:: BB INTERVIEWS ::

:: DOPAMINE ::

Straight to the Brain of Dopamine Stu Fingerhut get the inside story from one of Breaks most in-demand talents With ten years experience behind the decks and a history of churning out big techno tracks, the progression to breaks has seen Matt Goddard bringing fresh and exciting elements to the world of breakbeat. With his first release 'Hold You' on Thursday Club Records (TCR), Dopamine's history with electro and techno is hammered home for a solid and relentless 7 minutes of electro/tech influenced breakbeat badness. When that bass kicks in you know this is no ordinary dancefloor monster. It's been caned by Rennie Pilgrem, Plump DJs, Clive Morley, Stanton Warriors, Krafty Kuts, High Eight, POD, Atomic Hooligan and Jay Cunning and the response is always the same - complete and utter dance floor anihilation. Matt now has a new home away from home with Title Fight Records run by Klaus "Heavyweight" Hill. Title Fight allows Matt to really explore the tougher side of breaks whilst keeping his trademark electro funk style intact. His next 12" Harsh is due out late November 2005. 2005 has been a breakthrough year for you as both a DJ and producer. Tell us how it all came to be. I’ve been writing music now for a little over four years and DJ’ing since I was eighteen - I’m now thirty. For the first few years of writing I was completely immersed in it. I’d lock myself away in the studio for hours and hours or all weekend because it fascinated me so much. My girlfriend would get insanely jealous of my computer (and then RS7000) because I would lavish so much attention upon it. So, after years of doing exactly that it came to a point where I started sharing it with people. It wasn’t until I started writing breaks about a year ago that people started really taking notice though, I mean sure there were always people that dug my tunes but that transition to breakbeat had a powerful effect on the quality of my output. Some of the first people to start playing my tunes were Paul and Gerry from Awe Soundsystem ( Subsocial), Clive Morley and Leo (Ladykilla). All four of these guys pushed my music on their shows and at their gigs and in a few short months had created a bit of a buzz about me. Luck would have it that Pippa (label manager from TCR) was in the dj booth when Clive dropped Hold You from a CDR at some party he was playing at. Rennie called me a couple of days later and the rest as they say is history. Looking back, ‘Hold You’ was one of the defining track of 2005. Tell me about developing it and the mystery voice singing. Hold You is one of those tracks that is different not just to whats going around at the moment but to all my own stuff as well. I think people are going to define me by that track for a long time which is funny because anyone that’s heard more of my music will know that was a bit of a one off. Look at the flip, Zoit – it’s completely different. Hold You is something I had an idea for which for me is rare. I usually just tinker until I find a groove I like and go with the flow but this time I knew what I wanted and set out to achieve it. The bass was the first idea, I wanted a drone that I’d heard in electro tracks but not in breaks. I think that’s the defining moment, when the bass first kicks in. It takes people by surprise. It’s an anthem that’s completely unorthodox yet so ridiculously simple anyone could have written it! Oh, something most people wont know is that Hold You and Zoit were both made completely on a Yamaha RS7000 which is sort of like a groovebox on steroids. No computer at all, well just for recording the output of the RS7000. The vocal, err… ummm…. No comment. You’re also involved with Whomp! Give us a behind the scenes scoop on the group. Whomp! Is a live collaboration between myself, Dirty D (Breaking Point) and Dr Benwahh (Menu Music). Damo (Dirty D) and myself got together a couple of years ago and started jamming some tracks we’d made and quickly realized we had something no one else was offering locally. Sure we’ve had Infusion and Nubreed but we were doing quirky electro breaks, completely sequenced – no vocals and on very minimal setups (plus those guys pissed off overseas leaving the punters to us). We then brought in Benny (Dr Benwahh) who is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a producer. When we perform he is the guitarist but in the studio he’s the riff guy. He can drop a million riffs in a session and all we have to do is choose the ones we like. He’s awesome. We’re currently working in the studio on an EP so keep an eye out for that. So you’re involved with all these projects, just killin’ it, when do you make time for the ladies? My girlfriend is busier than I am so it might be easier to ask her that question! Seriously though, time management is essential. I could harp on saying that I’ve got it down pat but I’d be lying through my arse. I’m terrible at organizing myself! My girlfriend is good at keeping me organized though, making sure I’ve sent certain emails, cd’s, interviews (like this one) etc etc…. Finding time to be a head chef, producer, dj, band member, clubber and boyfriend is not always easy but I do try and fit everything in moderation. So what would your ex-girlfriend say about you? That I was the greatest? I dunno really, she lives in the UK. That’s an odd question by the way! Yeah, I can't help it. Something to do with my upbringing. So help me out, I’ve never been to Australia. What tips do you have for the first time visitor? Don’t expect a massive breaks scene. A lot of people get confused because they’ve heard about our festivals which are 20,000+ events. Field Day on new years day is massive and always has a great breaks lineup but that’s not reflective of the day to day scene. There’s loads of great dj’s and producers though, we have Dirty D, Hook n Sling, Basskleph, Nick Thayer, Infusion, Nubreed, Karton, Phil K, Friendly, Smithmonger, EK, Soma Rasa, Luke Chable, Jono Fernandez, Poxy Music, Pendulum, Teknic B, James Taylor, Kid Kenobi and Klaus lives here now as well. So getting back to the music, Title Fight is building a stable of high quality music. What’s the master plan with the label? The master plan is to continue to release dancefloor killers of very high quality! Klaus is a man on a mission and I can see big things coming up for this label. He puts a lot of effort into it and deserves massive success in my opinion. I’m really excited to be a part of Title Fight. I’ve got my next single “Harsh” being released late November this year and I’ve already completed the release to follow it up so yeah Klaus doesn’t hang around when it comes to putting out material. He constantly on my back making sure I’ve finished projects and checking the quality of them. He’s very particular about the production standards of the label and won’t accept anything that’s 99% there. It’s got to be 110% all the way for Title Fight. These days more and more DJs are producing. Is that just the natural evolution? It’s more accessible with the increased power in personal computers. You no longer need a room full of gear to create a tune so more and more dj’s that once wouldn’t have been able to afford it can now dive in head first. It’s a pretty exciting time in my opinion. Others will tell you that the accessibility of production to kids these days is what’s killing the industry but I’m of a completely opposite mind. Sure there’s going to be more crap churned out but that will happen anyway, the increase in quality music is starting to explode now though. Just look at Psure, that kid is only 20 I think and his music is amazing. If studio gear still cost a small fortune you wouldn’t be seeing these kids turn out mental tunes. They’d still be in music college learning how to EQ a vocal or choose a mic for way longer than necessary. Vinyl, CDs or computers? All of the above, but please, just don’t axe the wax. I’m not the biggest fan of using a computer to sequence with. I use that hardware sequencer I mentioned before to do all my sequencing. All audio is handled in samples and everything is done with midi – very little fancy effects programming and stuff like that. It’s amazing how creative you become when you set yourself limitations. I have one multi effect, one reverb, one delay and 16 tracks of midi to work with. Tell that to almost any producer these days and they’ll tell you I’m crazy. I think the results speak for themselves though. For dj work, I love vinyl but it’s not always accessible so I need to bring quite a lot of CD’s if I’m going to play upfront tunes and test stuff out. Several of your fellow countrymen have made it big in the states as actors. I think it’s just cause chicks dig the accent. When are you gonna make to the US shores? No plans at this stage. I’ve been twice when I was younger for holidays, amazing place and I’m keen to go back one day. We’ll see. So with the year coming to a close, what’s in-store for 2006 and beyond? February I’m in the UK and Europe touring as well as attending Breakspoll. Loads of stuff coming up for release in 2006. I think you’ll see a lot of my stuff on Title Fight but I do have releases and remixes on other labels such as Menu Music and Sound Of Habib. I’ll just keep working away and try not to think too far ahead and hopefully everything will keep going that way it is. Sounds dope! Thanks so much for your time. Best of luck with everything! No problem, thanks for taking an interest! :: November 2005 :: Dopamine's next 12" Harsh is due out late November 2005. Additional information on Dopamine can be found at www.djdopamine.com

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