Matador - Charging at his dreams

Earlier today we gave away a free track from Richie Hawtin's newest protege, Irish producer and DJ Matador.  That's still available for you to grab right here, but in the meantime we thought it only polite to find out more about Gavin Lynch aka Matador, so we had a chat with him about working with Minus, new material he has coming out and how he's celebrating St Paddy's day this weekend...

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! For those that don't know Matador, how would you describe your sound? Hey, thanks for having me!  I'd describe the sound as deep driving techno, sometimes more melodic, sometimes chuggy, its been described as 'big room' at times, but I think I have a decent balance of tracks out there, and coming out soon that work in both areas.  I have a track on my next ep with Minus 'Tonetool' and its a beatless 4 minute number with all sorts going on, recordings from out the window of my apartment blended with weird synths and all sorts, so I think it's techno covering a few different areas/genres.

How long have you been involved with music and what got you started?  Usual story really, got turntables at 16, moved to the big city at 18, bought records, played records, wanted to make my own records, learned how to make records, made records [laughs].

You're also a sound engineer, how much engineering do you do for other artists now and who are they?  Yea, I trained and worked as a sound engineer, and I learned shit loads, worked with some amazing people and got my trade, but I don't work with any other artists now, I've worked on different projects with friends in the past, and would like to do so again at some point, but for now I'm focusing solely on my Matador project.

 You recently joined Richie Hawtin for Mixmag's party in London, how did that go?  Great fun!  The Minus shows I've played at thus far have all had a certain vibe to them and this one was no different, place was packed, hot sweaty crazy atmosphere, loads of friends there too, so that always makes it that bit sweeter, and dangerous!

You've found a new home on the Minus label, how did that come about?  I had sent some tracks through to Minus, then we spoke back and forth on email, we met at a gig, discussed doing a release, I went off and wrote the material, the guys were into it.  So we had the Kingswing EP, and upcoming the Spooks EP out in a few weeks. I've played a few Minus shows now, and have had several meetings, we all get on great, it all works very naturally, I've found a great new home!

Your most recent release accolade is being featured on ‘Richie Hawtins Presents New Horizons’, the latest release on Minus. How did it feel to be placed on Hawtins hot list?   It's a solid reassurance to say the least when someone like that is backing your music. As a producer ive worked hard over the past 6 years to get my sound the way I wanted it, and with stuff like this happening, it's what makes it all worth while.

You’ve worked on a few remixes in the past, who's next?  I've really enjoyed remixing in the past, and have got some of my best production out of remixing stuff, but i really want to focus solely on original material, ive been doing so for the past 4/5 months, and it feels right. il go back to remixing at some point I'm sure.

We recently discovered that you’re not only an artist but also a trained chef.  What's your favourite dish to make?  Favorite dish to cook & eat, mmm, thats a tricky one!  I love to make and eat a wild mushroom risotto. There's good skill in making a dish so simple, exceptional.   But there are others, that I don't enjoy making as much as I enjoy eating!

Being a Dublin based Irishman, how do you plan to celebrate St Patricks day this weekend?  I'm in Dublin this year for my first live show in the city, it's at an all day party 'Mongo' run by close friends, they always throw wild events, and this seems to have the makings of something special! And of course il be having a Guiness or 3!

For more on Matador and his upcoming Spooks EP release on Minus on March 21st, head here

Listen to Matador on Pulse Radio