On Anjuna Beach in Goah when the sun was setting.
i:Vibes: Why did you choose the Kobana & Hatchet remix for Back 2 The Real instead of your original mix?
Matt: I guess it just fitted the mix better than mine, I love their lounge feel, its awesome.
i:Vibes: “Peace” is a pretty song to end CD 2 with. Is Michael Feiner an artist that we will hear more of in the future?
Matt: I hope so, he’s French I think, they make some great house music and this was kind of half way between trance and prog house, about where I am with my musical tastes at the moment.
i:Vibes: What would you like to have the listeners remember from Nocturnal?
Matt: Just that they got good music and some classic mixes like 100, 200, 250 that will always be timeless.
i:Vibes: Back in 1997, you produced one of my all time favourite tracks “Angel” Lost Tribe. Where were your thoughts when you made this masterpiece?
Matt: It was a summer at my place in London, chilling with friends who pretty much used to live with me. We were deep into club land and chilling, this captured some of those moments.
i:Vibes: Which two teams will reach the 2010 World Cup and who will win it??
Matt: I have no idea, I don’t even like footy and haven’t even watched a single match.
Matt Darey's 'Nocturnal' compilation is out right now and be ordered from the Black Hole Recordings online shop.
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