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Interview with Matt Hardwick ahead of his return to Godskitchen

SteveArnold-GK

Matt Hardwick is the epitome of an international DJ. He lives and breathes electronic music. Since his inception into club culture Matt Hardwick has completely immersed himself in it. His rapid ascendency into dance music with the global phenomenon that is Gatecrasher is something which has been well documented. The association with Gatecrasher, the first of many landmark achievements in his career, took Matt's name from the dusty streets of Sheffield to the bright lights akin with international stardom, along the way seeing him play some of the greatest events the world of clubbing has to offer. Whether it was playing at the sell-out Don Valley stadium gig in front of 28,000 people on New Years Eve 2000 or playing to 15,000 people at the amazing Gatecrasher NEC events - Matt was the heartbeat of the lion that roared throughout the trance boom of the late 90's.

Now considered one of the elite DJ’s in the world and a regular fixture in the annual DJ Mag Top 100 list, it is with pleasure that we welcome Matt back to Godskitchen for the first time in a long time!

First off, it's been a long time since you graced the decks at Godskitchen, how does it feel to be back?
It’s a great feeling to be playing Gods again. I consider it to be one of the best clubs around so its an honour to be doing my stuff there again.

Having spent many years as a resident DJ and now receiving bookings as a guest DJ from all over the world, how do you find the difference in the two?
Well, I actually left Gatecrasher in 2004, so it’s been a while since I have been out there on my own. It’s quite liberating to be honest. The resident tag comes with certain preconceptions (not always true) so its great to be able to break out and perform on a par with the headliners after sitting in their shadows for the early part of my career.

A massive push for your career was your first essential mix, where they asked for a follow up mix in October of 2005. How did you feel when it was shortlisted for the essential mix of the year?
I have to admit that I did the mix at John Askew’s house drunk having not slept from the night before. The mix turned out great despite my lack of professionalism and apparently I came second after Sasha. It would have been a travesty if I would have won though.

Your production profile has been pushing your name forward over the past few years, through collabs with Smith and Pledger and also fellow DJ John Askew amongst others. What inspires you to make tracks?
First and foremost it is because I love the music that I play but I also recognize that it is a necessity from a DJ perspective. I have been in the DJ Mag Top 100 for the last 6 years off the back of my DJing alone. In order to propel myself to the next level as a DJ it is essential that I raise my production profile. The impetus for this has come from the launch of my own label, “Kill the Lights”. The label was launched last September. Every release to date has been very strong and so far I have released two tracks of my own, the first was a vocal track called “Supernal” and the second was an instrumental called “I am DJ”. They were both huge tracks for me. The next release will be a track from Ben Gold called “Today” which I think will be one of the tracks of the summer.

Matt Hardwick Vs Gulf - Impossible sits nicely at track 9 on Mark Eteson's mix on the Godskitchen Underground CD, can you explain how this collaboration came together?
Gulf are an Indie band from London who my manager also manages. They asked me to do the remix and the result surpassed my expectations. I am actually reworking the track for a full release on Kill the Lights over the summer.

Who are your "ones to watch out for" in 2009/2010 in regards to music production?
Activa is the best producer around at the moment. I am expecting big things from him over the next 12 months. He also happens to be a really nice guy which will help him get places in the dance music industry. If I had the time, I would love to manage him as I could perhaps help him avoid making some the mistakes I made in my early career.

Having been in the game for a long time now, what changes have you seen over the years?
You make me sound like an old man (laughs). I suppose the single biggest change has been the role of the internet. It has made the scene truly global and has taken the music we love to every corner of the world. This has certainly opened doors and has enabled global coverage.

If you could go back in time and change one thing about the scene what would it be?
I think that the culture of paying DJs extortionate amounts of money was something that I would have liked to have stopped. I saw it all develop and witnessed some of the bidding wars, it was just ridiculous. Something about it doesn’t sit quite right for me. Its almost like the premier league situation, the top players get paid more and more which means the mid and lower ranking players demand more money. We have a situation in the UK where DJs can demand £5000 but only pull a crowd of 200 people. Where is the logic in that?

Two items that never leave your side?
My Oystercard to get around the crazy city in which I live and my blackberry.

Finally, tell us something we don't know about you?
I have a recurring dream that I am playing a gig at the Republic in Sheffield (now no longer there, of course) on a packed night and the track timer on the CDJ is counting down to zero and I can’t find another track to put on. The timer goes down and down and just as the clock hits zero and the music is about to stop I wake up all sweaty and panicking. I have had that dream at least once a week for the past 10 years.

Saturday 27th June
Air nightclub
Birmingham

Oxygen Room
JUDGE JULES
GIUSEPPE OTTAVIANI (LIVE)
SIMON PATTERSON
SEAN TYAS
RICHARD DURAND
MARK ETESON

Nitrogen Room
MATT HARDWICK
JON O'BIR
ACTIVA
JORDAN SUCKLEY

Carbon Lounge
DEEP CITY SOUL
DUNCAN MURRAY

Tickets - £13.50 +bf

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

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Posted Fri 26 Jun

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