Matt FX brings his genre-fluid mastery to Mixmag Asia Radio

Where are you based and if you’re not from there, how did you get there?

Born and raised in New York!

What’s your favourite thing about the music scene in New York?

No matter what flavour, style, or sub-genre you're after, you can find it here. Proper sound system culture, glamorous bottle service, depraved darkrooms and sober morning wellness raves. From 80 people in a beautiful little room grooving to low-slung rare groove disco edits to 10,000 people in an aeroplane hanger going up to the next hot thing in the tech house charts. The classiest rominimal. The trashiest American dubstep.....gabber...... you can find all of it in New York.

Often happening on the same night!

In five words, what do your DJ sets sound like?

Spicy, saucy, acidic, affordable, and delicious.

And in three words, how would you describe yourself?

Oooo cheeky boy!!!

Your favourite dance floor in Asia (club, bar, festival, festival stage, your garden)?

Other than a couple of places in China that I played at nine years ago and no longer exist - this will be my very first time touring Asia!

Read this next: On Tour: Prepare to savour Matt FX’s genre-surfing charm live in Asia

Name one DJ you’d love to play back-to-back with.

I think TEED and I would do proper damage. Truly. complimentary crates, a mutual love of a great groove and iconic vocal.

Also can't wait to do a proper all-night back-to-back with my buddy Dan Solo, an absolute genius DJ and producer from CDMX.

What recent trends in music have caught your attention, and why?

I feel like stateside we are finally seeing the acceptance of jungle and drum and bass in all its various forms on a macro level which is cool - that said it does grind my gears a bit how much I'm seeing Gen Z kids mislabeling anything that's not obviously 4x4 as 'UKG'…

On the European side, I'm loving the sort of Italo-rave crossover that's been happening. There's also the somewhat global trend of everything everywhere just pushing a bit harder and faster which is unfortunate as I do personally love to take my time playing quite slow and slinky whenever possible!

AI in music — yes or no, and why?

Sure. What do we always say about truly great music? That it has a 'soul'. The average person already hears crappy music all over the place going about their daily life, so I think they will probably disregard completely-AI-made music in the same way they would a stock library jingle. That said, tools are tools, and I do believe an artist who wields it as one within a larger toolset will only be able to manifest their vision even faster and more affordably.

Read this next: 8 of the best AI tools for production

What can you tell our readers and listeners about your mix? Why is it special to you?

This mix was so fun for me to make! Was able to include a bunch of fellow producers I've met over the last couple of years both playing across NYC as well as on my travels through Mexico and Brazil. Also, I see it as kind of a sampling platter of the various styles I'll be playing on this tour.

The first two tracks on the mix are also both from me - one is my next single and the other will be on my upcoming full-length out later this year!

What equipment did you record this mix on?

I recorded this mix on an old first-gen DJM 900 mixer and a pair of XDJ-1000s.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen happening from the DJ booth?

I got to play the first NYC edition of 'Shrek Rave' which was attended by a few hundred people in costume..that was certainly a weird one. I've also had the pleasure of spinning at The Box, a sort of cabaret nightclub which is somewhere in between infamous and legendary here in New York. They actually make you sign a contract before you play that states that you are legally not allowed to discuss what goes on in there but let's just say it's somewhere between very titillating and somewhat traumatising.

Where can we hear you playing next?

I've got a couple of gigs in Mumbai this week at the Soho House and then will be travelling across Southeast Asia starting with a set at Lost Connection Festival in Phnom Penh on Saturday, March 2! From there, I'll be playing across Vietnam, Thailand, Bali, and hopefully a bunch of dates in mainland China :) Keep in touch on my Instagram for the latest tour updates!