Got another exclusive interview for you guys today. This one comes from Matt Fox, the 22 year old producer from Arizona. If you missed the feature we did on the man last week, check it out here.
I want to share two more of his tracks with you guys before we get into the interview. First up, we’ve got an original called “Limitless“. It’s exquisite. Tons of energy, sure to bring mayhem to any dancefloor.
Next we have a mix of “Why U Playing Me“. Love what he’s done to the track. And Nikki Page‘s vocals are just always amazing.
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Matt Fox the project and who you are as an individual. What’s a day in the life like?
Matt Fox: I’ve always had the desire to make music. I did a lot of indie stuff in High School and the beginning of college but never really felt like it was where I was really headed. I play piano and guitar pretty well (and sing on occasion); I was a music major for a while and had dreams of becoming a vocalist but decided to take things in a different direction after my first semester of college. The second I moved to the West Coast I fell in love with EDM and haven’t looked back. I’ve spent the last 5 years honing my skills (while graduating with a degree in business on the side), becoming a dj that understands mashups and more, and finally, through various avenues, becoming ready to show my craft to the world. I still sing and play those instruments and they’ve actually become super useful in my production (especially piano/synth riffs).
DE: Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
Matt Fox: Diplo has always been like an under-appreciated EDM God to me. His Major Lazer project changed my life and that’s only a small part of what he does; he makes it look easy. I also have a deep deep love for Liquid Drum and Bass. I play it in my more chill sets and Danny Byrd will always be my favorite DnB producer. His subtle style and complex production style make him a master of his craft. Aside from them, I love Wolfgang Gartner, Robotic Pirate Monkey, Pretty Lights, Dillon Francis, Gramatik, and even up-and-comer PrototypeRaptor. My music and my sets wouldn’t be the same without those legends.
DE: What’s the creative process like for you?
Matt Fox: Its sort of a all-or-nothing approach. I do my best work when the idea for a track is fresh in my mind and I come up with my best stuff when I just sit for seven, eight, or more hours just producing. I’ll stay up until the sun comes up more often than I’d like just to make sure I dont lose all the ideas I have for the track to sleep. Electronic music isn’t really something you can write down and save for tomorrow (at least not the way it works in my head), there are just too many variables. My mastering is the only thing that I really spread out over a few weeks, most of the core production for a track comes the first day I think of it.
DE: What’s it like being a musician on the grind in Arizona?
Matt Fox: Three years ago there was breathing room to be an artist in this state, now I kinda feel like I’ve had to bunker down. There are tons of artists without a single track who’ve got more fans than some of the newer artists you see on the blogs. The genres becoming mainstream has changed people’s perspectives I think. I’ve been focusing most of my time on my upcoming album as well as promoting my EDM website, Arizonadancemagazine.com which focuses on the events, music, and artists that come through AZ. Through that, I’ve gotten the chance to interview many popular DJs like Tritonal (with Cristina Soto), Reid Speed, Jakes, Vaski, Porter Robinson, and more; all of which are featured on the site and youtube.com/djmattfox. My goal, aside from promoting my music to an international audience, is to make Arizona Dance Magazine the #1 EDM web-publication in the state and to give a voice to the local artists that I feel are under-recognized in the blogosphere.
DE: What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
Matt Fox: I have a 10 or 12 track album coming out in the next few months. It’s by far my best work and I had some great help from some talented vocalists in giving some of the tracks that little something extra. All of the tracks themselves I produced completely on my own. Aside from that, I’ll be touring with my label, Carillo Music in the fall and fans of my Facebook fan page will definitely be kept in the loop. I have some out of state gigs as well coming up including a big show in Denver next March that I’ll be headlining. My label is also working on my website as well as my first music video. We’ve got a lot of big stuff in the works and with the other artists on my label getting national attention (and working with several BIG artists like Bassnectar), there’s nowhere to go but up.
DE: What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
Matt Fox: I recently threw my first event which was a Mario Themed party called Yoshi’s Island 4, check out part of my set here: . I performed with two of my vocalists (Kelsey B – Los Angeles and Ellz – Scottsdale, AZ) and got a call the day before from Waldo of “Hollywood Undead” asking if he could MC my set. The result was a really great high-intensity set that got everyone in the room dancing and even though it was 100 degrees in there, we all had a blast. There’s a part of me that will always love the dark, underground parties. I feel like I’ve been kinda numbed to the wierd and crazy stuff that goes on at those kind of “rave” events, because all the crazy stuff I can think of seems sort of mild to me. I’m excited to start touring and meeting more great industry people, I’m sure there will be more performances just like that to come.
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