The Ripe Guest Mix with Mat Cant

Matt Bladin August 14, 2012 1

Mat Cant has had a presence twerking knobs and spinning decks in the Australia dj dscene for a staggering 9 years across a number of cities. His consistency in ability to work to any given crowd as well as technical skill have seen him support a massive list of big names including Lupe Fiasco , A-Trak , SBTRKT and Kele of Bloc Party (just to name a few) and earnt him plenty of kudos from his fans, peers and the extended music networks of Australia, such as triple j.

If this wasn’t enough, he also runs prominent label and blog Scattermish, Thursday disco ‘The Diner’ at The Bottom End (famed for its buffalo wing eating comp) and has released massive remixes for the likes of Sampology and 360 . Needless to say he is a man of many skills.

Recently coming off the back of a massive international tour with 360 across England, followed by a massive national tour of Australia for his recent release ‘ Make Believe’ , Mat has taken some time to set back down in Melbourne for a while ahead of upcoming shows including Parklife.

Thankfully with this down time Mat has been nice enough to put together what can only be described as the most insanely crunk mix we’ve ever had the pleasure of dancing to. Cutting between acts and genres at a frantic pace, names like Ciara & 2 Chainz , Twista , Obey City and Ludacris cross between hip hop, crunk and of course Trap.

TRACKLIST:

Ciara & 2 Chainz – Sweat (Instrumental)
French Montana, Rick Ross, Drake & Lil Wayne – Pop That
Nick Catchdubs – Pop That Party Break
Ludacris & UZ – Freaky Trap Gurl (eSenTRIK Edit)
C.Z – Doin What I Do
Twista – Gucci, Louis, Prada (Instrumental)
Trina – I’m Back (Back 2 Business)
Obey City – Fuck Dat Wobble (Anti-Wobble Anthem)
Meek Mill, Fabolous & French Montana – Racked Up Shawty
Bosstone – SMDH
Bangladesh, Pusha T, 2 Chainz & Jadakiss – 100
5kinAndBone5 & Robert Jeffrey – Penis Power (UZ & LOLGURLZ Remix)
Chromatic – Jaw Dropper
Mat Cant – Pay For This
Melé – Gold Casino
Branchez – F Off
Lil Wayne & Big Sean – My Homies Still (Instrumental)
Tyga feat 2 Chainz – Do My Dance
Trap Arnold – MoreLoko
Ludacris – Jingalin’ (Instrumental)
SWISHER – Pyrokeet
E-40 – My Shit Bang (Bleep Bloop ReFix)
Nicki Minaj – I Am Your Leader (Instrumental)
Busta Rhymes & Reek Da Villian – King Tut

Q & A With Matt Cant

Always one to keep on giving, Mat also answered a few of our questions about his DJ career and what he’s got planed for the future:

Matt Bladin: Having DJed for around 7 years, the last few In Melbourne, how do you think the club scene and Australian dance music scene has changed in recent years?

Mat Cant: First off, after reading 7 years I thought damn, that’s long time so I thought I would see if that’s right and its actually been 9 years with the last 4 in Melbourne! The club scene has definitely changed, some good, some bad, but its inevitable, evolution baby. So many things have changed over the last 9 years I honestly don’t know where to start haha

M.B: You’ve always been regarded as a DJ that can play and work with a wide range of genres and sounds, the extensive and diverse list of internationals you’ve supported is testament to this. What are some of the factors or thought process you consider in planning for a set?

M.C: Being able to play a wide range of genres and sounds I think is essential if you want to be a full time DJ in Australia, it also makes you a lot better DJ I believe cos every genre has different ways of mixing. Only thing I find frustrating about being a DJ that plays lots of different genres is that people ALWAYS try and pigeon hole you into a certain sound. At the moment so many people think I’m a “Hip Hop DJ” which I’m clearly not, club music has always been my main style but I’ll play whatever genre is needed to make the party move.

I don’t plan sets that often anymore, I used to do it heaps when I was first starting out cos I wanted things to be perfect but now I just feel it out more. I still plan sets for big shows (festivals, international supports) cos you need to be on point for those gigs, I hate seeing a festival DJ set where the DJ obviously doesn’t care about the actual DJing aspect.

M.B: You’ve developed a great, identifiable sound with a lot of your music production and more extensively through your work with the releases on Scattermusic. What has driven the inspiration of your original productions in recent months? And what can we expect from you and Scattermusic in terms of releases in the near future?

M.C: We started Scattermusic cos we found the music that we all loved was really under represented in Australia and I think we did a ok job of helping the different club sounds become more alive here. Inspiration wise, I get inspired by heaps of different things, I listen to a lot of music during the week between gigs especially mix-tapes and international radio. Hearing different sounds from different parts of the world really inspires me to push boundaries with my sets, which I’ve always been about. Scattermusic release wise we have a couple of things in the pipeworks including a dope release from Melbourne boys SWISHER and there’s some talks of maybe doing a Melbourne compilation of all our awesome local talent. Mat Cant release wise I have a remix coming out for Diafrix’s new single “Helicopter” plus working on other remixes for Polo Club, Pablo Calamari and Squarehead. Always working on original tunes, just taking my time with some of them to get them as good as I can. I’ve done this track with Melbourne singer songwriter Steph Hannah that I’m super proud of, I cant wait for everyone to hear that.

M.B: The last year has seen you release some massive remixes and edits for names like Hudson Mohawk, Sampology and 360. How do you like to approach the remixing of a track? Is there a certain process you like to work through in terms of inspiration and creating something in line with you own sound?

M.C: Creating remixes I always start off with the drums, build a kit and create some loops to play around with. Them I usually find the root note and start jamming out a bassline, then work on the music elements and let the beast take shape. I produce way too many different styles due to all my different inspirations, sorry to everyone out there that might be getting confused what style I actually produce haha

M.B: For someone who has been playing for many years around Australia and within that time crossed and played with dozens of genres and sounds, how to do think the rise EDM to the main stream has affected Australia’s perception of dance music? Do you think people or more open to new ideas or has it had a more negative effect?

M.C : Dance music is definitely more accepted in the main stream now, to the point its pretty much all dance music, but most of it is shit. There is heaps of great EDM (btw I hate that term) out there, more people need to dig a little deeper

M.B: As 360’s touring DJ, how did you find the reaction for overseas crowds, such as London, to your sets and the show as a whole? Do you think there is a growing market overseas for more Australian hip hop and dance music?

M.C: When I was in London I didn’t find the crowd that much different to Australia, especially the show with 360 cos pretty much everyone there was Australian haha. I played a Dancehall party over there that was crazy, with that show tho the crowd is on a whole different level, but that’s more a cultural thing with dancehall music not being very big in Australia. The market overseas is getting bigger and bigger for all Australian artists, I don’t follow Australian hip-hop that much but there is definitely some artists now moving in the right direction to make it happen overseas. Australian dance music has been big overseas for years now, nothing new there

M.B: You’re no stranger to Australian festivals, having played plenty over the years including Parklife, Groovin’ the Moo, Laneway and Falls. How did your recent experience of Splendour in the Grass compare? Did you get to check out any other good acts?

M.C: Honestly I was only at Splendour for like 3-4 hours of the whole festival, and 1 hour of that we were performing haha. It was way too muddy and cold and horrible I didn’t need to be there any longer than I had to be, we had a awesome apartment like 20 minutes out of Byron that I spent most of my time at. Being there for only a short time I didn’t really see anyone except Sampology cos he’s my dude.

M.B: The re-opening of your night ‘The Diner’ has kicked off again every Thursday at the Bottom End, what can people expect from the festivities?

M.C: Good tunes, Good food, Good times! Not so much a club night, definitely an awesome night to get together with friends and pig out, drink some cheap drinks and get involved.

Look out for my debut solo EP “Make Believe” dropping September 4 ^th on Scattermusic with remixes from Famous Eno, Murlo and Sampology: