Matthew Dekay may not be a name that dance music fans are instantly familiar with, but to progressive house DJs and fans alike he’s known for producing peak-time anthems to devastate any of the darker dance floors. His original production - ‘Higher Thoughts’ could be the progressive house tune of the summer, and DJmag reckons there are big things in store for this Dutch producer in 2004.

Sasha, John Digweed, Deep Dish, Danny Howells - and all the house DJs that matter, have been caning MDK’s productions for the last few months. Sander Kleinenberg released ‘Higher Thoughts’ on his prolific Little Mountain Records back in February. For a hard-working producer who’s been playing the piano from the age of five, it’s about time.
“I’ve always had interests in music technology,” MDK reveals. “I went to music conferences like the Frankfurt Musikmesse more than 10 years ago, and when I first heard that weird underground stuff made by unknown producers I too started to make my own tunes.”

Soon to be 26-years-old, MDK is starting to make his mark on the DJ world, with upcoming gigs in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. For Matthew however, production must always come first: “I’ve got a band - the Matthew Dekay Band, and along with the other members, Frederic Gervais (bass), Norman Soares (percussion), and Joep Berkenbosch (guitar), we are working on some new tunes” he states proudly. “I play the keyboards and use computers to make what I call Trousy music - it stands for Trippy Trancy Tribal Housy music. I’m also working on a huge remix coming out on Little Mountain Records soon called ‘Party 2 the Music’.”

With DJing gigs worldwide, and a hectic studio schedule, MDK stills finds time to run two labels - Lowriders Recordings along with Nick K, and Dekay Recordings, which will have its first release out in June.

Is it important for DJs to produce original material as well as spin? Matthew offers some advice to any DJs that want to be taken seriously: “Ten years ago it was possible to become famous just from DJing. Nowadays however, DJs must produce, as name branding has become more important than ever before.”

As a producer is Matthew worried about illegal downloading? “It doesn’t upset me at all”, he tells DJmag. “I think it’s a good mirror to see how popular an artist is. I would be more worried if I couldn’t find any Internet matches of me. File-sharing programs are there, and you can’t do anything against it. I just see it like an extra promotional tool.”

Will vinyl be ever replaced by digital mediums? “It’s stupid to say ‘no’,” he warns. “But I think people still like to mix using their hands, by touching the music. I don’t know what kind of format will replace vinyl, but it will disappear eventually.”(D.M)